ATHENS, Ohio (April 4, 2000) -- When the internationally acclaimed Trinity Irish Dance Company visits Athens on April 7, an Ohio University junior majoring in dance will be among the featured performers. Sinead Kimbrell, 20, of Cleveland, interned with the dance company during winter quarter and is touring part time this spring. She has appeared in such cities as New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix. The Trinity Irish Dance Company will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, April 7, at Ohio University's Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Founded in 1990, the Trinity Irish Dance Company is a uniquely Irish-American company. The professional company's repertoire is cutting-edge and its members have won international acclaim. Most of its dancers came through the ranks of the Trinity Academy of Irish dance, the Chicago/Milwaukee-based school that has won several gold medals for the U.S. at the World Championships of Irish Dance held annually in Ireland. The company made up of 22 dancers between the ages of 18 and 24.

"The tour has been a great experience," Sinead says. "It has forced me to grow up, meet new people and learn how to live. There are the hard days when you want to go home and the days where you want to live on the road forever."

To interview Sinead in advance of or during the company's visit to Athens, contact Trinity marketing director Janet Hartzell, (414) 354-9710.

Performing one piece with the Trinity dancers will be four young Athens performers. Shauna Vickers, 6; Sarah Gerhard and Annie Sand, both 7; and Mary Page Dalrymple, 9, are students of the Athens Irish Dancers, a group founded by Ohio University senior Sarah Borland. Borland, who started Irish dancing at age 8, connected with Ohio University administrator and Irish dance enthusiast Tim Hogan when she arrived in Athens and soon was dancing on Monday evenings at O'Hooley's pub. Borland later founded the Athens Irish Dancers, made up of 38 dancers who perform and compete throughout the Midwest.

To interview Sarah Borland, contact Todd Anderson in Ohio University Media Services, (740) 593-1885.

For photographs: Photos may be taken during a rehearsal (not dress rehearsal) from 2 to 5 p.m. the day of the performance in Memorial Auditorium. Media wishing to shoot the evening performance may do so throughout the show, although no flash or extra lighting will be permitted. Arrangements for photos should be made in advance by contacting Todd Anderson in Ohio University Media Services, (740) 593-1885.

Tickets for the show are available from the Memorial Auditorium box office, (740) 593-1780.