CHEERING crowds armed with homemade banners and flowers gathered at Donegal Airport for the homecoming of the three time World Irish Dance Championship winner, Emily Colangelo.
Emily being greeted by her personal trainer Annmarie O’Donnell from Dungloe.
The 18-year-old told the Donegal News that the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, flooded with both excitement and exhaustion.
The Rosses Community School student was sitting her Leaving Cert oral exams just days before being whisked to the Irish Dancing World’s in Montreal, where she secured the coveted championship title.
“It’s been absolutely mental but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” said Emily.
A surprise homecoming at Carrickfinn Airport.
The three day dancing competition started with a two day heat system, where the group of 150 eager competitors were whittled in half, before being halved again.
The competition kicked off early each morning, so Emily started her hair and makeup transformation at 4am. She stayed in Irish time throughout the trip to combat the jet lag and early rises, so she was back in bed by 5pm in the evenings
“But sure it’s not supposed to be a holiday,” she laughed.
“I stayed in Irish time because there was no point readjusting and then being wrecked coming home.
“I was in Greensboro, North Carolina when I won my first World, I adjusted to their time zone and then I was so wrecked coming home. That was my first world title so everyone wanted a piece of me after it and I just wanted to go to bed,” she said.
Emily has been dancing since she was just three years old, since then she has performed for audiences across the world. She competed in her first world championship in Montreal in 2015. Eight years later she has come full circle and danced in her last world championship in the same city.
“It was only right to finish in Montreal because that was where I started. I knew it was going to be my last time, so I wanted to go out and just enjoy it,” she said. So she was shocked when she won.
Emily gave a very special thanks to her teachers at McNeilis Cunningham School of Dance, family and friends who have had her back throughout the years. She also thanked her personal trainer, physio, chiropractor and everyone else involved.
“There is so much that goes into winning a world and you need a solid group behind you to make it happen, so I am very grateful to all of them,” she added.
Emily with her parents Christina and Ben.
Dance teachers Claire McNeilis, Deirdre O’Reilly, Paula McNeilis and Isobel Cunningham proudly posing with Emily.
The excitement only lasted a few days before Emily was back to the books, in preparation for her upcoming exams.
But she won’t be hanging up her dancing shoes any time soon, she said. Her dream is to dance for Riverdance.
“It’s hard because they don’t really care if you have ten world titles because show dancing is so different from competitive dancing.
“You use your arms and express yourself more in show dancing, and people find it harder to do that. So it really depends on the person,” she said.
Emily has had offers to join show dance crews but turned them down to focus on her studies.
“I’m trying to keep my head down and just focus on the leaving cert and then I can focus on the shows, because there is so much time for that,” she added.
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