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