Line dancing craze blazing a trail 
from the Palm
Tree to Japan

FIVE, six, seven, eight is the universal count in for those who get their groove on line dancing and Ballyglunin’s Palm Tree is the place to be for anyone interested in honing their moves.

A group of ten ladies are treading the boards on a weekly basis under the tutelage of Galway based dancing teacher Martin O’Connell, who is a self-confessed line dancing addict for over 20 years.
Martin and his teaching partner will take their skills to the Far East later this year when they travel to Japan to bring the wonder of dance to a whole new audience.
“I discovered line dancing back in the 1990s when it was a huge craze,” explains Martin.
“I had previously learned how to dance from my older sister Dympna who used to bring me to Seapoint in the 1960s and kicked my ankles a lot. Fast forward to 1994 and I found myself in the Alley nightclub in Galway being taught by Bonnie and Brian Dolan who taught hundreds of people throughout the county over the 18 months that line dancing was huge.
“I fell in love with it so when Bonnie and Brian finished their classes as the craze was dying out I decided I would teach it myself. There was still a group of about 30 of us fanatics who formed the Galway Line Dancing Association and I’ve been teaching ever since.”

Read the full feature in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald