Sleeping Beauty the Real Deal in Athboy!

Athboy Pantomime Society's production of Sleeping Beauty is in the final week of rehearsals as the opening night of Friday 22nd February looms ever closer. This year the stalwarts of the society are delighted to be working with the 85 young dancers that make up Reel Deal Dancing Academy. Reel Deal has gone from strength to strength since teachers Celine Smyth and Hannah Walker took over the former Cassells' School of Dancing nearly two years ago. Moyra Cassells had been running the school in the Macra Hall in Athboy for more than twenty years and put hundreds of local dancers through their paces over that time. Moyra's class was much more than an Irish dancing class - although it was an excellent one of those! It prided itself on offering the young dancers who joined the class an opportunity to do something more. Apart from the expected feiseanna the dancers also regularly took part in local variety concerts and the annual St Patrick's Day parade. The children in the Cassells' School of Dance got the opportunity to travel to France to represent Athboy in the Autonne Villages, the region in France with whom Athboy is twinned, on more than one occasion, including the spectacular celebrations that occurred there to mark the 10th anniversary of the twinning. However, for many of the dancers the highlight was the pantomime that happened every two years. All this meant a lot of hard work and commitment from Moyra but it was undoubtedly worth the effort. The fruit of her labours can be seen in the many talented young people who went on to join the local Macra club and continued to perform on stage. Celine Smyth and Hannah Walker are both past pupils of the Cassells' School of Dance and they intend to continue in Moyra's tradition. Now in their second year at the helm Celine and Hannah have 85 children attending classes every Wednesday evening in the Macra Hall. Last summer they held a very successful summer camp and now this year they are involved in their first pantomime. All the children will get a chance to perform. The younger children will alternate performances while the more senior dancers will lead the choruses over the five nights. Celine will be especially busy this year as she is also taking the principal female role of Princess Beauty! This is not her first time to be involved in the pantomime. She was of course involved as a young dancer down through the years and had the part of the Genie of the Lamp in the Society's last production of Aladdin two years ago. Athboy Pantomime Society's production of Sleeping Beauty opens on Friday 22nd in St James' Hall Athboy at 8pm. Performances continue on Tuesday 26th February and Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd March. There will also be a matinee performance on Sunday 24th February at 3pm. Tickets cost €10 for adults and €8 for children and are already on sale in Tracy's Gifts and Amber Boutique, Athboy. You can also follow the pantomime on Facebook at Athboy Pantomime Sleeping Beauty.