Profile The Bracken School of Irish Dance

You Are Invited
Welcome to the Bracken School of Irish Dance:  A magical place where the teacher laughs as much as his students, performances are cherished more than competitions and every student is celebrated.
It sounds far-fetched, but Tom Bracken A.D.C.R.G. has created a learning environment than incorporates mutual respect, high expectations and pure fun that allow his students to study the art of Irish dance – and enjoy every minute of it.  Sometimes classes run a little longer and that’s perfectly okay; in fact, these students are even grateful for the extra practice.
“If classes are an hour and a half, it will go on for another hour and a half,” said Open Championship dancer John Smith, 20. “For Worlds [World Championships of Irish Dance, Rince na Cruinne] we stayed until 11:00 or 11:30 at night sometimes.  It’s really generous of him [Bracken] and we give him the same back.”
Among the 200 students in the Bracken School, 29 soloists and three ceili teams will compete at the North American Nationals, which at the time of this article are quickly approaching at the end of June.  As Bracken rotates between three rooms in his Phoenix studio, he critiques jigs and hornpipes of all levels, treating champion and beginner-level dancers with the same charisma and consideration.  Every student is dressed in the same navy blue Bracken School t-shirt, including Tom Bracken himself, and with his refreshing energy and youthful sense of humor, one almost mistakes him for one of his students.
“It’s all about expectations,” said Bracken.  “I set the standards and they know what’s expected of them.  It’s mutual respect.  I have to meet their expectations also.”
Bracken has more than met his students’ expectations, setting himself apart as one of the most successful Irish dance teachers in the Western region, garnering 22 World medals in the process.
Born in Tullamore, County Offaly, Bracken began dancing at the age of four, later joining the famous Inis Ealga School in Dublin.  He has a rich academic background, having attended university and working as a senior administrator in an England high school.  While Bracken was successfully working and teaching Irish dance in England, he reached a crossroads where he could continue working as such, or seize a new opportunity.
“Looking at the rest of my working career, I had risen to the top of my profession but nothing appealed to me at that point in time,” said Bracken.
Having reached the pinnacle of his academic career in England, Bracken turned down a job offer to become a school principal and instead opted to come to America.

“I said, I’m off to America!”
Bracken packed his bags and came to California and eventually took over Doireann Maoileidigh-Hoy’s classes in Phoenix.  As Bracken set out on his new adventure, he knew it would be difficult to make the shift from the academic world to the creative world, but he was up for the challenge.
He added that after years of living in England, he was looking forward to the hot Phoenix weather.
Bracken now teaches seven days a week with class locations in Phoenix, Chandler, Ariz. and San Diego, Calif.
On June 5th Bracken closed his Tucson studio after 10 years. It was a pragmatic decision he felt was necessary in order to pursue further academic credentials while maintaining the high standards of the rest of the school.  During the 10 years of teaching in Tucson, Irish Dance and the Bracken name became synonymous.
“I have no regrets; I had ten good years there.  It was no longer on my agenda to do it, so I will be continuing with my future plans, concentrating on Irish Dance classes in metro Phoenix and Greater San Diego.”
In order to remain the sole teacher in the school, Bracken said his option was to downsize.  He currently has homes in both Arizona and California, as well as cars awaiting him at each airport, so his travel is both minimized and time-efficient.
“It is better being on my own,” Bracken said. “I prefer working seven days a week, sustaining the integrity of my school, while at the same time nurturing trust and a good relationship with my dancers which ultimately leads to a more happy and successful school.”

