Profile: Irish Dance and Peter Smith

In his South Amboy, N.J. studio, Smith’s students dance – and dance and dance, round after round after round.  They practice their hard shoe steps three students at a time, the entire class rotating, while Smith sits at the head of the hall.  There are no warm-ups, no stretches, no cool-downs.  It’s all dance, all the time.
From his humble demeanor to his class structure, Smith keeps it simple.  Don’t be misled.  His simplistic thinking has proven innovative in the world of Irish dance.  Where he sees a need, he meets it – and that is precisely how Smith became one of the foremost leaders of Irish dance in North America and beyond.
Meet Peter Smith: current president of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha, past president of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (I.D.T.A.N.A.), founder of the Southern Region, director of the Peter Smith School of Irish Dance, adjudicator, mentor…the list goes on.

Unification
When asked how many students are in his school, Smith just smiled and said he doesn’t know.  Smith doesn’t care about messy details like numbers because that’s not what is important – he cares about Irish dance.  His story takes off in 1959 when he passed his TCRG exam and began teaching on the east coast.  It was then that Smith saw a need to bring North America together, to unite Irish dance teachers not only from his region, but from the whole country.  A lofty goal; the I.D.T.A.N.A. was created a few short years later, established to strengthen leadership and standardize feiseanna.  There were less than ten teachers at that time; astonishingly, that number is now closer to 700, said Smith.
“All the regions support each other and I think Irish dancing has supported itself in North America,” said Smith, one of the leading experts on the governance of Irish dance.
The current president of An Coimisiún, Smith said the body is in place to ensure everything is run correctly and so no one can take off on their own.  Any changes in Irish dance must be approved by An Coimisiún; in other words, by everyone.

Change
With the immense popularity brought on by Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, competitive Irish dance experienced a major shift marked by a whole new level of athleticism.  Smith witnessed firsthand the progression of Irish dance into this new degree of difficulty, from the intricacy of steps to the modernity of costumes.  Though he admits that Irish dance has changed, he said these changes have only improved the steps, bringing the sport to a whole new peak.
“Each of the dances has kept its purity from the beginning of time.  A reel is a reel, a slip jig is a slip jig.  They are all beautiful in their own way.”
He prefers dancers to look more natural – “I disapprove of covering half the face in glitter” – and said his dancers tend to use make up very moderately.  He remembers the agony of hair curling for his girls, so he understands the ease and comfort that comes with wearing wigs.  As for costumes, Smith prefers traditional, to say the least.
“The Celtic design has gone away, but with the help of God we’ll bring it back to have Irish costumes once more,” Smith said.

Legacy
Smith’s students describe him as kind yet strict, motivating yet demanding.  His seasoned eye means little gets past him and as an adjudicator, he focuses on placement, carriage and posture.  One of Smith’s defining characteristics is his ability to pass on the same deep appreciation and respect for the art form to his students.  Jimmy Friel, one of Smith’s first pupils, began Irish dance at the age of ten.  He met his future wife in Smith’s class at age thirteen, their son learned Irish dance from Smith, and today Friel teaches alongside Smith.
“He loves his children,” said Friel.  “He can still dance with them.  I couldn’t even begin… his students who have gone on to become teachers and adjudicators – it’s a great testament to him, that he instilled love in that many people.”
Open Championship dancer James Hester, 21, began Irish dance at the relatively late age of sixteen; however, once he started, that was it.
“He [Smith] wants all his students to take the teachers exam and start schools of our own,” said Hester, of Newark, N.J. “I definitely want to be a teacher in the very near future…I would like to teach with Peter.”
Fourteen-year-old Maura McFadden has been dancing with Smith for nine years, during which she has reached the Open Championship level and most recently, qualified for the World Championships in 2007.
“He’s like the founder of dancing in America,” said McFadden.  “It’s a real honor to dance for him.”
For his leadership, his legacy, and his lifelong devotion to Irish dance, there is only one thing left to say:
Thank-You, Mr. Smith.

