Mas salsa por favor!…read more An awesome way to get moving is salsa dancing! Get your mambo on here - at the Turks Head - on Wednesday evenings. There's a nice dance floor and a good size group usually. Classes are ten euro for one hour. No need to bring a partner. You'll rotate and make new friends. And, the instructors are excellent and really interested in making sure you learn the moves :) Bonuses: Student discounts. Bulk discount if you buy six classes for 50 euro. And the bar is open to quench your thirst after your class concludes! The classes move fast and are so much fun and so uplifting! It's good for the soul and the heart! Mambo anyone?!

An excellent theatre and performing arts school for children and teenagers with classes on the…read moreNorthside and Southside of Dublin

A place to gather and sing, act, dance and most of all, HAVE FUN! Every teen or kid is welcomed…read morewarmly and is taught to perform. Shows are often performed and never fail to impress. Very advanced with equipment and experience!

Quite a handy location, just behind Clearys so near Connolly station, all the buses going through…read moreO'connell, near Abbey st Luas and the Dublin Bikes station by Penneys. Now that's the logistics out of the way, it s a fab place, one of the rare doing contemporary classes, which I attend at the moment. Don't expect strictly dance classes, there's a mixture of fitness and yoga to it, in a lovely blend. Having never had a proper dance class where you need to follow someone's movements, and never sure where's my right, I was a bit nervous before starting. My coordination did prove to be really bad and my first class was tough and/or hillarious but everybody's in the same boat and it turned out to be quite fun. Coisceim also organises dance shows, there's one coming soon in a few different locations so if you're a dance lover but not into dancing yourself, check their website out.

I did the intermediate ballet class which takes place on Thursdays from 745-900pm ( May-Aug 2013)…read moreand I have to say yes, this is as good as it gets and I don t say that lightly! I ve tried a couple of other places but was really not impressed with the instructors teachings (i.e. no corrections, no guidelines, etc..). So here I was thinking that I would not find a suitable adult ballet class when bam! I found a flyer for CoisCéim and I went with the mindset that it would probably be like the other places. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. I later told the teacher that it has literally been years since I ve had a drop in class with such a thorough, dedicated, well learned and versed teacher. I lost count of how many incredibly useful tips he gave; how to use certain muscles and bones (yes, bones too!) to attain various positions, how to breath, when to breath, how to visualize our movement and he also went through the exercises several times on his own, then with the group all while instructing us how to better our performance. And that is really invaluable and I can't stress just how hard it is to find a good teacher...on top of it all he was so friendly and accessible, what a cherry on the top! And having a nice teacher is also kind of rare in ballet, at least in my experience. ... So CoisCéim is really as good as it gets. After much searching and disappointment, I ve found my place...yay!!!

The Lir is Trinity's Dramatic Arts Academy and its façade is easily recognisable by the green…read more"bubbles" on the wall facing Pearse Street, right across the street from Valentino's. There are (at least) two stages, neither of them too big, and they can sit maybe around 40-80 people. The tickets aren't expensive, around 10-15€. During the year they run a programme with various kinds of plays and there's also a showcase in the summer, where they can highlight the work of their last-year graduates. This is a way their students get some experience, either as actors, writers or scenographers. I believe all the support staff - bar, tickets - are also students. For us, the regular public, it's a chance to catch a glimpse of raw talent, some more experimental productions and even new material. I've seen some really good acting and stage design there, but you also get the occasional mediocre actor, which is fine, because they're still students so it's expected that not everything will be as polished as in a more professional production. The bar serves all the usual things: glasses of wine, tea, coffee and some snacks, but remember to have some money on you, as they don't take cards. A very nice place to have in your neighbourhood, but unfortunately overlooked by most Docklands dwellers.

I attended the Tango Fiesta Milonga (Argentine tango dance) last night for their "Valentines"…read moredance. The event was well-attended, with perhaps 50 or 60 people dancing in a space that featured ample floorspace and enough seating for number of people rotating on and off the dance floor. Charmingly, admission included both light snacks (done up a little extra, I expect, because it was a special holiday dance). I have danced at milongas in a number of countries, and only in Ireland have I been offered a hot cup of tea! Very lovely. The experience of dancers followed the usual range, with about a 1/3 at the level of inexperience/beginner who have danced perhaps 6 months or less, a handful of dancers who were quite good, and the rest in between. I learned that there is usually about a dozen couples who attend this particular milonga, and so the more crowded floor was a challenge for many leaders. Still, people were polite and accommodating when dancing, and, this being the friendly city of Dublin, people were friendly when taking a break between dances. If you go, wear dance-friendly shoes. People wear a range of clothing for milongas, from casual jeans/tees to suits or lacy little numbers (again, because this was Valentine's, there were probably a few more in sexy little numbers than might be typical). It's typical to dance a set of 3 songs (which usually are organized in a theme of dance style or musical period, composer, etc.) with one partner - or at least the rest of a set - before switching. At this dance, i only saw male-female couples dancing (m-m or f-f is common in some countries or regions; I'm not sure yet about Ireland), but both men and women initiated dances. You don't need to attend with a dance partner; tango dancers tend to dance with many people during an evening, but you should probably at least know some basics that you can pick up at a dance school or workshop. This milonga, sponsored by the Tango Fiesta dance school, is held every other Saturday from 8:30 pm to midnight (see website for dates). Entry fee €5.

Today I was craving a new cafe experience and found myself on Kildare street, so I popped in here…read moreout of curiosity. I ordered a hot chocolate and chocolate fondant...yup one of those days! I sat down in a stylish canteen style table. (There are couches available too) and tucked into my hot chocolate which was quite average. But then I got my chocolate fondant! Oh sweet lord! This beauty was perfectly made with hot chocolate oozing from the middle, fresh cream and a dash of blackcurrant.Homina. Perfect for any chocolate fan! While there I found out that the building does French classes and love people who try out some French when ordering from the French speaking staff.

Although a Dubliner I had never been into this cafe/restaurant before, and was suitably impressed…read moreby the selection of lunchtime main courses - the quality and flavour of the food was very good. I had the beef bourguignon with dauphinois potatoes - both delicious and my friend had the cod and mussels in a very nice sauce together with dauphinois potatoes and it too was delicious. I have knocked one star off a potential 5 star rating as my pet hate in restaurants are the communal drinking glasses for table water were a tad grubby & in need of a good dishwashing......an easy one to solve