Roisín McArdle, who hails from Louth and lives in North Dublin, taught a heels dance class in Liffey Trust Studios in aid of breast cancer this morning.
Heels dance is a style of dance that is performed while wearing high-heeled shoes.
She hoped to make women feel good about themselves while allowing them to have fun and make lifelong friends.
“When I started heels dancing in college, I suppose every young woman goes through the trenches of trying to get used to the way their body changes. Heels dancing gave me a sense of ownership and made me feel comfortable,” she said.
“It’s breast cancer awareness month and I’ve become more aware recently about how many people’s lives that breast cancer affects, how many women it affects and how many families it affects.
“I thought I should combine heels dancing with raising awareness, because the dancing is about femininity, owning your body and breast cancer unfortunately, can take out the possibility of owning their body.
“I’ve been a dancer since I was about seven years old, I’ve always loved to dance. When I went to DCU I started dancing in high heels. It’s very slow, very sexy, it’s about owning your body, feeling good about yourself.”
Dancing has always been Roisín’s sport, it’s a form of exercise that is beneficial for her mental health. She highlighted that it improves her coordination, the endorphins released make her happy and overall, it’s great for her physical health.
“Growing up dancing was always my sport, when you’re on stage you can fall, you can break and you can but it’s okay because it’s all a part of the dance, you can let yourself go and lose yourself in something.
“Complete beginners joined this morning along with those who danced before, we were in a shared space, and we motivated each other.
“There was a bit of nerves with those who haven’t danced before, but they quickly became excited to discover what it’s all about. It’s for charity so it was fun.
“My first dance class in DCU, I decided to stand up front and conquer my nerves. I stood beside a girl called Orla and we’ve been sisters ever since, I haven’t left her side, we’re best friends.
“With this type of dance, you’ll walk into a supportive environment and see all shapes and sizes. I found a group of friends that were really supportive, it was about them too and how we hyped each other up.”
