A DANCE school in north Dublin that works with young people from some of the most deprived areas in the State faces closure because it does not qualify for funding from the Arts Council or the Sports Council.
Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan will meet the founders of Streets Ahead Dance School next month to discuss their difficulties.
Students from the school have won many international awards, and Streets Ahead has raised thousands of euro for charities.
The school, which specialises in hip-hop and has 380 students and 13 staff, has two teams competing at the World Hip-Hop Championships in Las Vegas, having recently won the Irish championships for the third consecutive year.
“We won bronze medals at the world championships in 2006 and 2010 and we have the only Irish children’s team at the championships in Vegas at the moment,” said Paul Murphy, co-owner of the school with his wife, Tara Treacy, who founded it.
“We have kids here who are in care and some who really would have nothing else. It’s more than a school. It’s a community.”
However, student numbers have fallen, despite the fees being lowered to €250 a year. Some parents work at the school unpaid so their children can attend.
“Rates are killing us,” said Mr Murphy.
“We have a very understanding landlord but we have fallen behind with the rent and it’s only a matter of time before he can’t wait any more.”
The Arts Council refused funding for the school because it deemed that the competitive element of the school’s activities meant the dance taught there was a sport.
The Sports Council, however, said their dance was art.
In the Dáil recently, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett described the school as “a fantastic outfit”, saying: “It deals with disadvantaged kids who otherwise could be in serious trouble.”
Mr Murphy said the school had looked into being redesignated as a not-for-profit organisation.
“We’ve never made a profit, that’s not what what we’re in it for. We could move but we just know what an awful impact that would have on so many young people’s lives and on their chances in life. But we can’t keep going like this.”
