About the Watkins Academy

Established in 1992 by Dance Teacher Sheryl Watkins, the Watkins Academy of Irish Dance has grown to become one of Queensland’s premier Irish dance schools.

As well as winning numerous State and National titles, dancers from the Watkins Academy have ranked in the top ten in the world.

The Watkins Academy has produced many successful solo and figure dancing champions and some of its members have performed in top international Irish dance productions that have toured throughout Europe, Asia, America and New Zealand.

2012 AIDA April Feis

WATKINS ACADEMY dancers recently competed in the 2012 AIDA QLD APRIL FEIS at Moreton Bay College.

It was a special event for a few dancers who competed for the very first time. Bowen and Corbin Walker, Sophia Lucena & Gabrielle Dodds all took part in their first Irish dancing competition. All of these dancers performed very well and were confident on stage. Congratulations on a wonderful debut!

The rest of our dancers also performed very well achieving good results. Whilst we were happy with their efforts performing their new work, particularly their set dances, there is still alot of hard work and sweat to put in to perfect these dances.

 

Our results were:

Samuel Barnes – 1st Primary Reel 10yrs

Laura Bittner – 2nd Open Reel 18yrs&O; 3rd Open Hornpipe 18yrs&O

Megan Bittner – 4th Open Slip Jig 16yrs; 4th Open OC Set Dance 16yrs

Braden Craven-Griffiths – 1st Intermediate Hornpipe 16yrs&O; 2nd Open Reel 16yrs

Emily Convery – 3rd Open Slip Jig 16yrs; 5th Open Jig 16yrs; 6th Open OC Set Dance 16yrs

Finn Conway – HC Primary Reel 12 & 13yrs

Gabrielle Dodds – 1st Beginners Single Jig 11yrs&O; 2nd Novice Reel 12yrs& O; HC Beginners Reel 11yrs&O

Ella Edwards – 4th Beginners Light Jig 7yrs; 5th Beginners Reel 7yrs

Sophia Lucena  -  2nd Novice Reel 10yrs; 3rd Beginners Reel 10yrs; 3rd Beginners Single Jig 10yrs

Katie McFadden – 2nd Primary Trad Set 14yrs&O

Harriet Mildenhall – HC Primary Reel 11yrs

Megan Purdy – 3rd Open Jig 18yrs; 4th Open Slip Jig 18yrs; 6th Open OC Set Dance 17&18yrs

Brianna Rafferty – 4th Open Slip Jig 11-13yrs

Shannon Ryan – 3rd Open Slip Jig 11-13yrs; 5th Open Jig 12& 13yrs

Claudia Sandstrom – 1st Open Reel 11yrs; 3rd Intermediate Hornpipe 11yrs; 6th Open Slip Jig 11-13yrs

Trinity Schabe – 2nd Intermediate Slip Jig 14yrs; 3rd Open Reel 14yrs

Aishia Xavier – 2nd Open Reel 13yrs; 3rd Open OC Set 13yrs; 4th Open Hornpipe 13yrs

Dominique Uthmann – 3rd Open Jig 14&15yrs; 4th Open Slip Jig 14yrs; 5th Open OC Set Dance 14yrs

Bowen Walker – 4th Novice Reel 9yrs; 4th Beginners Light Jig 9yrs; 5th Beginners Reel 9yrs

Corbin Walker – 1st Novice Reel 6yrs&U; 2nd Beginners Reel 6yrs&U, Encouragement Award

Tyler Watkins – 2nd Open OC Set Dance 15yrs; 3rd Open Reel 15yrs; 3rd Open Hornpipe 14&15yrs

Bianca Ziegenfuss – 2nd Intermediate Hornpipe 12&13yrs; 3rd Intermediate Reel 13yrs; 5th Open Slip Jig 11-13yrs

 

Well done Wallies – keep working hard as the competition season is heating up!

Dancer of the Month - April

We are delighted to announce that our “DANCER OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL 2012” is KATIE MCFADDEN.

Katie returned to Irish dancing classes last year after many years away and she has fast become one of our more committed dancers.

Katie has shown great enthusiasm for her dancing and in improving her technique and she works hard every class. Her quiet, friendly nature is a wonderful quality and it has made her a great role model for others.

This year, Katie added team dancing to her repertoire and she has embraced the challenges and dedication it brings with enthusiasm and respect.

She also returned to competition this year and has so far achieved some fantastic results – a great reward for all of her hard work.

We are very proud of your efforts, Katie, so please keep it up!

Cheers,

SHERYL, SAM, LORIN & DAVID