He might just be Greystones’ Billy Elliot, and local boy Sasha’s getting a shot on August 9th at being a world dance champion.
Along with his dance partner Hannah Kelly, Greystones lad Sasha Savchenko has been steadily building up an array of awards over the the past three years.
And now, these two 13-year-old dancing fools will actually be the first junior champions to represent Ireland at the World Dance Championships in Stuttgart in two weeks time.
Having studied at Dublin’s Xquisite Dance School, Sasha and Hannah have been preparing for their big day with by attending the internationally-renowned DanceSport Training Camp in Schladming, Austria throughout July, and will be heading shortly to Germany for the competition.
Naturally, such preparations – along with the travel, accommodation, etc – costs money, and there’s a fundraising drive to help these teenagers and their families raise the €8,000 necessary. And the latest such event is a dinner and dance at Greystones’ South Beach Pavilion, down at Charlesland Golf Club.
Starting at 8pm on Saturday, July 30th, the food will be provided by Newtownmountkennedy’s highly-rated Mila’s Kitchen – famous for their Indian dishes – and a table (and space on the floor) costs just €20.
Attending on the night will be Sasha and Hannah, who will be demonstrating the incredibly dance skills that have gotten them to this illustrious point in their careers. The duo will be bringing along some of their dance professional friends to help out on the night too. Throw in that yummy dinner, and you’ve got yourself an awful lot of bang, and boogie, for your buck.