Irish dancer charms audiences yesterday and today

Before Riverdance the Show and Feet of Flames, before the Trinity Dance Company, and well before coffee Internet service providers had commercials featuring Irish dancers, three young girls from Garden City Long Island captured the hearts of Americans with their precise choreography and lightening fast feet. From September 5, 1965 to February 26, 1967, Christine, Barbara and Debra Boland appeared on nationwide television four times on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour introducing millions of Americans to Irish dance. The Ted Mack Amateur Hour, in it’s hey-day ,was a must see television program comparable to American Idol today.  A sensation each time they appeared, Chris, Deb and Barb were invited back to perform because Americans voted them the best performers on each show.
On their last appearance on February 26, 1967, dancing to the “Londonderry Hornpipe”, the Boland sisters competed with other “three-time winners” for the national championship of 1967. Once again the nation responded and the Boland sisters were voted as the 1967 Ted Mack Amateur National Champions.
When Chris first told me about their success in Irish dance, it was clear to me that she was speaking from the perspective of the ninth grader that she was at the time who really couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Chris retains that perspective today.
That the nation would respond so enthusiastically thirty years later to the Trinity Dance Company inspired Riverdance, perhaps may now seem fairly obvious. That there may be a direct connection through Chicago between the Boland sisters’ success  and Riverdance is not so apparent and in truth is pure speculation. But is fun to think about. Please let me explain.
Barbara Boland, TCRG went on to form the Boland School of Traditional Irish Dance in Rochester New York. Chris Boland, TCRG established the Boland School of Irish Dance in Green Island, New York (just outside of Albany). My two daughters Bailey and Kelsey have attended Chris’ school since 1998. Chris’ school, like most other dance schools, has a parents’ lounge with walls filled with Irish dance memorabilia. One day, killing time while my daughters’ class was in session, I noticed a small framed syllabus for the 1967 Chicago Feis hanging in a corner on the wall. Featured on the cover of the syllabus was a picture of Chris, Barb and Deb. Intrigued, and knowing that the Bolands grew up on Long Island, New York, I asked Chris how her picture came to be on the syllabus. Chris answered, “They asked to put our picture on it because they thought is was a ‘big deal’ that we were on the Ted Mack show.” It was about a year later after asking a lot more questions and getting modest answers that I learned that the Boland sisters were, in
fact, on national television four times and were the Ted Mack Amateur National Champions for 1967. I wonder if Trinity Dance Company Artistic Director Mark Howard knew of the “big deal” the Chicago Irish dance community made of the three Boland sisters’ national television success in 1967. It is fun to consider.
To be sure, by the 1960’s, Irish culture and the popular media had long enjoyed a successful relationship in the United States. From Chaunecy Olcott’s and George Graff’s 1912 “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” through Bing Crosby’s 1940’s gold records for “Too-Ra-Loo-La-Roo-Ral”, “McNamara’s Band”, and “Galway Bay” to Republic Pictures 1952 “The Quite Man”, things Irish (or at least, presented as Irish) found a receptive audience. Irish dance, however, beyond vaudeville, never seized and held the country’s imagination as a form of entertainment. Clearly, and I believe for the first time, that changed with the Boland sisters.
Chris, Debra, and Barbara Boland demonstrated the power of Irish dance to capture an audience on a national level just as Riverdance did thirty years later. Why it took so long for the entertainment industry to recognize that the “show” in Irish dance meant “business” for them we will never know. But, you can be sure, Ted Mack came to understand it for a time in 1967.
In 2004, some Boland School parents obtained a tape from Fischer Television Productions of the Boland sisters’ February 26,1967 final appearance on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour when they won the national champions title. Chris, having danced on the live television show, and there being no VCR’s, never actually saw herself and her sisters on TV. At the 2004 Annual Boland School of Irish Dance Recital with an audience of about 800, Chris was surprised with a showing of the Boland sisters’ performance. Next year is the fortieth anniversary of the championship. hm

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 me the steps, not on how uncomfortable I was. Once I realized that no one was fussing over me, I began to enjoy the lesson.
This was my first real dancing lesson. After this lesson I entered into the competitive world of Irish dancing full-force. I always look back on that day and wonder; “If it wasn’t Michael that was teaching me, would I have ever really gotten involved?” I don’t have the answer to that question, but I know for certain that Michael’s way of teaching helped ease my transition to learn dancing.

