World championship success for Northampton Irish dance academy – as founder praises ‘incredible results’

The hard work of the young pupils at a Northampton-based Irish dance academy paid off at the recent World Championships, as their teacher praised their “incredible results”.

Jig Dance Academy competed in the Open Platform Irish Dancing Federation (OPIDF) World Championships and saw much success, despite the fact some of the performers have not even been dancing for a year.

The dance academy first opened in Northampton last March and the past year-and-a-half has seen the founders teaching students aged three and above, from beginner to world champion level.

The venture was originally set up by Stacey Addis and she is now joined by Kelly Diggin after the demand for classes went through the roof.

The pair, from Pineham and Kingsthorpe, both started dancing when they were eight years old and met at an Irish dance company many years ago.

They have competed and won at competitions – from the British Open and Nationals, to the World Championships.

Stacey shared that Jig Dance Academy took 26 dancers to the World Championships, with six achieving podium places and three who took sought-after first place spots.

“A lot of them haven’t danced for a year yet,” said Stacey. “To get a podium is amazing.”

One new dancer, who took a break from lessons from November to June, placed second and is just seven years old.

As the academy is still relatively new, this is the first OPIDF World Championships they have had the opportunity to compete in – and Stacey could not be more pleased with how it went.

When asked if competing is beneficial in building the confidence and self-esteem of the young dancers, Stacey said: “Massively.”

She spoke of one nervous young dancer who is usually afraid to perform in front of anyone, even the smaller audiences at their regular shows. However, dancing in front of more than 200 people at the world champs helped boost her confidence.

Jig Dance Academy will be competing at the British Open Championships in Bedford in two weeks’ time, and they are already excited to travel to Belgium to compete next spring.

Anticipation is also building for their Christmas show on December 18, which provides an opportunity for everyone at the dance school to gather and perform.

The last time Stacey spoke to this newspaper, the Irish dance academy had 40 students – and this has now increased by a further 20.

They have recently had to move locations to a bigger studio for classes on Mondays, to accommodate the growing interest.

Monday classes are now held at Wootton Park. Classes for young people on Wednesdays and the adult class on Thursdays, which combines exercise and Irish dance, are all held at Boughton Village Hall.

Jig Dance Academy is always on the lookout for sponsorship, as they would love to move into their own studio and accommodate for the rate the dance academy is growing at.

What began as 10 dancers continues to grow each week, and Stacey and Kelly are proud of the progress the venture has made.

For more information, you can visit Jig Dance Academy’s Facebook page here.