One Week Until Recital!

It's Friday, meaning that there is one week until the O'Dell Irish Dancers spring recital. I am saddened to realize that this will be the end of my dancing with O'Dell. As I am planning to begin competing in July, my dance time will have to be allocated elsewhere; plus, the drive to Point every week is starting to get rather costly. Still, I am sad to see this era in my dance development come to an end.

O'Dell provided me with my first taste of what an Irish dance school is all about. In doing this, it gave me a solid foundation from which to grow and to expand my dance horizons. The school also fostered in me the confidence and dedication I need in order to dance effectively. I am truly amazed at the progress that I have made since becoming a part of the O'Dell family.

Here is a video of my reel from my first performance with O'Dell at the Amherst Festival of Chocolate--I perform the first two steps between 0:00 and 0:26, the first through third steps (including a solo step) between 4:52 and 5:25, and then the first through third steps again from 6:02-6:35 and 8:09-8:34.





Here is a video of me performing the same reel six months later:





I am really struck by the progress that I have made in this dance. I feel so much more confident about the steps, and I really see that coming through in the dancing: There is a certain strength in my movements that just was not there before. Also, my technique--although still in need of great improvement--has gotten much better. All of this goes to say that I am very pleased with the advances my dancing has made while with O'Dell.

I can not be thankful enough for the presence of an Irish dance school in my hometown community. When I was growing up, I wanted to learn Irish dance so badly but had nowhere to go to do so. It is absolutely wonderful to see children (and adults) have the opportunity to do something that I was only able to dream about at their age. Thank the gods for Jenny Clark and her dedication and perseverance! Seriously, that woman deserves a medal--and perhaps an all-inclusive spa treatment, as well.

O'Dell Irish Dancers really is bringing in a unique cultural art to the Stevens Point community, and I urge everyone to support the school by attending its spring recital.

The show, entitled 'Reel Treblemakers', will consist of Irish dancing--with a little Scottish Highland dancing thrown into the mix-- as well as a performance by a few of the members from Green Tea. The dancers have worked very hard this past year, and this is their chance to showcase what they have learned. It is also the school's one and only fundraiser for the year. So, if you can make it, please come and support local arts and business! The performance will be held at the Jensen Center in Amherst and will begin at 7:30pm. Tickets are available for $6 per person in advance or $8 per person at the door. Children 5 and under are free but still need a ticket for capacity purposes. If you would like to purchase tickets, please let me know or visit the O'Dell website. Additionally, if you would like to go but would need a ride, let me know and I will be sure to work something out.

Thank you all for your support, and thank you O'Dell Irish Dancers for welcoming me into your family this past year. You have all touched my heart so much, and it is because of you that I can feel ready and confident enough to take my dancing to the next level. May the school as well as each individual dancer prosper in the years to come!

I have begun to realize that I am spending more and more of my time on the internet watching, researching, and discussing dance. In lieu of this, I have decided that it would be nice to start a blog centered around Celtic dance genres, whereon I can post my findings. My motives for doing this are murky and varied. On the one hand, it will be nice to have a sort of electronic scrapbook for all of the neat things that I have been prone to find and then lose to the ethereal abyss that is the internet. On the other hand, maybe this is my way to justify spending numerous hours each week mindlessly watching videos of Celtic dance on Youtube. Then again, this may just be a good way to keep myself out of trouble this summer. Who knows?

While my goal for this blog is to use it as a space to display the varied nuances of Celtic dance styles, I must also confess that I will most likely spend the majority of my time looking into the Gaelic dances and, more specifically, Irish step dance, as this is kind of my 'home base' when it comes to the dance world. And with that disclaimer in mind, let the journey begin...

THIS past semester, I took History 503: Irish and Scottish Migrations. The class was very interesting, even if a bit challenging at times--the course focused mostly on political and economic histories, and I am more of a folklore type of guy. For our semester project, we had to write a 2000 word paper about some aspect of the migrations from/to Ireland and/or Scotland. The professor was particularly adamant that we write on topics which were not overly popular, such as the migrations of Irish to Australia. I struggled to find a topic for this paper for quite awhile, but I finally resolved to explore the migrations of the step dance tradition from Scotland to Cape Breton. All told, I was a bit nervous to pursue this topic--there just is not that much material and, on top of this, the sources that do exist are all highly conjectural. Nevertheless, it seems that my decision paid off: I got the comments back from my professor today, and he loved the paper. WIN!

If anyone would like to read the paper it can be found by clicking here. Please note, though, this is just one, very limited take on the history of Cape Breton stepping. There are many similar as well as a number of very dissimilar histories. I know that in my research I often had to pick and chose theories of best fit, and the reader of my paper will have to do the same.

And, whether you decide to read the paper or not, please take some time to enjoy these wonderful examples of Cape Breton step dancing:

Also, here is a video of sean-nós dancing that I incorporated into my paper. I just love the second lady's sexy shoulder roll and so naturally had to share: