The caliber of the Blas programmes is best demonstrated by the views of past students, many of whom have returned to study with us a number of times.....
Clarisa from Chile is the young dancer from Chile, featured in “Nationwide”- the TV magazine programme that presented a special feature on Irish National TV service, RTÉ 1. Her letter to Blas, after her trip, tells it all…
"My trip to Ireland and Blas experience exceeded all my expectations... in all senses... it was so incredibly intensive, both physically and emotionally... I met so many wonderful people from Ireland and the rest of the world and at the end I had the feeling I had made friends for life....
The connection and our love and passion for Irish dancing, music or singing was so strong that no language was necessary to understand other classmates... we were all "in the same page".
My whole Blas experience was incredible... from the very beginning until the end; I enjoyed and took advantage of every minute spent at the University... I have no words to express all the wonderful moments and appreciation I feel for all the people at the University of Limerick... you all treated me and made me feel so special all the time I was there...
I will not get tired of repeating that the scholarship was a gift from heaven and that I'll be thankful for that all the days of my life... as well as feeling honored for having been the first Chilean at Blas.
My classmates, the campus, student village, the extraordinary teachers we had like Colin Dunne, Michael Ryan, Orfhlaith Ni Bhriain and Catherine Foley, the moments and conversations shared during the dinners, the sessions in the local pubs and afterwards the sessions in the kitchen of our dorms, the possibility of sharing with such talented and well know artists like Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, Patrick Street, etc.,
Michael Ó’Súilleabháin who was also a wonderful person, my dear friends with which I shared so much: Daniela (Colombia), Carmel (classmate from Limerick), Jenny (Finland), Maria (US), Natsuki(Japan), Jan (Holland) and Sinead (Ire) and the whole Blas experience will be for always in my memories...
And you can be sure that my little pupils will receive all that I learned and experienced at Blas... and who knows... maybe some day some of them will be future Blas students too! Now, the following step is to start preparing myself as I want to become someday a certified Irish Dance Teacher... I don't know when that will be but I will work hard for that and I'm sure that all the knowledge received at Blas will contribute in helping me to achieve this goal some day!"
Clari, Chile
Watch the RTÉ "Nationwide" TV footage here:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1003/
nationwide_av.html?2294975,null,228
