Tapestry On Saturday 5th September I was an member of the audience at Tapestry. My neice was a junior cast member and I was invited along, I had no preconceived ideas as such about what I was about to see but as it was a show by a school of irish dance i obviously thought it was going to be just that, how wrong I was. What I watched that night will stay with me for many years to come, it was an ecletic mix of irish dance, musical theatre, and street dance that in my view totally upstaged any of the professional irish dance shows that i have seen. The pupils/cast exuded bouyant self esteem and confidence which i found infectious to watch. This school celebrates every child in this cast of 70 performers and the level of committment was obvious from the first scene. These dancers dance is real, by that I mean they totally shatter the stereotype of irish dance not only by the emotion they displayed but also by the presentation of their work, no wigs, no big dresses, just beautiful presentaiton from start to finish. The story was woven through the use of DVD again beautifully produced and used at exactly the right time, I found it very emotional and was carried away in the history of this very seriously talented organisation. Having watched Tapestry and this school for the first time i believe that they are an outlet for talent of all kinds not just irish dance. The team spirit was evident and it made me want to dance. Finally, I want to comment on the choreography, direction, and the sheer creativity of this show, in my opinion it should be seen by as many people as possible in as many venues as possible. It was a delight and one I will not forget. Helen Macklin-Burns Early years Drama officer NEELB   2010 EUROPEAN TOUR The school has been touring in July now since 2005 we have performed at 2 of the biggest Celtic music festival in Europe those being Celtica in Italy, and the Celtic World Festival in Spain. This years tour to Celtica in Italy and Intercelticu in Spain has been by far our most successful. In Italy and Spain we headlined with The Red Hot Chilli Pippers from Scotland probably the biggest act in Celtic music today. We also collaborated with Lunasa, Clanadonia and others in both Italy and Spain. This year for the first time we toured one of our productions, Tapestry, and performed it in the sumptous Palacio Valdez Theatre in Aviles Spain, a truly beautiful experience. On the other hand we performed in Peuterey Wood 1800 meters up the alps to a crowd of 7000 just as beautiful but very different. Also this year we broadened the experience out to lots of pupils for the first time on tour A memorable tour   Summer 2011. Planxty at Celtica and 12 Summer 2011 will live long in the memory of the school, firstly, Planxty at Celtica, without doubt our biggest and most ambitious outdoor performance to date. This Planxty was in tribute to the beautiful Cetica and to Celtic culture in general. Our music was performed by Athy from Argentina and Lynn from Italy, and for that hour on Saturday 2nd July 2011 we had the world at our feet. The performance culminated with Greenlands, unforgettable is the only way to describe it. Planxty Celtica 2011 we will always remember. 12 is the new DGS show which as always we will perform at the Riverside Theatre. If ever there could of been a perfect way to follow on from Planxty Celtica it was 12. After 12 years of DGS shows, and every year being better than the last, this was no exception. In fact 12 took the school to a new level on every level. To quote a very influential audience member "12 was inspirational". Thank you to you all for yet another groundbreaking summer. Lastly Athy our special guest this year, Athy our hearts are entwined with yours. Thank you.