The Spirit of the School
Regardless of location, the Bracken School maintains an intangible spirit of love and humor that is rare, even in Irish dance.  The students share a strong work ethic and excitement for the dance, but care for each other and have many laughs along the way.  The refreshing attitude of the community is a quality that is often sacrificed for other merits in Irish dance.
“He is a great person and an amazing teacher,” said Shannon Speshock, 16, of Chandler.  “I look up to him.  This would not be the same school it is today if Tom was not here, with all the hard work and dedication he puts into us.  This is our family.”
“It’s like my old job,” said Bracken.  “The welfare of my students is a lifelong work.  In the academic and the dance world, there’s a common understanding.”
Bracken admits that there is an edge in Irish dance that is not so nice, but he does his best to promote respect and kindness in his dancers.  As much as Bracken acknowledges the merits of competition, it remains low on his priority list.
“The gratification comes from watching the performances, not from the achievements in competition,” said Bracken.  “Who does that make happy?  Only one person – the dancer who got first.  But when you teach them how to perform and how to perform with integrity – that’s the more moving part of my involvement.”
As for Bracken’s students, it seems that all the right lessons are being transmitted, demonstrated by their success in Irish dance and beyond.
“The lessons in life in competitive dancing, it depends on the integrity of the parent and teacher as to what is transmitted,” he said.  “It’s the way children are trained.”
“He’s very funny, we joke around all the time,” John Smith said of Bracken.  “But we’re also very, very hard-working when we work.  He’s really dedicated and goes above and beyond to help me.  It shows with the amount of time he commits to us, attending to us on a personal level, too.”
Smith drove from San Diego to Phoenix in order to practice with his ceili team for Nationals.  After receiving second place for solos the past two years at Nationals, he hopes to win all three rounds in 2006.
“My favorite part of Irish dance is the people and the interactions and the friendships you make,” Smith said.
As for Bracken, “He has been a friend to me as much as a teacher,” said Smith.
It is evident that Smith dances to please Bracken as well as himself.  While he dances his hornpipe, Bracken studies the open championship dancer, urging him to lift more as Smith nears the end of his round.
“The teaching and creating of champions is the pursuit of excellence, but when overindulgent thinking becomes more important than the actual school – you need to reevaluate things,” said Bracken.  “If we work with integrity, I don’t need any more than that.”
Bracken said the most rewarding part of Irish dance has been experiencing his students perform in the public arena.  One of his favorite memories was watching a performance at the San Diego Symphony Hall – and the dancers receiving a standing ovation after the show.
“Watching everyone around me so taken with the performance, seeing the audience thrilled with what they’ve done … I think, ‘Wow, I made that happen,” Bracken said.  “I’ve been instrumental in making so many people happy.”
“This is his life and he makes his students his life,” said Open Championship dancer Amanda Harrington, 20.  “He is a second parent to me.  It goes past Irish dance.”
The Love of the Dance
Tom Bracken has created a stunning legacy in ten short years of teaching Irish dance in Arizona and California.  While he plans on working on academic postscripts in the future, Bracken knows for certain he will continue to teach the pattern of excellence he has already begun over the next ten years and beyond.
Kirsten Hahn began dancing for Bracken at 18 years old when she came to Arizona for college.  Now 24, Hahn will make her sixth Nationals appearance and is hoping to place in the top twenty.  She owes a lot of her success to her teacher.
“He’s great,” Hahn said.  “I don’t know how to sum it all up.  He wants so much for us to do the best we can.  Tom does everything he can to help us get there.”
Hahn said she will continue Irish dance and when she is satisfied with her placements, she plans on taking her TCRG [An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha certified teacher] exams to become an Irish dance teacher, following in his footsteps.
When Bracken speaks to his class, he looks at the faces of children and young adults, dancers he has watched grow up before his eyes and dancers who know him almost as well as he knows himself.
When he looks at his dancers on this Saturday morning of practice, he has a smile on his face.  It tends to stay there. hm

Bracken School of Irish Dance
Owner/Director Thomas P. Bracken A.D.C.R.G.
www.brackenschool.com
tpbrackensid@aol.com

Book Review: Kaylee’s Choice

If you’ve ever attended one of the nearly two hundred feisanna held in North America each year, you’ve probably been impressed by the variety of Irish merchandise sold by the vendors who are a staple at the events.  The thousands of young dancers who attend each feis can find t-shirts with Irish homilies, jewelry with Celtic designs, histories of the Emerald Isle, and even Irish underwear.  Unfortunately, they cannot find books about Irish dancers like themselves.
Scratch that last item.
Author Rod Vick recently released Kaylee’s Choice, a novel about a ten-year-old girl, Kaylee O’Shay, whose father wants her to be a soccer star like he was.  Kaylee, however, discovers Irish dance, and this new interest pulls her away from old friends and her father.  The novel includes a foreword by Sean Beglan, former principal dancer with Riverdance.
Vick was inspired to write the book after attending feisanna with his own daughter.  “I noticed there were no books for my daughter,” he explained.  “There are tons of young adult novels about soccer players, veterinarians, football players, even gymnasts.  Irish dancers needed a hero who wears ghillies.”
Although the book first hit stores and feisanna in the spring of 2006, feedback has already been enthusiastic.   “I’ve been amazed at the letters, e-mails and other feedback from dancers and parents.  Most are already asking for a second book.”
And it looks like they will get their wish.  Vick is halfway finished with the follow-up to Kaylee’s Choice.  In book two, Green Storm, Kaylee is eleven and training for her first feis.  The book is set for a fall 2006 release.  Vick has outlined eight books, which take Kaylee O’Shay from pre-adolescent to the age of seventeen—and all the accompanying problems that confront today’s teenagers.
Are the books based on real life?  “I think there are situations that almost every dancer can identify with,” said Vick.  “But the people, the dance schools and the events are entirely fictitious.”
Kaylee’s Choice deals with real-life issues like handling parental expectations, balancing old and new friendships, the sometimes daunting costs associated with Irish dance, and even bullying.  It’s also a book with some unexpected twists.
“The book was fun to write,” said Vick.  “But it’s been even more fun seeing how excited all the young dancers are when they see it for the first time.  It’s almost like they can’t believe there’s a book about the thing they love.”

