Liam Costello started Irish dancing a century and a half after his ancestors emigrated. Now the Sydney teen is a triple world champ
riple world champions are few and far between. Teenaged ones rarer still. You can find one of them working in his parents’ plumbing supplies shop in suburbanLiam Costello, 19, the slender and immaculately groomed young man who cleans the shop and fills orders for customers is the reigning, three-time Irishworld champion. He also has multiple All Ireland, North American and Australian championships under his belt. He won his third Irish Dance world championship in April in Belfast.
Costello is meticulous in nature and describes himself as a perfectionist . His blue eyes shine as he answers each question carefully, he sometimes touches a silver ring on his index finger or a silver necklace, so fine you can hardly see it. His hair is perfectly slicked like a young Elvis Presley and his sneakers are pristine white.He shows Guardian Australia his world-beating trophy.
Yeah, lots of teasing because I’m the guy who dances and doesn’t do football or soccer ... kids can be brutalBefore Michael Flatley’s Riverdance, the Broadway phenomenon that originated as an interval piece in the 1994 Eurovision song contest, Irish dance competition was largely restricted to Ireland and countries with large immigrant Irish populations. As Riverdance went global, so did Irish dance. Studios opened in Mexico City, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Dubai.
His first encounter with Irish dance was at an end-of-year school concert. “I remember liking the music but what I really loved were the steps and how precise they were. I really loved that. I love things to be perfect and I like everything to go smoothly. If there’s a bump in the road I go back and make it perfect.”
Dancers compete before judges with one or two others on the same stage at the same time, Costello says. Each performs their own routine, hoping to outshine the others on the stage. “You have people doing completely different steps. They’ll be going one way, you’ll be going the other. It can be like bumper cars sometimes.”
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