St Tola’s pupils go ‘Dancing with the Stars’

The pupils of St Tola’s NS in Delvin enjoyed an exciting bank holiday Friday when 2FM breakfast host Carl Mullan and professional dancer Emily Barker from RTÉ's 'Dancing with the Stars dropped by for a visit.

The pair were invited by principal Eileen Smyth and parent and dance studio owner, Nesse Lynch, who works alongside Emily in Barn Door Creative Studios, based in Bracklyn.

In anticipation of the TV couple’s arrival, they pupils decorated the gym with colourful drawings of Carl and Emily, before being treated to a dance by the pair, as well as a dance from Barn Door students.

The kids asked the duo some important questions, including if they felt nervous ahead of appearing on national TV; and asked what they would be dancing next on the show.

“A Viennese Waltz,” said Carl. “The main difference with ballroom is that a lot of the time you dance in frame, and a lot of people said that this would be one of the easier ones, but I have found this the hardest dance so far," he admitted.

“Emily was patient during the week, I nearly burst out crying on Tuesday because I couldn’t get the steps, so it’s very, very difficult, but I think we’re getting there.

“Emily is a good teacher and she’s patient, so that’s a good thing,” continued Carl, adding that because there are roughly 30 spins involved in the Viennese Waltz, he finds himself “very dizzy” by the end!

Emily told the children how she began dancing at their age, and had entered many competitions before joining the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ when she was 18.

“I get nervous that Carl is going to go wrong in the dance,” she said, while Carl added: “What you don’t see on the TV is, as well as us doing the dance on the floor, there’s lots of stuff going on.

"There’s about 10 different cameras all around you, a camera mounted on a crane that comes over your head, and there’s a man with a camera who runs out on to the floor and spins around us, so there’s lots going on while we’re trying to dance the dance, so you have to try and not get distracted by all that.

“And because there’s so many people watching at home, you don’t want to mess it up.”

It was time then for the St Tola’s pupils to get involved, as Emily demonstrated some dance steps of her own; Tadhg asked if Carl actually liked dancing; while Tom told Emily and Carl a joke that had the whole audience laughing; meanwhile Thomas told the pair all about farming, as well as how he listened to Carl every morning on 2FM, adding that he was a big, big fan.

Before leaving, the dancers signed autographs and posed for photos, and Carl said it was “so lovely to get to meet all of the children and be invited along to visit the school”.