A story of success for Cavan dance school

Fusion Dance School is a story of success, of confidence and of a passion that turned into a thriving business.

At the back of it all is Aysha Treanor who has just returned from Germany with a group of dancers, some of whom will be dancing on the world stage this August.

“It’s unbelievable, it’s absolutely unbelievable,” Aysha said of her students’ achievements in the European Hip Hop Championships.

Students Karina Puscasu and Alicia Treanor reached the semi finals with solo performances; while Zuzanna Kubat and Grace Briody claimed third place in a duo performance, securing them a spot in the world finals in August.

“I am just so proud of them,” said Aysha, explaining that Zuzanna is the longest serving student in the dance school.

“She has been there from day one,” beamed her teacher.

Speaking of day one, Aysha recalled her own dancing career, which started with a children’s dance class in Stradone. She felt there was nothing for older students who wanted to progress and her mother took her to dance workshops in Dublin, and Aysha later started training in London.

“I just wanted to get to a higher level myself. I had to go outside of the county to do that.”

Upon gaining experience and qualification, Aysha returned home to set up a dance school for children in Cavan.

“There was no hip hop dancing anywhere around so I started it up,” she said, explaining how she only had “one or two children” for a long time.

“I have built it up over the years,” said Aysha, explaining that she now trains over a hundred children per week.

She bases her business in Killygarry Hall and runs classes for everyone from age four up to adults. Aysha has recently brought her ‘Heels for Adults’ class to Cavan, which she says has been a big hit.

“We put on the heels and we do, I suppose, a bit of sassy dancing in hip hop style. It’s going really well.”

Aysha also hosts workshops for schools and Creative Cavan as well as choreographing dance routines for different groups, most recently Virginia and Breifne College’s respective musicals.

Despite competing in the Arizona world championships herself last year, Aysha says her true passion lies in teaching.

“I’m not so much into competing myself, I’m a good teacher. I love to see the children excelling.”

The dance teacher explained what she enjoys the most about her job.

“The biggest thing that I can see is the confidence in the children.

“They come to me at the very start and they’re all teary, they’re crying, they don’t want to stay, they’re very very shy.

“After dancing with me for a few months the difference in the child is just unbelievable.

“It’s that little bit of time that they have for themselves that they’re free,” she said, adding that dancing is “fantastic” for promoting positive mental health.

“I’ve seen some of them change dramatically,” she said.