{"id":548530,"date":"2026-07-14T03:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/548530\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T03:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:18:13","slug":"the-standard-is-off-the-scale-worlds-largest-dance-competition-comes-to-dublin-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/548530\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The standard is off the scale\u2019: World\u2019s largest dance competition comes to Dublin \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

While R\u00f3is\u00edn N\u00ed Churraidh\u00edn and 55 other talented dancers from Dunshaughlin Dance School in Co Meath<\/a> warm up to perform in front of thousands gathered in the Convention Centre Dublin, three members of her family step outside for a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n

The sun is beating down on the North Quays, and temperatures are well above 20 degrees. But the shimmering river Liffey provides some respite for Una Curran, who is there to watch R\u00f3is\u00edn, her daughter, compete at the finals of the Dance World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll never get this experience in Dublin<\/a> again,\u201d she says of Ireland hosting the world\u2019s largest dance competition, with more than 11,500 dancers from 60 countries taking part this week.<\/p>\n

From a parent\u2019s perspective, the competition \u201cis a mixture of nerves. And you feel their nerves when they\u2019re on stage, but you\u2019re extremely proud of all their hard work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s a lot of hard work,\u201d Curran\u2019s mother, Maureen Wall, interjects. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of time spent in the studio to get here\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Dunshaughlin\u2019s first time doing the Dance World Cup … they said they would give it a try and, since they had never done it before, we were quite surprised when 56 dancers got in,\u201d Curran says.<\/p>\n

\"Showstoppers,Showstoppers, choreographed by Bill Deamer, performed on stage at the Dance World Cup at the Convention Centre Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times \"MoghianMoghian Arts from Scotland on stage at the Dance World Cup. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard at the Irish qualifiers was extremely high, and the standard here … it\u2019s just off the scale,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Although the stakes are high on stage, camaraderie is higher in the dressingrooms. M\u00e9abh N\u00ed Churraidh\u00edn, R\u00f3is\u00edn\u2019s sister, has joined in the practice of swapping wristbands with other competitors, making dozens of tricolour-themed bracelets and handing them out all day.<\/p>\n

Ascending the six floors of the Convention Centre, the dressingroom preparations have quickly spilt out into the hallways. <\/p>\n

On the fifth floor, the small Icelandic crew has found a quiet area to do their make-up. But not far away is a large English team rehearsing their Harry Potter-inspired routine. <\/p>\n

10-year-old Millie Young is still riding the high of her second-place finish in the \u201cshowstopper\u201d category and her bronze medal for her performance in the children\u2019s jazz category. <\/p>\n

\"(L-r)(L-r) Poppie, Holly, Hope, Millie and Ariana from Berkshire Dance Academy at the Dance World Cup in the Convention Centre Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

She says she\u2019s \u201ca little bit nervous\u201d before going on stage in a few moments for her group dance, but after hours of practice, \u201cdefinitely ready\u201d to go. \u201cThe kids love it, they literally live for the adrenaline,\u201d her mother Ricarda says. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all high kicks and pointed feet: Dance World Cup\u2019s executives are quick to point out the serious benefits for hosting. \u201cIt\u2019s about 50,000 people in Dublin for the event over 11 days,\u201d director Chris Stapelberg says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn hotels, taxis, spending, it\u2019s about \u20ac1.8 million a day into Dublin\u2019s economy,\u201d chairman John Grimshaw adds. \u201cIn terms of actual competitors … we have more than the Olympics,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While R\u00f3is\u00edn N\u00ed Churraidh\u00edn and 55 other talented dancers from Dunshaughlin Dance School in Co Meath warm up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[638,615,199004,61,60,15949,112],"class_list":["post-548530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dance","tag-dublin","tag-dunshaughlin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-meath","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}