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45 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,A pril 4,2019 insidehalton.comNOOO INTEREST FOR 36MONTHSPAY NOOO TAX! NOOOB DY! OOOBOD VISIT US ONLINE AT BADBOY.CA SE E ST OR E FO R DE TA IL S* 70" SAVE $500 $1298 70" 4K HDR SMART #112261 · 4HDMI · 2USB70UK6570 COMPATABLE WITH THE LG MAGIC REMOTE WITH INTELLIGENT VOICE RECOGNITION #114464 $48 · SAVE $80 Injured? For 15 years our Oakville lawyers have helped accident victims recover fair compensation for their injuries. Call today for a no-obligation consultation 905.337.9568 Several dancers from the Goggin-Carroll School of Irish Dance in Oakville will be competing at the World Irish Dance Championships in Greensboro, N.C., April 14- 21. Getting to the worlds re- quires hard work and dedi- cation as the dance students can attest: "I'm very excited about attending the 2019 World Irish Dance Champi-World Irish Dance Champi-W onships in Greensboro, N.C., representing Goggin-Carroll and Canada," said Jack Ku- kolic, 16, of Oakville. "The training and preparation has taught me a lot about grit and perseverance. This will be my fifth worlds and I'm thrilled to be competing in solos and teams." His younger brother Jack Kukolic, 16, echoed his re-Kukolic, 16, echoed his re-K marks. "This will be my first worlds as a soloist. Our team came eighth at the worlds in Glasgow last year. I'm very excited to not only be re- presenting the Goggin-Car- roll School of Irish Dance, but also my country. It's been a lot of hard work, but I know that I've done all I can do. Now it's time to leave it on the dance floor and see what happens." Until 2000, the prestigious World Irish Dance Champi-World Irish Dance Champi-W onships was never held out- side the 26 counties of Ire- land. Since then, it has been held in Belfast, Glasgow, London, Philadelphia, Bos- ton and Montreal. More than 4,000 dancers and 20,000 families and friends will descend onfriends will descend onf Greensboro to compete in the world championships. Competitors will be coming from the United States, Mex-from the United States, Mex-f ico, Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zea- land, South Africa and across Canada. They will showcase years of hard work, perseverance, tenaci- ty, artistry and athleticism at the "Olympics of Irish dance." One of the Goggin-Car- roll teachers and school co- founder, Ryan Carroll, com-founder, Ryan Carroll, com-f peted 11 times at the worlds in his youth, and was the un- derstudy to the lead of the world-renowned Riverdance show. He was one of the top five dancers in five of thefive dancers in five of thef years he competed on the worlds stage and he earned a second place medal at the worlds when he was 15. Dancer World Soloists Catherine Hoare, 15, started dancing at the age of four. She fell in love with thefour. She fell in love with thef sport after watching her sis- ter Irish dance. Catherine is a two-time Eastern Canadi- an champion, placing first at the Eastern Canadian Oi- reachtas in 2017 and 2018. An accomplished dancer, she al- so recently placed ninth at the Great Britain champion- ships and has won or placed at numerous other national and international competi- tions. Catherine will be com- peting in both the individual competition and as part of a team in North Carolina this year. Catherine is currently attending Grade 10 in high school and enjoys travelling, yoga and spending time withyoga and spending time withy her friends. Catherine lives in Milton with her sister, mother and father. Amy Zenker, 12 followed her older sister to competi- tions and dance classes as an infant and officially started dancing at age five. She has competed at the worlds as a soloist and as part of a team (the first time when she was eight). The hard work she puts into dance has given her the opportunity to represent Goggin-Carroll and Canada around North America and Europe, which is amazing as she loves travelling to new places. She enjoys reading, theatre and music and friends in her spare time.friends in her spare time.f Abby Hennessy, 13, start- ed dancing with the Goggin- Carroll School of Irish Dance at the age of four. Under the leadership of her teachers Barb Goggin, Lauren Gian- none and Ryan Carroll, she quickly excelled, competing at her first Eastern Canadi- an Championships at the age of six. Currently the Eastern Canadian champion for the third year in a row, and ranked 16th in the world, Ab- by is thrilled to once again be representing Canada and Goggin-Carroll at the world championships in Greens- boro in both solos and the team competition. Ava Vickers, 14, is inAva Vickers, 14, is inA Grade 9. She began Irish dancing at the age of eight with the Goggin-Carroll School of Irish Dance in Oak- ville and enjoys travelling and competing internation- ally. Ava competed at the Eastern Canadian champi- onships this past December earning a third place, which qualified her for her third trip to the World Irish Dance Championships in April. Ava is also looking forwardAva is also looking forwardA to representing Goggin-Car- roll in Vancouver in July where she will enjoy compet- ing against other Irish danc- ers from North America. She possesses a passion and strength for dance that knows no bounds. In addi- tion to dance Ava enjoys writing short stories and learning about physical fit- ness in her spare time. Lauren Pope, 17, has been dancing at Goggin-Carroll since the age of five. Her old- er cousin Siobhan O'Brien's love for the sport sparked her interest in Irish dance. During her dance career she has competed all over East- ern Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. in major competitionsU.K. in major competitionsU such as the Eastern Canadi- an championships, the North American champion- ships, the Great Britain championships and the world championships. Lau- ren has placed in the top five in her age group for two con- secutive years at the Eastern Canadian championships, qualifying her for the World Irish Dance Championships. She owes a lot of her success to her teachers Barb Goggin, Ryan Carroll, Lauren Gian-Ryan Carroll, Lauren Gian-R none, Rebecca Stewart, Jan- et Tosh and Brittany Silla for never giving up on her and for all the support. Lauren isfor all the support. Lauren isf currently a Grade 12 student at St. Ignatius of Loyola in Oakville. Jameson Kukolic began Irish dancing at age five and a half. He has competed at both Canadian and North American nationals, in solo and team competitions, and this is his first appearance at the worlds in solos. In his first experience competingfirst experience competingf in teams, his eight-hand Cei- COMMUNITY OAKVILLE IRISH DANCE SCHOOL SENDING SEVERAL TO COMPETE ON WORLD STAGE JULIE SLACK jslack@metroland.com Oakville's Knights of Columbus held a St. Patrick's Day social featuring Irish stew and brown bread as well as Irish dancing by the Goggin-Carroll School of Irish Dance. Oakville's Jack Kukolic, 16, (centre) is one of 10 Oakville dancers with the Goggin-Carroll School of Irish Dance heading off to the Worlds. Graham Paine/Metroland See WORLD, page 46