Today, Michael O’Hara is the Southern Region Irish Dancing Director. He lives in Miami with his wife and spends his free time teaching dancers in the Miami region. He was a great teacher when he was a part of the Peter Smith School and today, he stands as one of the most influential Irish dancing teachers in the Southern Region.

Hornpipe’s interview with Michael shows his path from the small boy captivated by the love of the dance to the internationally renowned Irish dancing teacher and director of the Southern Region.

HP: Tell me a little bit about how you got started in Irish Dancing.
O’Hara: I originally started dancing when I was 9 years old. My brother Colum and I quickly decided that it wasn’t for us, so we quit after a few lessons. A few years later, Colum saw some dancers at a festival and decided to try it again but I decided not to go. He went to his first feis a few months later and came home with 2 first place trophies. I couldn’t believe it – he had 2 trophies and I had none. I learned all of his steps that night and then went to my first feis a few weeks later. I won 2 firsts and never looked back.

HP: Did you have any teaching experience while dancing with your school?
O’Hara: That is the great thing about Peter. He always encourages his dancers to be teachers by providing opportunities to assist him in class. Peter would give me a group of dancers to work with and I would think that he wasn’t watching, but he was. After the class he’d give you a run down of how you did. He was the best mentor that anyone could ask for. The important thing was that he was there watching you every step of the way. Your sister, Meghan, was one of the dancers that I had worked with, and I’m sure you remember me trying to convince you to start Irish Dancing as well.

HP: What made you move to Florida?
O’Hara: Love. I met my wife, Nicola McEleney, at the 1996 Nationals in Boston. She was going to college in Liverpool, England and doing a college work placement in Miami. After she got her degree she moved to Miami permanently and I followed her there. We got married in Miami in 2000. Nicola teaches full-time at the Breffni Academy.

How did you establish yourself as a dancing teacher in Florida?
O’Hara: I started the Breffni Academy in Miami with the assistance of Nicola and her sister Patricia Daley. There wasn’t much of anything Irish in Miami as you can imagine. A family saw Nicola and Pat dancing one night and asked if there was anywhere they could have their girls take lessons. It all started from there. Our first beginners are now in college and still dancing. We’re very proud of them all.

HP: What made you want to be the Southern Regional Director?
O’Hara: I had already served on the Executive Board as Recording Secretary and Assistant Regional Director, so this was a natural progression for me. I wanted to lead the Region into a new era and also tackle some issues that I felt needed to be addressed. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had, but it is a position that is extremely demanding.
Overall it’s been fantastic. The support I have had from the Southern Region members has been great. I’ve also had the pleasure of being able to work with the all of the past Regional Directors – Laureen O’Neill-James, Una Ellis and Russell Beaton. I have had a great time as the Regional Director for the IDTANA Southern Region, and I look forward to running for a second term.
HP: Do you work outside of Irish dancing?
O’Hara: I’m glad you asked that question. Most people think I just teach Irish Dancing. I am the Director of Housing Development for the City of Miami Beach. My job is to develop housing for the elderly, families in need, and the workforce. I am responsible for the entire process from concept development and financing to final occupancy. At the moment, I have seven projects in various stages of development and construction.
I also serve as the master Irish Dance teacher and World Dance panelist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Program sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). This program selects the top high school artists in the country, with the very best going on to the White House to receive a gold medal from the President. Last year, three Irish Dancers made it to the finals – Ashley Smith, Deirdre Robinett, and Garret Coleman.