Practice, the exhilaration and the frustration

Practice involves time, attitude, planning, purpose, motivation, objectives and achievement. So often little or no consideration is given to these important aspects of practice. Just as in Irish Dancing, these same elements can be applied to study or sport. The central figure in all of this is you. Are you doing your daily or weekly practice out of habit?  Or do you expect outcomes such as definite improvement and a greater sense of satisfaction? If you are serious about being a better dancer then you should be interested in having a personal plan to help to get you there. When practice happens in a well-structured way then you are likely to be pleased with your results. If this reaches a high level then you may be so happy that you are exhilarated by your efforts. On the contrary when it is poorly organised work then you are more likely to have feelings of frustration because of your lack of preparation and progress.
Practice requires time: It cannot happen unless time is allocated for it. The best thing to consider is to have a timetable. Now this should be something that is realistic and which you will adhere to. It is of no value allocating 1 hour per day to practice when your actual experience is to avoid it or shorten the period. Always consider having a timetable that you will strictly keep. Therefore if your practice period for dancing is 5 minutes per day it is better to have this than to list something you have neither the patience nor intention to follow.
Practice requires the correct attitude: Your attitude to learning and improvement are directly linked to you having a positive attitude. If I am doing something that I do not like then I just want to avoid it or get away. It will be clear that if such feelings persist about practice then I am unlikely to do it with great effort. When we have the correct attitude then we will recognise the value of spending some time in practice. Our mind will be focussed on learning and improving. Practice is essentially about improvement and development. If I want to improve then I am going to use my time well. I will decide what I wish to do and have a purpose in doing so.
Practice requires planning: When we plan something formally it will involve time, detail, objectives and expected outcomes. A plan has more certainty when it is in writing. To rely on memory for the implementation of a plan is usually not of a high value. Every plan has incremental steps. From this your targeted progress can be mapped and reviewed. Sometimes it may be necessary to revise a plan. This is fine as long as it is written down, realistic and is implemented. It would for example be unrealistic to dramatically increase the amount of daily practice just because you have enjoyed what you planned to do. It is always desirable to increase practice time only if necessary. Little bites of improvement are better than a very big quantum of time and then a big gap before the next practice session.
Practice needs a purpose: When practice has a purpose achievement is more likely to occur. For example if I want to work on the technique of rocks that is something specific. By concentrating on the area of improvement I want then every aspect of what makes rocks good or bad can be worked on. This is far better than practice that may just be perpetuating some bad habit in our performance. Practice should always be about change and improvement.
Practice needs to be influenced by motivation: When a person is motivated to do something it is usually worthwhile. In such a frame of mind he/she will apply his or her full energy to the task. Where there is positive motivation there will be a desire for success. Now success does not have to be major achievement. It can be gradual and over time. For example if you were strongly motivated to learn a foreign language this could only happen over time. Likewise to become a competent musician or Irish Dancer time is also a major factor. A motivated person will see every small achievement as progress and so should you.
Practice should be focussed on clear objectives: When we have clear objectives we have a map of what we want to achieve. If I decide that I want to learn 6 hornpipe set dances that is a clear objective. How to achieve this will depend on how I do the tasks outlined in the above paragraphs. When these objectives are achieved we can be quite clear about the measurement of our progress. Objectives that are based on something such as correction of dance technique need to be very precise. In this way they are a little more difficult to deal with. Such a challenge should however not deter us from dealing with this. In every aspect of our lives there are gaps in our knowledge and skills. When we know what we want to achieve objectives can help to get us there in a successful way.
The intention of this article is to help you to be a person who reaches exhilaration rather than frustration from your dancing practice. You have the potential to be a success. The only thing that prevents this from being achieved is when the correct actions are not taken. Try to follow the points that have been explained.  This will help to put you on the route to becoming a more successful dancer.

Donagh Corcoran, MA., Dip Phil., ADCRG

East Meets West

There are definite assumptions about Irish dancers based upon what part of the country they live and study.  There are beliefs that some regions are “more competitive”, some are “flashier”, others “take their dancing more seriously” and some just produce “more champions.”  In my experience as an Irish dancer from the East Coast of the United States, I have always heard people say that my region is the leading competitive Irish dancing region in North America because of our dancing styles, our cutting-edge dresses and our talented teachers.  I believed these assumptions ten years ago when I had never even heard of dancing schools or competitors from the South or the West.  However, today I compete with many dancers from Canada, the Mid-America, West  and Southern regions who are just as talented, have the same style and wear designer dresses.  What used to be significant regional differences in North American Irish dancing has quickly diminished. Today, North American Irish dancing has no regional stamp.
East Meets WestCities like Boston, Philadelphia and New York became the early centers of Irish dancing in North America.  When Irish dancing first became popular in the United States, it was mainly focused on the East Coast where many Irish immigrants lived, settled and opened up Irish dancing schools. With the global success of “Riverdance”, the demand for Irish dancing instruction in Canada, Mid-America, West and the relatively new Southern region has grown tremendously.  According to the North American Feis Commission, the number of Feisianna per year and the number of schools per region are evening out across North America.  In addition, I have seen just as many dancers from regions other than mine at major competitions in the United States and Ireland.  I look at all dancers as equal competitors who, with the right style, steps, dresses and determination, can win the World Championships.
I decided to see what others thought about regional differences.  I interviewed a couple of dancers from different parts of the country about all kinds of Irish dancing subjects.  I asked “Eastern Dancer” and “Western Dancer” some questions about their dance experiences at class and about the local customs and norms associated with dancing in their regions to see exactly what these differences are.

Erin:  First, tell me a little bit about the structure of your dance classes.  How often do you practice and for how long?
Western:  I practice three times a week for about two to five hours each class. We do exercises first and then we’re into our drilling.
Eastern:  I feel like I’m always practicing.  I try to practice every day at least for two hours but I also go to class four times a week. We start off with a period of exercise too.  Around the majors, we dedicate certain practices to one type of dance – so it will be soft shoe night and then hard shoe night.

Erin:  Do most of the dancers in your class compete or do they just do it for fun?
Western:  Most compete and are serious about it along with other things like soccer, school or basketball.
Eastern:  In my class, I can’t think of anyone that doesn’t compete.  Most also do other things but some of the top dancers are totally focused on their dance.  Some quit in the high school years to focus on school, but some successfully continue into their college years.

Erin::  Are your teachers really serious about competitions?
Western: Yeah, they take competitions very seriously and attend all the major competitions.
Eastern:  Oh definitely.  Teachers in my class give private lessons to the students before the Worlds.

Erin: How do teachers treat the dancers – is there any sort of “secret stuff” that goes on in the class – like private lessons for some and not others – I’ve heard dancers complaining about that from a lot of schools.
Western:  Yes.  My teachers give private lessons to people who need extra help, as long as they can pay for them. The dancers are usually the top dancers in the school.
Eastern:  All the major competitors get private lessons and even the ones that are up and coming.  However, my teacher definitely has favorites and he focuses on those dancers more.  It is kind of unfair.

Erin:  How do the girls treat each other?  Are there things you would like to see change in the way the dancers treat each other?
Western:  At class, everyone wants to be friends with the best dancers.  At competitions, everyone wants to be friends with the East Coast girls.  I wish that girls weren’t so immature about it all.
Eastern:  The girls treat each other well.  We are all friends at competitions but since it is a competitive sport, girls will be competitive with each other on and off stage.  I think that would be the one thing that I would like to see change.

Erin:  What about make up – is it the norm to use it and at what age?
Western:  The young girls don’t wear makeup and I never really use that much even now.   Kids that are really young wear wigs thought.
Eastern:  Oh everyone wears wigs and lots of makeup.  Even the little girls look like Barbie dolls.

Erin:  Does your teacher travel to the major competitions and support you by watching you or by practicing with you?
Western:  Yes, my teacher travels to all of the major competitions but usually is not around to watch us dance.  The people who watch me dance are my parents and my friends from my school and I think it is better that way because I would be too nervous if my teacher was there.
Eastern:  Yes, he travels everywhere with us and makes us practice with him a few times a day at major competitions.  He definitely watches me dance but sometimes he misses me because there are so many other girls that he has to see.

Erin:  Does your teacher allow all that qualify to go to the Worlds or does he or she hold some back?
Western:  No way.  If you qualify for the Worlds you have every right to go.
Eastern:  Well, he will discourage some dancers from going if he doesn’t feel they are prepared – even if they are world qualifiers.

Erin:  Does your teacher have a say in what costume you purchase?  Do you order your dress through your teacher?
Western:  All the girls ask our teacher about dresses and she usually orders them.
Eastern:  The dresses must be designed by my teacher.  One time, I got a brand new dress and he didn’t like the color so I had to sell it without wearing it once.  It was horrible.  We actually purchase the dresses through our teacher and he places the order.
Erin: Ok, now I want to ask you about your opinions on the regional differences in Irish dancing.  Have you noticed a difference in dancing style between different regions?

Western:  Yes.  It seems that dancers from the East Coast dedicate a lot more time, effort, and money into dancing and this changes how they dance.  Dancing in the Midwest is less flashy and more traditional.

Eastern: Not really.  Each school has different steps and a different style.  A dancer from outside our area may look strange to me but that’s because I am not used to seeing the steps that’s all.  But I do think that our dancing style is more aggressive.
Erin:  So do you feel like the East Coast produces “better dancers?”
Western: No not necessarily.  They have many more schools, more teachers and more dancers and therefore they have more champions but we have a bunch too.
Eastern:  Yeah because you always see champions from the East Coast because it is more popular here.  Well, it may not be “better dancers” but we have more champions.
Erin:  Do you notice a difference in appearance between Eastern and Western dancers?
Western:  East Coast dancers used to have more modern, vibrant and detailed dresses and would clearly stand out, but that is all changing now. You can’t tell them apart in my opinion.
Eastern:  Yeah.  We have the bright colors, designer dresses by Gavin D. , the huge wigs and dancers here wear lots of makeup.  Beginners are often seen in solo dresses here.

So according to these two subjects, regional differences have now diminished.  Designer dresses can be seen as readily in Kansas as they are in New York City, as long as the dancer can pay.  The gap is quickly closing as Irish dancing schools put down roots all across the country.  Each region has the capacity to produce great dancers and the cream will always rise to the top, no matter the school or its location.
Dance classes are similar from region to region.  Young dancers interact with each other in the same ways.  They form clicks, they gravitate to role models who they aspire to emulate, and they form lifelong friendships in dancing.  Teachers have a great influence over young dancers and most are dedicated role models to these children.  Dancers not only look to for the mechanics of dance, but for queues on how to handle life’s ups and downs.  Finally, no one region has a solid formula for success.  Dance is something that is extremely personal and is predominately guided by the individual teacher combined with the talent and determination of the particular class of students.  The right mix of these elements makes a champion.
My conclusion from this extremely small but personal poll with dancers from opposite ends of the country is that Irish dancing is the same throughout all of North America.  No longer can a person tell what region a dancer is from by looking at their style, steps or dresses. Focusing on the things that we share in the world of Irish dance is far more valuable than thinking about those which divide us. Friendship, loyalty and love to all my fellow dancers!

