WORT.LU  Published on 08.08.13 15:51

Irish music and culture association Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is hosting an Irish Music Summer School in Luxembourg this week, where children and teenagers are discovering traditional Irish song and dance.

While in one room the youngsters are doing sidesteps, across the corridor they are singing “Báidín Fheilimí”. A small orchestra of tin whistles is fingering a Kerry polka and two doors away another group is working on the story of the Children of Lir.

Sounds from the Emerald Isle can be heard right in the Green Heart of Europe from August 5 to 9, as the Irish Music Summer School is in full swing in Belair.

The five-day course adds to the regular dance classes provided for children during the school year by Comhaltas, with the idea to provide a broad course touching on wider aspects of Irish culture. Summer schools are run across Ireland during the summer months, and for the first time this year, Irish expat children could also get a taste of home in Luxembourg during the holidays.

While initially hoping to get 20 students for the summer school, Comhaltas had to make room for 30 children and teenagers following demand exceeding expectations.

Two of the teachers are based in Luxembourg. Claire Fitzpatrick is leading the dance class and Cliodhna Dempsey is teaching Irish songs. Two further teachers flew in for the course, with Joy Forsythe hosting the drama workshop and Triona Byrne working with the kids on their tin whistle skills.

By Thursday, the teachers were quite impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm shown by their students, with parents saying their kids are already dreaming of joining the summer school again next year.

To celebrate the end of the course and its success there will be a free open air Céilí at the Black Stuff pub in Val de Hamm on Saturday, August 10, from 8.30pm.