Article by:
Ben James
ON the face of it Amber Rae Fowler is like most other 15-year-olds.
She loves to get dressed up, get her hair done and buy new clothes.
But unlike her school friends, she didn't spend the Easter holiday shopping in town and chasing after boys.
The Brighton girl instead shed blood, sweat and tears in pursuit of dancing glory.
Since the age of eight the Brighton and Hove High School student has been performing Irish dance - and is now one of the top talents in the world.
Her CV is staggering given her tender years. As well as being the national champion and Irish champion she has scored a third in the European Championships and third at a previous World Championships.
On Thursday she faced off against 40 others girls in the highly competitive European under 16s and came a respectable forth.
But on Sunday she goes for the big one in the world under 16s.
Such is her dedication, she was too busy practicing when The Argus went down to the Brighton Centre.
Proud mum, Jay, described her as amazing and strong.
She said: "She is fantastic, she is so dedicated and has hardly been off the podium her whole career.
"It is a big commitment and we travel all over for competitions from Ireland to Germany. It's huge."
Born and bred in Brighton, the teenager juggles training with studying for her GCSEs.
Unlike many of the her fellow competitors, Amber Rae doesn't have Irish heritage and only started after getting introduced to the genre by a friend.
She travels twice a week to Crawley for training which includes a gruelling five hour session on a Saturday.
And when the rest of her friends are off relaxing during the school holidays, she has a 30 hour a week programme of training.
It isn't cheap either.
Jay said: “I have bought her a new dress every year for the last three years. I always promise her a new dress every year and she’s also growing so I have to keep to my promise.
"It’s important to me that we keep up with the trending styles, it gives her confidence to compete”
“I spend £1,000 and more each time but you can only get around five wears out of it."
She added: “It's a huge commitment but she takes it on with everything she's got.
"It goes before everything else. She does get tired and injured but she just keeps going."
As well as the incredible dancing, the championships are characterised by the industrial amounts of fake tan and hair spray used by competitors.
But while some my turn their noses up, Jay doesn't think it is a problem.
She said: "When she was younger she wouldn’t be tanned and made up. But now she’s older I don’t mind, I don’t like seeing young ones like it but because she wears make up anyway, it’s just how they are at her age.
“It’s become very pageant like - but it's the culture."
The championships, which continue today and tomorrow, are very much an assault on the senses.
Imagine walking through the perfume and make-up section of the biggest Boots store in the world and you are only halfway there.
You will find every possible shade of lipstick on show, sparkly dresses that are best viewed
through prescription sunglasses and hair so curly Brian May would be jealous.
But joking aside, the competitors are incredible athletes.
They have the flexibility of gymnasts, leg muscles of cyclists and the quick feet of a boxer.
Mary Felton, one of the event's organisers, explained the competitors' distinct look.
She said: “The traditional values are really important to us just as much as the dressing-up, the make-up and fake tan. It’s more about the moves, judges are of course looking for good presentation but if you don’t get the steps right, you will be disqualified.
“ Although we have a lot of rules based around the way our girls are allowed to look, we prefer that anyone under the age of 13 sticks to the Celtic style dress with strictly no make-up or fake tan."
She added, “It’s also important to us to encourage Irish dancing to be affordable for parents.
"It’s still just a hobby for most people and while parents spend up to £2,000 on a dress every year, sometimes it’s not doable when the children are young because they grow so quickly. ”
Irish dance is often in the shadow of other more popular dance genres such as ballet and tap. But in recent years there has been a push to spread the word with classes starting in the likes of Hungary and Austria.
Ricky Lawless, a dance teacher from Ireland, said: “I have been a dancer for 15 years and a teacher for three.
"I already travel from town to town in Ireland to enlighten as many people as I can. Most of the time I have new students joining because they’ve seen someone else perform and they want to get involved. They often then keep it up for life.”
Rachael Gibbons, one of the event's organisers, said: “It is coming on in leaps and bounds. Every time River Dance or Lord of the Dance is on in theatres, we get a lot more students looking to join our classes. I like to think the shows inspire people, even just for a second.”
The event, which ends of Sunday, has been a huge success so far with almost double the usual audience numbers.
Every examination room has been packed with supporters, some coming from as far as Australia.
Kim Osmond, from Gloucester, is one of the thousands of parents on the circuit.
She said: "My daughter has been participating since the age of seven and has continued for 19 years. We have been to America, Germany, Ireland and China for events.
“It’s hard work, its fun, it’s hectic, it’s expensive but our team is like my family. Mum’s look after each other’s children, we always borrow from each other if we need to. We’ve had our ups and downs but I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s just life really. ”
Ezra from The Netherlands, is one of the dozens of international competitors in Brighton this weekend.
For the ten-year-old, the event is a great way to make new friends.
He said: “I'm from Holland and I am one of the only boys in my class, I don’t mind though because when I come to competitions I get to meet more boys my age too.”
Today there will be a charity competition starting at 8pm before the conclusion of the World Championships on Sunday.
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