By Erin Reilly

Sweater Patterns & Aran Yarns

On the western shore of Ireland across Galway Bay, tales from the Árainn Isles drift and bobble on the Atlantic like an empty currach. For centuries those tarred wooden vessels, about eighteen and a half feet long, have carried fishermen out to sea and back, but not always as planned. On occasions of noticeable weather and unpredictable seas, fishing expeditions sometimes overturned, launching true and tragic stories into the wild ocean waves. Over the years, these tales of drownings have flowed in ever-widening circles from the three small Aran Islands until pooling among the current tide of tourists.

With native islanders descending from an unrecorded era, the Aran women may have begun the art of knitting before the Book of Kells began to circulate. Whether then or later, they looked to seafaring symbols, such as the weave of a fishing basket filled with abundant life from the sea.

Some say the well-known cable knit design signifies the fisherman’s ropes along with the ongoing desire to pull the wearer safely back to shore. Others recognize the patterns as coming from the earth in a burst of blackberries or the zigzag of a bird’s wing or the honeycomb of a bee. Perhaps some on the island had hopes for success and treasures as expressed in designs of diamonds, while others fashioned a motif of moss to symbolize the outcroppings of vegetation among the windswept rocks.
Indeed, unruly winds and water buffeted parts of the craggy coastline into the smoothness of marble.

Although remarkably beautiful, such terrain does not bode well as pastureland, and so the islanders built up the soil with seaweed and compost to produce grassy patches where their small flocks of sheep could graze. Corn began to grow in the up-built soil, and wildflowers sprang forth in hundreds of species from the wild Burnet Rose to the Blue Moor-grasses.
Into this harsh but amazingly serene scene came centuries of saints and seekers. Monasteries cropped up, and stone churches flourished. Soon, the women incorporated these religious symbols into their knitting along with stitches to represent the Trinity. Some caught symbolic threads further back than Christianity, going to the biblical roots of the Tree of Life as found in the book of Genesis. Others fashioned a ladder stitch reminiscent of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob, who climbed toward heaven accompanied by angels. Some even say the unique sweaters began, not for the local fishermen, but as fine cardigans or pullovers knitted by mothers and grandmothers for an angelic child’s First Communion.
Characteristically though, Aran sweaters can be known by the wool. Without bleaching or scouring away the natural oils, the women would set their wooden wheels to spinning the lanolin-soaked wool into coarse yarn to be knitted into warm socks and, later, water-repellant sweaters. The tightly twisted yarn gave more insulation, heft, and pattern than hand-loomed garments, and surely no factory-made sweater could compare with the quality and intricacies knitted into 100,000 hand-made stitches.
Tradition also has it that the younger women handcrafted matchless designs for their sweethearts to approve and wear on their wedding day. For those boxy sweaters, the sleeve length came slightly shorter than usual to avoid getting the heavy wool wet around the wrists when the young man went out to sea. And, yes, many say that each fisherman’s family wove the yarn into an intricate means of identification until the stories bloomed like wildflowers in the minds of novelists, poets, and playwrights. And the shopkeepers came, and the tourists came, and the exporters came, spinning their fanciful yarns.
If truth be told, the tale might lose a bit of embellishment when reduced to the plainness of poverty that gave rise to a highly prized and marketable product. In the wake of government motions and economic trends, the cottage industry reportedly began in the late 19th century when mainlanders set up schools to teach the islanders new patterns of income. By the 20th century, the women had begun to switch their favorite stitches from hand-knitted socks to sweaters, but they still handled the yarn themselves until most of the local wheels ceased spinning in the 1970’s.
Nevertheless, the Aran women passed on patterns with designs as individualized and lively as their own family stories. Continuously, they adapted their work, too, as often done in hard times or war years when metal could not be spared for needles. Living on the windswept islands, eking vegetables from the scanty soil, the islanders had always known how to make do, and so the women knitted with whatever they found at hand. Sometimes they fashioned needles from bicycle spokes or goose quills or willow rods, occasionally dropping stitches as they knitted a new sock or fishing cap or sweater.
As for unraveling the mystery of identifiable family patterns, the famous Aran sweaters may have been fabricated from stories, and not the other way around. Yet the heritage still proves true. Does it matter that part of a history began less than a half-century ago? And what historical record consists only of aged customs and dry but provable facts? In the telling, most people drop a detail or two, carefully inserting others with pride and distinctive patterns as tightly woven and beautiful as any good Irish yarn.

