Kaylie Wallace (L) and Kelly Hendry (R) with the u16 céilí group dancers, including Annabelle Clark and Isabella Zibe (front left) who placed second_credit Kaleel Zibe
Teenagers Annabelle Clark and Isabella Zibe returned to school on Tuesday as two of the world’s top Irish dancers after celebrating success in a prestigious competition during the Easter holiday.
The pair were part of a junior team of eight girls from the Kelly Hendry School of Irish Dance, in Blaydon, to achieve podium success and place second in the u16 céilí group category at the CLRG World Irish Dancing Championships in Montréal, Canada, earlier this month.
The girls, both from Gosforth, also placed fourth in the u19 céilí category, while 14-year-old Isabella placed third in the world in her solo age-group category after impressing judges with her skill in both hard and soft shoe Irish dancing.
They returned to Dame Allan’s Schools, in Fenham, on Tuesday to share their success with friends and teachers. Year 9 pupil Isabella, who started Irish dancing at the age of three, said: “I’m really happy with the way I danced; it’s an amazing feeling to be third in the world. I had a great time in Montréal with the whole team.”
It was Isabella’s second world championships as a solo competitor and her seventh as a team dancer. She and Annabelle joined more than 2,500 Irish dancers from 23 nations at the 51st annual event, which was staged by An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (the Commission of Irish Dancing), the oldest and largest governing body of Irish dancing worldwide
Annabelle started Irish dancing at the age of six and has competed in five previous world championships, as well as the All Scotland, British Nationals and Great British Championships.
A Year 11 pupil at Dame Allan’s, Annabelle is studying for her GCSEs this term. She said: “I loved having the opportunity to compete in Montréal and I’m very pleased with our placings in the céilís.”
Will Scott, Principal of Dame Allan’s Schools, said: “We are all delighted to hear of Isabella and Annabelle’s success at the world championships, they should feel incredibly proud of their achievements after months of dedicated training around their school commitments.”
The Kelly Hendry School of Irish Dance saw 22 of its dancers, aged between 10 and 18 years old, take part in the competition. They returned with a total of eight world championship ‘globes’ – coveted awards presented to the top five dancers in solo categories and the top three in teams.
Dance school founder and former world champion Kelly Hendry, one of the North East’s most celebrated Irish dancers who was lead dancer in Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, said: “It was one of our most successful competitions to date. We got two solo world champions for the first time ever, as well as a second place, two thirds and a fifth in solos. All dancers were fantastic!”
Isabella Zibe_credit Kaleel Zibe