Tears of joy as Dublin dance school wins bronze at World Cup

Arkins Dance Company raised nearly €40,000 to attend the competition in Prague and were hit with the “nightmare” of last-minute flight cancellations due to industrial action at Aer Lingus. But the team of 28 performers, based in Dublin’s north inner city, got to the competition in the end and came third overall for Ireland. Alysia Arkins, who runs the dance academy, told the Irish Independent that she had just received an update to let them know they got a bronze medal. The dancers celebrate on stage after coming in third at the Dance World Cup “They got third in the world, and we are absolutely sobbing our hearts out, we still can’t believe it,” she said. “We did way better than expected and it was a routine that all the kids were in. It’s just amazing. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, and we were screaming the place down. “We got 90.8pc, England got 91pc, and Portugal got 93pc,” she added. Back in May, Ms Arkins was raising funds to help send the children to the world cup and thanked those who made it possible for them to get to Prague and win a medal. She described it as the biggest...