GCU at the heart of Glasgow’s first ever University Dance Competition

A GCU Nursing student’s lifelong passion has helped lead to Glasgow’s first University Dance Competition.

Mirrin MacLeay has been dancing since the age of two and her hobby followed her to GCU when she started on the Child Nursing course in September 2023.

She said: “One of the reasons I chose to study here was because of the GCU Dance team. I saw a lot about it on social media. I watched all of their videos and saw the types of competitions they got to compete in. It was amazing, and definitely a massive factor in me choosing to study here.

“I joined the GCU Dance Team straight away in first year and started during Freshers’ Week. I went to their recreational classes every week and then I also tried out for the competition team and managed to get into four of them.”

Mirrin quickly realised the benefits of competing while studying and knew she wanted to try and deliver something different in Scotland’s biggest city.

“We’ve only ever attended competitions in Aberdeen, St Andrews, Dundee and Edinburgh. We tend to do three competitions per year and I absolutely love getting the chance to be involved in them.

“I was really interested in having a role on the team’s Committee last year, so I put my name forward for Competition Coordinator and managed to get it. I knew having our own competition was something I really wanted to achieve if I got the role. Thankfully I did, so I then made it my mission to make it happen.”  

Mirrin added: “There’s never been a competition held in Glasgow before for universities, so I really wanted us to be the first to deliver one.

“We started planning about a year in advance, so there was a lot of preparation all through the summer to find the best prices for a venue, t-shirts and trophies – we even had to sort our own judges.

“I was particularly pleased with the t-shirts. Our social media manager, Emma, helped us create a logo for the front and then we had all the universities printed on the back.”

Caledonian Competition 2026 was held on 21 February at the C7 Conference Centre in Glasgow and brought together seven different universities for a day to remember.

Mirrin said: “The day started with us getting all set up and introducing all the different teams to everyone. Hannah, our President and Keira our Vice-President were a massive support to me throughout the day. We also had GCU Alumni help out with a variety of different roles, including stage management and first aid. It really was a full team effort with everyone from GCU Dance playing such an important part.

“There were different categories of competition: ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, highland, wildcard and small group. It was certainly a busy day because our welcome talk started at 09.15 and we didn’t finish until about 19.30.

“There were 215 people there, so it was definitely the biggest event we’ve ever put on. I was delighted with how successful it was and we’re really keen to bring it back next year.”

Mirrin’s involvement in the event highlighted just how much she’s enjoyed being a part of the GCU Dance Team since starting at university.

She said: “Being involved has probably been the highlight of my university experience so far. I do all the Applicant events with the student nurses and always encourage them to join a society or sports club – it makes a massive difference to your university experience.

“It’s so important because it allows you to meet people from different courses and year groups. I’ve met some of my best friends through being involved in the team.”

Find out how you can get involved in the GCU Dance Team or follow them on Instagram

By Ross Clark 
Achieved something related to your course or in your personal life? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk