Elite Dance Academy from Buncrana lived up to their name at the UDO World Hip Hop Championships in Blackpool when they danced their way to first place.
The UDO (United Dance Organisation) World Hip Hop Championships take place every year in Blackpool with this year being their 15th year running.
Twenty one dancers from Elite Dance Academy entered the championships.
With 32 Countries competing and 220 teams entered competition was tough.
Crews were the first section of the competition and three different crews represented Elite Dance Academy.
Clodagh Keys and Aoife Breslin came 2nd in the over 18 doubles at the UDO World Championships.
The over 18 crew ELITE came first overall, the under 16 crew Anonymous came 10th overall and the under 12 crew Elite Evolution came 8th overall.
ELITE came first out of 19 crews winning a trophy, a medal each and a certificate.
Clare McCarron, Dance Teacher and Founder of Elite Dance Academy, said she couldn’t believe it when they came first.
“I roared and cried I just couldn’t believe it. We worked so hard for this championship.
“Our goal was to come back with first place and they done it. It took a lot of preparation to get ready for this competition, with some dancers coming from Letterkenny and Strabane they were travelling about an hour to get to rehearsals alone.
She said they trained between six and 10 hours a day and “prepped” for a full year for the Championships.
Dance teachers, Aoife McAlaney and Aoife McGill choreographed Elite’s winning routine.
When the two dance teachers set off on their own adventures, dance teacher Clare took over the prep for three months.
Aoife McAlaney came home from New York for the weekend and Aoife McGill came from London to cheer on their crews in Blackpool.
However, the ELITE crew weren’t the only successful members of Elite Dance Academy.
Brandon Lynch came 2nd in the under 18s Advanced Solos.
Patrick Gill came 6th in the under 18s Advanced Solos.
Leon Halligan came 5th in the over 18s Advanced Solos.
Aoife Breslin came 5th in the under 16s Beginners Solos.
Amy Leigh Murray came 3rd in the under 18s Beginners Solos.
Clodagh Keys and Aoife Breslin came 2nd in the over 18 Doubles.
There was also a section in the competition called ‘Super Crew’.
Elite Dance Academy in Buncrana teamed up with District Funk, a dance academy in Dublin, to represent Ireland in the championships.
Their super crew came up against 20 other teams and Coby Turner from IMD in London choreographed their set.
Elite Dance Academy had another overwhelming success when their team was placed 2nd, runner up to the top advanced crew in the whole competition, with Thailand coming first.
Clare said she is all the more proud of her students as they choreographed pieces for the set.
“Brandon Lynch, Leon Halligan and Amy Leigh Murray added their own personal twist into the choreography. My biggest, proudest moment of the whole weekend was when my daughter danced.
“She is only eight years old and she danced in the crew Elite Evolution.
“All dancers in the Solos made either quarter finals or semi-finals, everyone in the academy made some sort of final and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” she said.
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