HP: What are the hot topics in Irish Dance right now?
O’Hara: There are a few, but for the Southern Region it is the intermittent teaching rule. An Coimisiun does not allow classes to operate without a certified instructor present at all times. There have been some instances where approval has been granted in the Southern Region, but for the most part the rule has been ignored. The Southern Region has grown in part by having some of these arrangements in place, but there are many unintended consequences. Any new arrangements will not be allowed unless they are strictly in conformance with the rule. The current arrangements will be corrected over time with senior dancers obtaining their TCRG certification, and many have been already. This has not been an easy task, but it is necessary in order to ensure the continuation of a high standard in the future.
For Irish Dancing, the issue right now is costumes. The current trends and styles have gotten extremely out of hand. While I agree that all art forms must modernize over time, the basic idea of a traditional Irish Dance costume seems to have been lost. The cost is also problematic, but demand will always dictate the price when it comes to costumes. An Coimisiun has formed an official Costume Committee to analyze the issues and bring forth recommendations. This is an issue that all Regional Directors are following closely to make sure that the views of North American teachers, dancers and parents are taken into consideration.

Personally, Michael was an inspiration. Hopefully, I too have encouraged young dancers that I taught. Michael is one of the most dedicated Irish dancing instructors out there, and I know he is passing that light of passion off to other young ones, just as Peter Smith did to him years ago. Michael’s enthusiasm and love for Irish dance has already brought so many dancers into the Southern Region, and I suspect this trend will continue for as long as he remains involved in Irish dancing. The light will never die.

