By Joe McCann
TWO young women from Lisbane and Newtownards have celebrated 15 years of dancing together by winning the Global Dance Open Finals in Spain for Northern Ireland.
Niamh Scates and Allie Thompson are now preparing to attend separate dance universities in London where they both hope to further their careers in the dance world.
Niamh’s mum, Vikki Scates said it was a fantastic event to mark their final dance competition together after years of dancing side by side.
Vikki said: “They’ve been dancing together for 15 years and they’ve jetted everywhere for 10 of those years, they’ve always been dance partners since they were both three years old.
“They compete in Northern Ireland every year and have competed since they were little, a few years back they also took part in the Dance World Cup in Prague. Last year they took part in the Global Dance Open Finals in Birmingham but this year was special because it was the last they danced together and they won gold in a global competition, so it has been brilliant.”
For university, both Niamh and Allie will be going to study in London with Niamh studying at London Studio Centre, a dance school in North London, and Allie will be at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom.
Both women won gold for the lyrical dance category which is a fluid style that blends ballet with jazz and modern dance influences.
The pair have danced at Ards Dance Centre for years and hope their studies will further their dancing careers with future career paths including options such as West End shows and touring with ballet companies.
Referring to the pair’s ‘real strong connection when they were dancing’, Vikki added: “Both of them have done very well for themselves and for Northern Ireland.
“Their win in Spain took a lot of hard work because you have to pass several competitions to even get a place to compete and they both won gold.
“It was lovely that they got a gold in their very final dance at their very final competition when they’ve been dancing together all this time.”
