ELD Association

Instructor in the Spotlight -The Lightning Lads

This month David Sinfeld and Darren Tubridy, aka the Lightning Lads, have agreed to tell us about their line dancing journey and how they have got to where they are today.
 
David has been dancing since 1994, discovering his passion for line dance whilst attending a country club in Belfast with his Uncle Frank.  In 1996 he undertook his teacher training with BWDA and started choreographing shortly after that.  Darren started dancing in 1994, when line dance was all the rage and was hooked from the start, he has been dancing since then, starting to teach in 2019.
 
Outside of line dance the Lightning Lads enjoy cosplay and even judge at Comicon events in the UK, they enjoy travelling and of course spending time with their two pet dogs called Mario and Luigi.  On a usual week they run a class in Belfast on a Monday night and every second Wednesday, whilst their dancers are mainly beginners the classes cater for all levels and everyone is welcome to attend.  You can view more information about their classes by clicking here.
 
David’s favourite dancing memories are of competition dancing, in particular winning the World Championships with Masters in Line in 2005, 2006 and 2007, winning European Championships and the Irish Masters in Line too.  Other accolades David is proud of include being nominated for a CBA as part of the Linedancer radio team and being nominated alongside Darren in the UKLDAs.
 
Darren’s favourite dancing memories are also of competition dancing, including placing 5th & 4th in the World Championships in Nashville with UCWDC in 2004 & 2005, winning the EU Championships with CWDC and Spanish Championships in 2022.  Darren is also particularly proud of his dance Sundown Swing, written as part of the ICE course run by Rob Fowler, this dance has been nominated for a CBA two years running.  To view Darren’s dance please click here.
 
Between them the Lightning Lads have choreographed a staggering number of dances, over 145!  5 of David’s have been published in Linedancer Magazine and Up Country Magazine, including Love to Cha Cha, Cowgirl Tough and I Saw Goodbye in her Eyes.  Darren’s most successful dances have been written as part of the ICE team and include Sundown Swing, Ava’s Last Laugh and Run away Rumba, the newest dance released by the boys is called Up in the Giddy Up, to the latest Shania Twain release Giddy Up.  To view all of David and Darren’s dances on the ELD website, please click here.

In 2023 David and Darren are looking forward to going to more line dance events now that the dance world is finally properly open again after the last few years, and generally having a great time dancing with friends and those friends who are now dance family.  As the boys say, line dance is for everybody, for all ages and abilities and not only is it good exercise, but it really helps to promote and improve mental health.  They are very excited to be part of the ELD Expo in Bournemouth later this year and are looking forward to choreographing new dances to be released at the event.
 
David and Darren are the only ELDA members in Northern Ireland and are honoured to be part of an association that is truly committed to the industry and supporting the back bone of line dancing.  Finally, they would like to wish all ELDA members a very successful 2023.

February 2023

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