Mary Sayler

The Battle of the Crater

On July 30, 1864, four tons of dynamite exploded beneath the Confederate trenches outside Petersburg, Virginia. It had been placed there by a team of Irish coal miners serving in a Pennsylvania regiment. The audacious plan blew a massive hole in the rebel line, opening the way for a Union charge that could very well end the war.  From this auspicious start, however, the ensuing Battle of the Crater turned into a stunning Union defeat.

The Battle of the Crater was the product of mounting fear and anxiety in the Union in the summer of 1864.  Despite the fact that the Union Army was now in capable hands, with Gen. William T. Sherman closing in on Atlanta and Grant driving Lee’s army south of Richmond to Petersburg, Union morale was sagging.  The war was now more than three years old and victory seemed no closer than it had in 1861.  And the carnage – Grant’s aggressive drive against Lee had produced an astonishing 50,000 Union casualties.  Yet despite losing 30,000 men, Lee’s army was still intact.  Indeed, part of it was still on the move.  In early July a detachment of Confederate cavalry under Jubel Early struck terror into the hearts of northerners when it made a surprise sprint to the north, coming within five miles of the White House before turning back.
So as the massive armies of Lee and Grant stood opposite each other, hunkered down in miles of trenches outside Petersburg, there was a palpable sense of urgency in the air.  The time had come, many believed, for bold action.  The result was one of the most outlandish military maneuvers of the war.
It began when Col. Henry Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania overheard some of his men declare, “We could blow that damn [Confederate] fort out of existence if we could run a mine shaft under it.”  This was no idle boast, for these men – mostly Irish and Irish American – were coal miners from Skuylkill County.  Pleasants, an engineer, considered the idea.  With the Confederates so heavily entrenched outside Petersburg, the only options were suicidal frontal assaults or a long, agonizing siege that might last more than a year.  If his men could blow a hole in the rebel line, the Union army could pour through before the Confederates knew what hit them.  Petersburg would fall, Lee’s army would be surrounded, and the war would be over.
General Ambrose Burnside, in command of the IX Corps which included the 48th Pennsylvania, found the idea irresistible.  It offered him a chance for personal redemption, since he had presided over the devastating Union defeat at Fredricksburg in late 1862.  With the strike of a single match, he might go from goat to hero.
With approval from his superiors, Gen. George Meade and Gen. Grant (both, incidentally, of Ulster stock), work began on June 25.  The miners were left to their own devices, since the Army’s engineers dismissed the project as impossible.  They managed to scrounge up spare lumber and made their own tools.  In less than a month they dug a 511-foot tunnel (with two 40-foot side galleries) the led directly beneath the Confederate line.   One potential hitch – ventilation – was solved when they rigged up a coal mine vent system that worked perfectly.  Lastly came the explosives – four tons of them.
While the Pennsylvania miners dug their tunnel, a regiment of African American soldiers trained to lead the assault.  They were eager to make a good showing, both to disprove white fears that blacks made poor soldiers and to play a role in the defeat of the slave South.
Everything was in order until the night before the scheduled detonation.  At the last minute, Grant and Meade overruled Burnside’s decision to use black soldiers.  They feared charges of racism that would come if the operation failed and the black troops became cannon fodder.  Unnerved by the sudden change in plans, Burnside lost his zeal.  He subsequently assigned a regiment of exhausted troops commanded by an officer known for drunkenness and incompetence to lead the charge.
At 4:30 a.m. a massive explosion erupted under the Confederate line, “bursting like a volcano at the feet of the men,” one officer later recalled.  It hurled 100,000 cubic feet of earth into the air, leaving behind a hole 170 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep.  Nearly 300 Confederate soldiers were killed, while hundreds more fled in confused panic.  The Pennsylvania coal miners had done their job and it seemed for a moment that Petersburg would fall within the day.
It was an extraordinary sight to behold – so much so that the Union soldiers hesitated at first, transfixed by the scene.  When they finally pushed ahead, they headed into the crater instead of around it, and soon became snarled in a leaderless, chaotic mass.  For Confederate soldiers now returning to their positions, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.  By day’s end more than 4,000 Union soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured.
Despite the flawless work of the Pennsylvania miners, the great Union victory and Burnside’s redemption were not to be (he was relieved of his command).  “It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war,” wrote a distressed Ulysses Grant to a colleague.  “Such opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have.”  He wouldn’t see it again and instead had to settle in for an eight-month siege of Petersburg.  It ultimately led to victory, but it left Grant ample time to ponder one of the great “what ifs” of the epic conflict between the states.

By Edward T. O’Donnell

No one ever died from stage fright.

