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Irish Dance News

Profile: Breffni School of Irish Dance

One day, at age 10, my sister, mother and I were at a dance class in Elizabeth, New Jersey. My sister was learning steps up on the stage with one of the Peter Smith School of Irish Dancing teachers, Michael O’Hara. Michael was a kind yet disciplined Irish dancing teacher whom everyone liked. I guess my mother caught me watching the lesson with Michael. Suddenly, my mother grabbed my hand and brought me up to Michael. I was embarrassed at first, but Michael focused on teaching... 

On Winning

It is a terrific thing to be on a podium, to be called forward and acknowledged. It is a testament to months of hard work by yourself and your teachers. When I see each dancer come across the stage, I think to myself “two to three seconds.” That is about the amount of time that it takes to receive your trophy. I wait, plastic and metal pressing into my cheek, for you to turn and flash your smile. I have been a feis photographer for several years now and I have taken thousands... 

Dancing to Save Lives

As a professional Irish Step Dancer with Trinity Irish Dance Company, I toured North America and Europe, performed in elite opera houses and posh performance arts centers, danced two weeks on Broadway, and even rubbed elbows with the likes of Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Daniel Craig while on film set of the “Road to Perdition.” My typical workday involved waking up in a comfy hotel bed and then going to the theater for rehearsal. There I enjoyed a sumptuous buffet of fine... 

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Hornpipe Departments

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Feis Mom?

The following criteria were developed a few years back by various “practitioners” in the field for use as a “self assessment” (Kind of like a Celtic Cosmo Girl Test). How many of these apply to you? 1. You think waiting in line for ten minutes to use the restroom at the local mall is a “piece of cake.” 2. You have ever wondered what “normal families” did on weekends? 3. You have ever taught a class on the “Irish Points” system. 4. All your trips to visit distant... 

Can You Trace Your Dance Genealogy?

At a workshop sponsored by the IDTANA for teacher members in February 2009, guest instructor, Mary McElroy, ADCRG, from Dublin very ably and patiently instructed attendees in some of the less–well-known traditional sets dances (The Jockey to the Fair, The Three Sea Captains, and The King of the Fairies). Several times during that session, I heard conversations about slight variations in ways of executing some of the material found in the traditional sets, as well as variations... 

Editor’s Thoughts- Defining What It Means To Be Irish

As editor of Hornpipe Magazine I am often asked if I am Irish. The question bewilders me on two fronts, first, would I have an interest to publish an Irish magazine if I was not Irish and, second, is there some measure to being Irish? My father’s paternal name does not immediately register Irish as would an O’Neil, Connelly, Bray or McCafferty would, but nonetheless it is Irish. My forefathers arrived in America long before the famine and with each generation became more American.... 

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