By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
DANCING in at ninth place on the world stage, Cranbourne’s own Irish dancing star, Callum McGregor says he has his mum to thank.
Hopping and stepping his way into the top 10 in the 15 to 16 age group at the Old Irish Dance Competitions held in Montreal last month, 16-year-old Callum a student at St Peter’s College, Cranbourne, said he had his sights set on next year.
“I came 20th in the world in 2010, and I’m going to compete in Glasgow again next year.”
With a dream of performing with the international Irish dancing phenomenon, Riverdance, Callum thanks his mum for never letting him slack off.
“If I had to pick out one person to thank first for helping me achieve this wonderful result, it would be my mum, she’s one of the three teachers that taught, and she made me a better dancer because she pushed me more than the other teachers,” Callum said.
Dancing from the age of three, Callum has won State Championships in his age group, eight times in a row.
Leading up to Montreal, Callum trained 12 hours a week and even more if he had spare time.
“I busked in the city leading up to worlds with my sister; we put some boards down and set up an i-pod doc,” Callum said.
With an Irish and Scottish heritage, Callum said Irish dancing had helped him in other areas of his life as well.
“You have to be super fit and it has helped me with my schooling, it makes my brain work more and helps with concentration,” he said.
Callum performed three dance routines on the world stage and said many people didn’t realise how popular the sport is.
“People don’t know how big it is around the world, it’s a lot bigger than they think it is.”
With dancing friends in America, Scotland and England, Callum is hoping to compete until he is 18 years old and work hard to fulfil his dream of a professional dancing career.