No one ever died from stage fright.  However, according to surveys, most people would rather die than perform on stage.  Irish dancers know this feeling all too well, but there are ways to cope with stage fright once you learn how to control it.
Many of the top performers get stage fright.  If you have ever seen Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, it looks like all the dancers are fully confident in their dancing capabilities.  They come out onto the stage with bold body language and a fierce attitude.  However, many of those performers still experience stage fright – after all those competitions and shows, it can be extremely nerve-racking for them to come out on stage each night.
You may experience stage fright from time to time, but it usually does not disappear permanently.  However, you can learn to control this feeling.  It is important to first get the feeling out in the open.  Understand that you are nervous and realize that many people competing with you are also experiencing stage fright.  Once you make your fears known, you can work on getting the feeling under control.
The best tip for controlling stage fright is to think of it in a positive way.  Fear can be your friend.  When you are nervous about performing, it makes you more conscious of your posture and breathing.  It heightens your energy level and makes your reflexes sharper.  Actually, some studies have shown that stage fright will add color to your cheeks and make you look more physically attractive.  All of these side effects can actually help you to perform better.
The most important thing to understand about stage fright is that it stems from some lack of self confidence.  You may

Here are some useful visualization strategies that can be used to keep stage fright under control.
-Think about how good you are and how far you
have come with your dancing.
-Try to concentrate on your mom, dad, grandma,
friend, etc. in the audience.
-Pretend you are just at a practice and dancing in
front of your friends.
-Imagine the audience in their underwear.
-Remember moments in your past that make you happy.

be frightened of performing in front of hundreds of people but it is related to some sense of inadequacy that you feel.  Maybe you could have practiced just a little harder, or went to a few more feisanna.   In some way, you feel unprepared or inadequate and the thought of performing in front of people is overwhelming.
Self-confidence is something that you either have or you don’t.  However, before a major competition, you can work on building up your confidence level.  The only way to get it is to practice and prepare.  Practice hard in dance class and practice even harder at feisanna.  This will help you to be fully aware of your skills and you will grow confident in your abilities.
Practice to you perfect your moves.  You must be able to dance your steps over and over again until you are completely confident that you won’t forget them and that you will dance them properly.  It is important to perfect each move when you are practicing in class.  If you are tripping up on a part, concentrate on doing that part over and over again for the rest of the class.  Think about it this way – there is no way to dance your steps other than perfectly and it takes a deliberate and considerable amount of effort to dance less then perfectly.  You must be completely sure that your steps are perfected.  There should be no doubt in your mind and body that you can dance your steps over and over again no matter what, without mistake.
Practing to perfect will increase your self-confidence.  With complete self-confidence you can look into the front row of any ballroom and take that as an opportunity to show off your skills.  You can take command and show everyone how good you are and how much you have practiced.  Self-confidence comes from knowing your limits along with your capabilites.  When you know your limits you can push yourself to them at will.
With complete self-confidence you can take control and be in command of your performance.  Complete self-confidence overcomes any distraction, any situation and any fear.  It shouldn’t make any difference if everyone is watching or no one is watching.  The important thing is that you are watching and demanding you own perfection.  You needd to make sure that you feel your performance will be the absolute best it can be, and that your audience is lucky to be there to see your talent.

Erin Reilly

The Competent and Confident Performer

Nothing comes easy. This is not a negative thought but a challenge. Whenever we are doing something difficult those three words should be an incentive to continue. We should all have a commitment to learn new things. By understanding why they are important we grow in knowledge and effectiveness as people. Learning is graduated. Knowledge is also acquired over time and not at a particular moment. Therefore when we see a competent and confident performer as a dancer or musician we are experiencing the result of many hours of positive preparation. The word preparation is very important because each new effort to become competent is a higher stage of preparation.

Competence can be attained at different levels. A beginner dancer will learn basic work. Within the range of that work he/she can be assessed on a competence scale. When teachers are dealing with such dancers they have to develop improvement strategies to extend the level of competence of each dancer. It is important therefore to consider what stage each dancer is at within the grade in which they have learned steps or elements of steps. In fact this is very important to the establishment of the correct foundation to dancing for a beginner. It is also important perhaps to stress that being in a hurry is not a successful route to being a competent dancer. It takes time to move towards perfection.  While we never get there the challenge is to go as far as you can in developing technique and ability. It is the outcome of both of these that we experience in the performance by a dancer.
Competence also means that we can acquire the techniques and ability to learn steps and figure dances that are more difficult. The programme for grading examinations is a good indicator of the kind of progression that can be achieved. So let us ask ourselves some basic question about you as a  dancer:

•        How is your carriage when you are dancing? Are there particular aspects that can be improved?
If so how do you plan to improve them? Or put another way do you know how to correct these
faults? By asking these questions and then taking the appropriate action you will have brought
your dancing technique to a higher level of competence.

•        Is your dance rhythm perfect? Is not what is wrong with it? Do you know how to develop better
dance rhythm? What do you notice about dancers who you think have better rhythm
than you?

•        How much variety do you have in your solo steps? To go a little further, how many different
elements do you have in your most difficult steps? Have you ever counted the number of elements
other dancers have in some of their steps?

•        From looking at other dancers performing is their carriage presented in vertical position? Are
their hands by the sides and in line with their shoulders?

•        Can you name elements of reels, slip jigs, double jigs and hornpipes that you do not have in
your steps? Look at other dancers and develop your curiosity on this

•        Do you choreography your steps? Movement on stage in solo dancing should have a purpose
and therefore be part of a plan about how you propose to use the stage and why?

•        How many different elements of steps do you know in the reel? e.g. cuts/leaps/points/cross
keys/rocks etc. Your competence is also measurable by the actual number of elements you
could perform in a step. Is that number 6,8,10 or even more?