By Erin Reilly

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 foods, after which I powdered my nose in a well-lit, mirrored dressing room with running water, flushing toilets and then some. All this was in preparation for that magical moment, that hair-raising, spine-tingling instant when the curtains rise, the lights flare, the fiddles scream, and the dancers emerge, leaping onto stage to greet an audience of thousands of eager ticket-holders, who all paid good money to see a great show.
Never during those fleeting five years did I envision that one day, I would be using those talents in such a drastically different way. Sure enough, five years after officially “retiring” from the professional Irish dance world, I found myself dancing in quite a different forum: One-hundred-degree heat and dry dusty grounds. My stage now is a latrine door torn from a nearby toilet. My audience is a crowd of 50-100 African villagers, who somehow managed to put down their work, step outside of their homes for a moment just to catch a glimpse of the Irish Dancing girl who suddenly appeared in their village
How does a professional Irish dancer get booked in a village in Africa? It goes something like this…
One year ago, a close friend told me about an organization she found on Craig’s List. This group taught HIV/AIDS awareness in Africa through “the arts.” She knew I had been itching to go somewhere faraway and new, to do something charitable and somehow apply my dancing abilities. But what are the odds of combining those three ambitions?
“This is perfect for you,” were her exact words. It certainly was—and is.
She found Sankofa Center, named after the African symbol of a bird that looks over its own back to correct its past mistakes. Sankofa Center is a volunteer-based program that teaches HIV/AIDS awareness and seeks to end widespread cultural misconceptions about sex, gender inequalities, and HIV/AIDS in Ghana. After a year of raising enough funds to cover the cost of the plane ticket, roughly $2000, and saving enough for my volunteer fees (another $2000), and finally convincing my fearful family that I would not disappear in Africa, I was ready to go. (All of this was a seemingly small price for what became the greatest adventure of my life, and the most important thing I can say I’ve ever done.)
On June 15th 2007, I boarded a flight for Ghana, a country the size of Oregon that touches the Atlantic Ocean on the underbelly of West Africa. I arrived 24 hours later in darkness, due to a routine power outage—a startling arrival for me, but a typical occurrence for Ghanaians.
Greeted at the airport by my host brother and two other Ghanaian volunteer coordinators, we made our way to what would be my home for the next six weeks, a host family in the village of Dome in the northern outreaches of the capital city of Accra. The next week I would spend rehearsing with the local dancers and drummers, learning the traditional dances, and preparing to begin our outreach—all the while adjusting to this new environment from this total cultural immersion.
Once ready, I and the Sankofa team, a conglomerate of local cultural dancers and drummers and other international volunteers, went into the community, to teach HIV/AIDS awareness in marginalized villages far from Accra’s city-center.
These villagers represent the majority of Ghana. They are hardworking, friendly people who have enjoyed a peaceful democracy for 50 years, and an economic stability that places them near the higher financial end of Africa’s countries, although still poor when compared to the United States. Proud of their culture and their advanced education system, most Ghanaians speak English and value progress and scholarship. Fortunately, they have not yet been hit by the AIDS epidemic that is ravaging other African nations.
Unfortunately, neither have they been educated on HIV/AIDS prevention. Ours was an intense four-day work week, with the first three days spent in a designated school, teaching HIV/AIDS education to junior high and secondary school students. We, both trained local dancers and brave volunteers, would first perform traditional Ghanaian dances to capture the attention of our student audience. This proved to be an effective way to engage onlookers, since the Ghanaians were generally curious, delighted, and, let’s be honest, amused to see white foreigners humbly attempting their age-old, traditional dances. Later we would teach HIV/AIDS awareness through dance dramas and mini-lectures, review games, condom-demonstrations, small-group question and answer sessions, and finally more dancing.
On the fourth day, we would bypass the school and plant ourselves in a village center, completely unannounced and uninvited, though always welcomed with intrigue and gratitude. It was there in the villages that we conducted HIV/AIDS testing and found that the national projection of 2 percent of the total population affected with HIV/AIDS has been sorely underestimated. Our tests indicated an unsettling 8 percent average.
Needless to say, we were reminded daily of the urgency of our work and the looming threat of another AIDS epidemic—just like the ones that have hit so many other African nations. Thankfully, those villagers who tested positive will receive free medicine courtesy of Sankofa Center, so that they may live long lives and prevent passing the virus on to others.
An Irish Step dancer and teacher by trade, I was unsure how my abilities could be used in such a program. I quickly learned that my presence alone was a huge contribution to Sankofa’s mission. In every village Caucasians were as rare to the people there as wild monkeys were to me. I was willingly used as the “opening act,” and Irish danced on concrete walls or dismantled latrine doors to the drummers’ beats to draw villagers out of their homes and into our “outdoor classroom.”
After years of getting paid to Irish dance in highbrow venues, I was happy to dance for free—actually pay to dance if you consider the program fees–and share my talents in such a meaningful way. I can say I’ve never felt such satisfaction in being able to use my years and years of dance training for such an important cause.
The other volunteers in the program brought their own array of skills. We were an eclectic smorgasbord of talent, ranging from social workers to teachers, belly dancers and visual artists to graphic designers, marketing directors, and counselor. We all shared one commn goal: To educate the people of Ghana about the threat of HIV/AIDS before it’s too late. Perhaps what is most striking about this program is its ability to utilize whatever skills the volunteers bring to the table. Every volunteer is equally valuable and together we were able to accomplish amazing things.
I came back to Chicago, but I’m already planning my next trip to Ghana as a volunteer coordinator for Sankofa Center, I feel the desperate need to tell my and Sankofa’s stories in hopes that others will take on the challenge and help continue this work. Volunteers are always needed, and whatever skills you possess are enormously appreciated. In fact it is essential to the program’s continuance.
If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer, experience true cultural immersion in a beautiful safe foreign environment, or join the fight against AIDS in Africa, I strongly recommend this program. I feel immensely fortunate to have found a way to use my talents to provide a greater good. Your life will be changed forever, but only in the most meaningful way.
Those who do not have the luxury of volunteering may donate directly to the organization to help pay for testing supplies, medicine to treat those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and to help fund the construction of Sankofa’s local center, which will provide on-site training for future volunteers and an open, free clinic to test for and treat HIV/AIDS.
For more information on how to help, please visit the website: www.sankofacenter.org or email me directly at diandraj79@yahoo.com. You are invited also to view my blog to witness my day-to-day experience as a volunteer in Ghana with the Sankofa Center at: myspace.com/diandrapatriciajones.

By Diandra Jones