Irish dancing success for Longcroft girl Shannon

Shannon Dyer, 8, from Longcroft won her age category at the Great Britain Irish Dancing Championships last month.

An eight-year-old dancer is celebrating after winning at the Great Britain Irish Dancing Championships.

Shannon Dyer brought home the trophy in the ‘under eight’ category after impressing the adjudicators with her talent at the competition held in London last month.

This was Shannon’s first win at a major competition since lockdown and saw her competing against dancers from across the globe.

Proud mum Lisa said: “For a year she was doing Zoom classes and it was just keeping her fitness up and she had no face to face classes.

Shannon with her trophies from the championship.

"She started competing again in July.

"She’s had a few local competitions since then and recently there was the All Scotland Championship, which was another major, but this is the first major that she’s won since lockdown.

"She’s absolutely delighted.

"She couldn’t believe it. She said herself, ‘I wasn’t expecting that’.

"They do three rounds – a heavy jig, then a reel and then a traditional set dance.

"The adjudicators are different for each round they all give her a score.”

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All her hard work and dedication has paid off as the last time the St Patrick’s RC Primary pupil competed in this competition, when she was dancing as an ‘under six’, she came fourth.

Shannon, from Longcroft, started Irish dancing when she was four and won her first championship nine months later.

Dancing with the McLaughlin School of Irish Dance in Glasgow she’s gone on to win numerous championships since.

In 2019 she became the Scottish Oireachtas Champion – an outstanding honour for one so young.

Lisa continued: “It's amazing to watch her. It’s not that everything comes naturally, she works hard for it.

"It’s nice to watch her progressing and I’m bursting with pride.

“She’s totally dedicated and I admire her.

“It’s a lot of time and effort and a lot of weekends away from home.

"She goes three times a week to classes in Glasgow and then does exercises at home.

“At such a young age her dedication is amazing.

“The older she gets, the competition gets tougher, but at the moment she’s doing really well and that’s all we can ask for, that she does her best.”

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Irish dancing success for Longcroft girl Shannon

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