Southside - DublinPeople.com

21 southsideEducationNamed after the Roman God Janus,January is that time of the year when weboth look back over the past year andmake plans for the future. As anotherwonderfully successful year for HappyDays School of Performing Arts ends anew one begins. And thinking of Janus,the god of new beginnings andtransitions brings to mind the manydecisions that parents must make at thisbusy time of the year, to give theirchildren the best start in their journeyahead.Happy Days aims to develop students’confidence and creativity in a fun and safeenvironment. Their classes give students theability to express themselves in a clear andconfident manner in all social situations. AsDirector of Happy Days, Gráinne O’RourkeLGSM LLSM ARIAM, Vice President of theSpeech and Drama Teachers of Ireland andan examiner with the Royal Irish Academy ofMusic says, “what they enjoy learning in ourfun filled classes today, they use to gain acompetitive edge in the jobs markettomorrow!”Looking back on 2012, the news that“Pentecost”, a light hearted short film, wasnominated for an Oscar was just one of themany highlights for Happy Days School ofPerforming Arts. “Pentecost” featured 12Happy Days students including Sophie ByrneCarter, Andrew Clayton, Mathew Donohoeand Aaron Nestor from Tallaght and EmilyCharles, Claire Farley and Gillian Kenny fromBlessington.A very busy 2012 saw Happy Daysstudents in many other productions. Theyranged from the multi award winning RTEseries “Love/Hate” and “Raw” to RTEjr’s“Beo Show”, from the ITV mini Series“Titanic” to the BBC’s “Loving Miss Hato”and in TV advertisements from those forAldi, Supervalue and Lidl to UPC.Happy Days students’ great professionalattitude and talent means they are asked toappear again and again in many differentproductions. This year the students wereinvited once more to perform in the DSCC’s“Noise Moves Arts Festival” and in theNational Cultural Night celebrations. Theywere also invited to perform for the LordMayors of Dublin City and South CountyDublin in Wood Quay for the launch of theYouth Arts Map website YAM.ie.Happy Days offer fun-filled classes inSpeech and Drama, Dance, Musical Theatreand Singing from fully-qualified,enthusiastic and encouraging teachers. Andwith all the successes in 2012, they havehad lots of interest and an increase indemand for places in the school. So HappyDays are now offering a limited number ofnew places in 2013 in their classes in theirSouth Side venue in Tallaght, which is in St.Maelruins NS, in Old Bawn, their WicklowVenue in Blessington in the TramwayTheatre and in their North Side venues too,in Applewood in Swords, Lusk NS andBallyboughal NS.And don’t just take our word for it!Against stiff competition, Lucy Phibbscurrently a student in DIT, who has beenwith Happy Days since she was just 3½,landed the role of “Belle” in NMS’sproduction of “Beauty and the Beast”. “Thisis an opportunity”, Lucy says, “whichwouldn’t have happened without theexperience I gained in Happy Days classesand their many Big Shows in venues such asthe Helix and the Civic Theatre”.Lucy along with students from all theHappy Days classes took to the stage in2012 for their massive production “HappyDays at the Helix”. The show incorporatedeverything the students love about HappyDays, with selections from old and newmusicals such as “Mary Poppins”, “LegallyBlonde”, “My Fair Lady”, “Shrek”, “We WillRock You” and “Grease”. Lucy summed it upafterwards saying “we’re like one big happyfamily!” This show can be added to the longlist of performances students have beenpart of including full productions of “TheWizard of Oz”, and “Oliver”.Rebecca O’Connor, now in DCU, who hasbeen with Happy Days since she was four, afinalist in the Leinster School of Music andDrama Excellence award and who wasrecently filmed for RTE’s “The Intern”,summed up what Happy Days has given her.“On my first day I was glued to my Mam’s9 JANUARY 2013. SOUTHSIDE PEOPLESuccess in 2012 means Happy Days in New Year!leg, now I only want to be on the stage!Happy Days has given me the confidence inmyself to try things I never would havethought I could do, such as singing anddancing, and now it’s all I want to do! Goingto the classes is a joy, the teachers are socreative, the other students are fantasticand the glimpses of magic every time astudent performs, makes it all worthwhile!”Happy Days student Hana Kelly at justnine years of age followed up herwonderful singing performance with JulieFeeney on RTE in November, by performingas a soloist in the National Concert Hall atChristmas, in the well-loved Christmas show“The Snowman”.While no denying Hana’s hard work,dedication and talent her family haveemphasised their appreciation for all theopportunities Happy Days have given Hanaand all they have done to nurture anddevelop her star qualities.As 2012 ends and a new year begins,Hana can now look back on her many otherperformances such as in the Hallmark movie“Three Wise Women” with Amy Huberman,a number of TV advertisements, and onstage both as a soloist and with otherHappy Days students in their many shows.So in 2013 to “Give your child theconfident edge” as their motto goes anddiscover more about their classes for girlsand boys from age 4 and up, visitwww.happydaysdrama.ie or call or textGrainne on 087 679 5470.Dorset College Dublin“Excellence Through Life Long Learning”Childcare & Montessori StudiesEarly Childhood Care & Education L6 (ECCE & Montessori)Early Childhood Care & Education L6 (Supervision)Special Needs Assisting L5Applied Behavioural Analysis L5:- Understanding Challenging BehaviourNursing & Healthcare Studies (Level 5)Nursing StudiesHealthcare Support CertificateCertificate in Counselling & PsychotherapyMaternity Support CareComputers & Information TechnologyCloud Certified Professional (CCP) programOracle JAVA Associate SE 6 / SE 7Oracle JAVA Professional, JAVA SE 6 ProgrammerDigital MarketingCompTIA A+ / IT Essentials-PC Hardware & SoftwareCISCO – CCNA Computer Network AssociateECDL-European Computer Driving LicenceMultimedia (Level 5)Game Analysis DesignComputer 3D Modelling & AnimationAnimationCareer FocusedCourses…Excellent Career& AcademicProgressionClasses:Tallaght,Blessington,Swords,Lusk &Ballybougalacting/speech& dramacastingagencysingingdancingLaw & Forensic PsychologyCybercrime & Network Security Level 5Diploma in Criminalistics & Forensic Psychology Level 5Business & ManagementCIPD Diploma in Human Resource ManagementPMI Diploma in Project Management - Preparation for CAPM® or PMP® Certification from the PMIwww.dorset-college.ie Tel: 01-8611111ESTABLISHED OVER 15 YEARS WITH FULLY QUALIFIEDENTHUSIASTIC ENCOURAGING WELL TRAINED STAFFGive your child the confident edge!Call or text 087 679 5470 or visit:www.happydaysdrama.ie