It was standing room only at the Theatre Royal in Waterford city last night for the annual Solas Centre ‘Dance For Life.’

Seventeen dancing pairs strutted their stuff on the stage and helped to raise over €40,000 for the local Cancer Support Service.

The event was won by partners Laura Brown and Ciara Larkin.

Solas Centre Chairperson Dee Jacques told WLR News that she was “humbled” by the efforts made by last night’s performers.

“To hear the individual stories of the dancing pairs, talk about why they decided to do the dance and the fundraising effort, it was just phenomenal,” she said.

“It takes courage to go on the stage,” she added, “these lads got into costumes and put themselves out there. I just think it’s a phenomenal effort.”

Event Judge Jimmy Lyons admitted that making a call on last night’s winners was tough.

“There were about 5 or 6 front-runners, all on the same mark,” he said. “This is my fourth year judging it and every year the standard has gone up and up.”

“I think people were doing it in many cases for loved ones, and that brought a special magic to the night,” he said. ” Waterford has it’s own magic when it comes to musical theatre and dance and that made a lovely cocktail!”