Dream come true as Siobhán gears up for live Got to Dance semi-final
Not only that, but nine-year-old Siobhán Phelan will open the show in front of an audience of more than one million viewers tomorrow night.
“It means the world to me to get to the live semi-final,” she says. “I didn’t think I could dance that good.”
Clearly she can. Audition judges described her Damhsa Dreams as “absolutely outstanding”, as well as “sweet and delicate” and “full of energy and precision”.
It’s an incredible journey for the Manchester native who moved to Walsh Island, Offaly, just three years ago, a location her proud parents found by holding a pin over a map of Ireland.
She started Irish dancing to make friends, but it wasn’t long before her local teacher noticed she had something special. Now she attends lessons four times a week in Dublin and trains daily at home.
“I feel happy when I dance,” says Siobhán, who loves the hard jig because she likes making noises with her hard shoes, and the reels that let her kick “really high when I’m all stretched out”.
When judge Adam Garcia arrived at her primary school in Geashill, Co Offaly, to tell her she’d made it to the semi-final, the class was learning about craftsmen.
“It was a normal school day and it turned into an incredible day,” says Siobhán, who is as bright and articulate as she is talented.
Mum Sinead says Siobhán is “in her element” dancing but knows she can’t win everything, even if she has swept the boards since she went to her first feis.
“She knows that everyone has different taste and if she doesn’t get through, to hold her head up high, shake everyone else’s hand and say thank you very much.”
The ultimate prize of £250,000 (about €295,000) is potentially life-changing, admits Sinead, but Siobhán, who has already given away her medals and trophies to charities, says she’d be giving some of her winnings to Irish charities.
Today, her excited brothers Ciaran, 13, and Comghan, 5, will visit the London Eye with father Reagan while Siobhán rehearses her “very special” routine.
And if it doesn’t lead to Davina McCall calling out her name for the final, Siobhán is sanguine. “I’d just be really happy that I got this far. I’d just be so grateful to my family.”
