Are you ever too old to become an Irish dancer? Those who are interested in becoming champion dancers should certainly start young; Colin Dunne (Riverdance; Dancing on Dangerous Ground) was three and Michael Flatley (Lord of the Dance) was eleven and considered "too old"!

That doesn't mean that teens and adults can't learn and enjoy Irish dancing, and even excel at it! One exceptional young dancer, Justin Boros, became fascinated with Irish dance through seeing Lord of the Dance. At age 15 he gave up more traditional athletics to devote himself to dancing. He studied under a certified teacher, but also spent countless hours on his own, practicing and practicing. The "impossible" happened. In 1999 he auditioned for Lord of the Dance and is now a member of one of the U.S. performing troupes. Perhaps you saw him at Epcot.

But you don't have to be a prodigy or even have dreams of performing to become involved in Irish dance. It's fun for all ages. I'm lucky enough to take classes from a school that offers a variety of classes for adults. There are classes geared more to recreational dancing plus performance and/or competition classes.

In my current classes there are adults from about 19-55+ years old, and they are very fit and active. Some of them compete from advanced beginner to prizewinner levels. Some of them perform.

Our teacher meets the challenge of such a varied group with enthusiasm and encouragement for all.

I don't even remember the first time I saw Irish Step Dancers, but I was still reading books with pictures on every page! At that time I wasn't particularly interested in learning because I thought they wore "clunky old ladies' shoes"! I did always have a passion for the Scottish and Irish heritage of my family. My mother swore that it was because I was conceived on St. Patrick's Day! Needless to say, I changed my mind about the fashion statement of hard shoes, but did not actually find an Irish dance instructor until I was an adult.

I'm considerably older than 18. Gosh, I'm even older than Michael Flatley! (Well, just a little.) I have no children who are Irish dancers. I attend classes in both step dancing and figure, or ceili dancing. I love it.

CEILI!

Figure dances done in groups had always fascinated me because of their patterns and the way that some dancers did one thing while others did something else. Yet it all fit together like the inside workings of a musical clock.

I had not done any group dancing since I tried it when I worked as a camp counselor many years ago, and I joined in to learn a Hebrew dance. There was no question that Irish dancing was more complex, and I was a bit shy about attempting it. (OK, I was scared to death!) Sure enough, the first time I tried ceili dancing it was like pulling off a dirt road onto a four-lane highway! From my muddled little brain to my tangled little feet it was every bit as complex as it looked!

I remember that my first assignment for ceili was to practice my threes and sevens, those basic moves for Irish dancing. To do sevens, you travel sideways and must remember that the right leg leads going right and the left leg leads going left. Practicing solo I did fine, but when I actually danced, I found that I often led on the wrong leg; a feat which my teacher describes as a dancer in need of a quick trip to the ladies'! Could I possibly mess up threes? I could. Sometimes my threes were all wrong and made me move like a broken rocking horse.

The same movements are used in many dances, but direction and sequence vary, and that's when I got into trouble! To help beginners, experienced dancers yell "3's!" "7's!" and push you in the right direction. You laugh a lot. There are so many things to remember; so many things to watch.

The dances we do have interesting names: Fairy Reel, High-Cauled Cap, Waves of Tory, Sweets of May, and Trip to the Cottage. The movements within the dances also have names. I love new word meanings and I collected a bunch: lead around, squares, sides, arches, and chaining. The big challenge was to remember how to do them all --- and when! :-)

Performing in a St. Patrick's Day program at a school.

SOLO

How do they do that without moving their arms? I can tell you, it takes practice! When I began doing solo, I got lots of advice like, "Hold a ruler behind your back" and "Hold quarters in your hands". I had a dreadful time just remembering steps at first. I practiced every day and finally some of it began to stick.

I entered my first competition when I had been dancing for four months. I was absolutely petrified. However, I survived it and went on to qualify as novice in my dances in my second feis five months later. (Note: At the time I began competing, there was no advanced beginner level) It is a bit of a thrill to win a medal, but if you place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd as a beginner, you move into the next level on January 1st of the next year. That is not so thrilling if you win most of your medals in December!

Adult competition is not quite the same as children's competitions. When I started competing, an adult "beginner" could be a former Irish dancer coming back to dance after five years just for the joy of it or to work toward teacher certification. Since then, some feiseanna have a rule that says Adult Beginners cannot have danced as juveniles. Adult competitions are not as rule-bound as juvenile competitions. You may go to a feis that simply has the two levels "Beginner" and "Non-Beginner". Need I say that this is discouraging to someone who has been dancer for a year but never competed before? Perhaps some day these feiseanna will be kinder toward second-year dancers who want to begin competition. Many of the adults I've competed against are young dancers expanding their repetoires by learning Irish dance, which just happens to be very popular right now. They offer quite a challenge to the rest of us! There are a few adults who were inspired by seeing Riverdance or like me, finally finding the opportunity to do something they've wanted to do for a long time. Many learn as a part of a love of Irish culture or their own heritage. We are a diverse group of many ambitions, ages, and physical types. Our teacher must have just as much patience for these older dancers as she does for her young ones.

If your coach reacts like this, do you really want to see an instant replay???!!

Kiltie12's Dance Photos
Rince Na h'Eireann Adult Classes -my school
Kiltie12's Dancers -a visit to a children'sdance class
Kiltie12's Feis -Irish dancing competition
Irish Dance Performances1 -mainly photos from local shows by amateur dancers
Saint Patrick's Day - a busy time for Irish dancers!

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Kiltie12's Irish Dance Links

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