•        Do you remain relaxed in every performance? If not, what actually happens? Do you get so
excited that your make mistakes? How can you change this experience? The main factor in
making mistakes is concentration and positive thinking? If my mind is tuned into wondering about
how my memory will perform you are having doubts. This is movement in the pathway of losing
concentration. If my thinking is about not having enjoyment at the prospect of performing you
are expecting a poor performance. Replace this negative thinking by reminding yourself that you
want to perform because you are happy that you can dance. Make no comparison with others
just perform and feel good.

Confidence is visual as well as a feeling. The improvements that you are aware of whether, as a beginner or a more experienced dancer will always give you confidence in performance. You can grow in confidence when you focus on your own performance. Do not compare with others. Your positive thoughts about yourself will always help. You can be a competent and confident dancer by appreciating the gift you have been given.

Donagh Corcoran ADCRG

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

The Chieftains

After forty-four years the Chieftains still capture the allure of their adoring fans. The ageless Paddy Moloney and front man have not lost a step and they continue to entertain sell out crowds, and foster the local fare of Irish traditional dance and music talent. But what keeps the Chieftains going?
They have been nominated for twenty-two Emmys and they have won six. All members have amassed fortunes and are without exaggeration the most influential of all Irish traditional musicians. Throughout it all, over forty-plus albums, the essence of their collaboration is in the music. Their music has remained firmly rooted in the genuine preservation of ancient tunes. Perhaps that is all the motivation needed.

ALL THOSE YEARS AGO

Piper and whistler Paddy Moloney founded the band in 1962 during the last great folk music revival. The debut album by the Chieftains introduced each of the band members, Paddy Moloney and Sean Potts on pipes, Michael Tubridy on flute, David Fallon on bodhran, Martin Fay on the fiddle, and Tubridy on the concertina. Recorded in mono the music is an introduction to airs, reels, and jigs and the performance is more typical of a kitchen session than a polished studio production. Highlights from that first recording include “Comb Your Hair and Curl It/The Boys of Ballisodare,” “The Musical Priest/The Queen of May,” “The Walls of Liscarroll,” and “The Connemara Stocking.”  On this early recording Martin Fay’s fiddle is more prominent than on ensuing records, where Moloney ’s pipes became the driving influence within the group.
Life was not all strawberries and cream, they all had day jobs. Martin Fay rarely travels with the band and as with most bands there was a natural evolution. The band’s last line-up change before 2002 occurred in 1979. The Chieftains members include Paddy Moloney (Uilleann pipes, tin whistle), Matt Molloy (flute), Sean Keane (fiddle) and Kevin Conneff (bodhran, vocals).
Founder and front man Moloney has been the recipient of two prestigious awards this year, the first the Gold Badge of Merit presented by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, the second from the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame.  Moloney will be the International artist inducted this year, among five Scottish inductees, as recognition for his significant influence in traditional music. Since Derek’s untimely passing the very talented, Triona Marshall, accompanies the band on the harp.
Always the innovator Paddy is known for his willingness to experiment and cross musical boundaries with tunes, musicians and instruments imbuing them with the Irish experience and sometimes taking them to new levels. It is through the evolution and creative process of any musical group that sustains longevity. However, authenticity has always been an issue for Paddy Moloney and, of course, Ireland’s traditional music hardliners. Paddy should know in his teens he won four All-Ireland championships.
The mix sometimes brings out the best and the worst of an artist’s critics but above all, he’s stayed true to his faith in the inspirational power of traditional tunes and songs to bring people together. If the music touches one’s soul to express affinity, both happiness and solace by measuring the essence of our shared human experience their performance is complete.
The Chieftains traditional winter tour began in January 2006 marking 32 years of touring in North America for the group.  The 2006 tour began on January 17 in Shreveport, LA and ran through March 18 in Newark, NJ.  After breaking with tradition and performing their St. Patrick’s Day show in Toronto last year, they returned to New York City’s Carnegie Hall on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).
On this night the music program included songs from latest the RCA Victor Album: Tribute To Late Chieftain Derek Bell; Step-dancing duo Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, Renowned harpist Triona Marshall along with East Coast Music Award-Winner The Cottars as very special guests.
Triona left the RTE Orchestra to come on the road with The Chieftains, and The Pilatzke’s have been a part of The Chieftain’s show for just over three years now, with Jon continuing to dazzle audiences with his ability to combine his talents on stage as a  correspondingly brilliant fiddle player. Jeff White, the Nashville vocalist highlighted on the latest Live From Dublin, was part of the tour as well.
The venue in Austin, Texas was filled with Cuban jigs, Tennessee reels, polkas and traditional sets. Kevin Conneff thrilling the crowd with his a capella vocals, Sean Keane with fiddle solos and Matt Molloy on the flute each taking turn displaying their mastery. In addition a new generation of musicians, The Cottars, from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia danced, sang and played their Breton style of music. These remarkably talented youths, all between the ages of 15 and 17, have been playing traditional music since their early childhood years and have a fan base that spans three continents. Oh yes, and then there were the dancers. Local dancers and musicians all joined the band on stage for a wonderful Breton style of line dancing that weaved through the aisles inviting the audience to participate.
And so it is for the Chieftains, ambassadors of Ireland. hm

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