14 Jun 2018 Strictly for Dementia
Saturday, June 9th a crowd of 400 gathered in the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan to cheer on their friends and family in the 2018 Strictly for Dementia and Africa Event. Partnering with Self Help Africa, Saint Joseph’s recruit half of the volunteer dancers and the SHA the other half, then they join forces and become one dance troupe!
This event has raised over €200,000 for both charities over the last three years and also raised a lot of pulse rates on the night as the dancers (all volunteers) put on show to remember and this year was no different.
Dancers volunteered or were volunteered by friends to take part over 7 weeks of training and rehearsals. Some of the dancers had only ever taken to the dance floor at weddings or nights out, but they were quickly whipped into shape by the choreographers and matched with a partner and given a suitable dance.
Dances included, Salsa, Samba, Quickstep, Rock n Roll, Show dance, Broadway, Jazz, Motown, Charleston, Cha Cha, Tango, Jive and Disco – for some dancers who may have thought that salsa was a dip for their nachos, this was a challenging few weeks!
People say it is all about taking part but following 7 weeks of training there was a hint of competitive spirit on the night! With 33% of the total score from the fundraising / sponsorship money, 33% from the judges votes and 33% from the audience vote on the night, there was a lot of vote counting to determine the winning duo.
A huge congratulations to the dancers, winners on the night were;
- Peter and Ailish with the Salsa,
- Gareth and Liz with the Cha Cha
- Amy and Rikki with Broadway
Best Video was for Samba duo of Sarah and Alberto with their version of the Done Deal Ad.
€23,000 was raised for Saint Joseph’s on the night.
Special thanks to the Talbot Stillorgan, the Hairdressers from Peter Mark Cornelscourt, our judges Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Melanie Morris and Lady Veda and our MC Bob Carley.
Check out the whole show[/vc_column_text]
