Personal Narrative: The North American Irish Dance

I started dancing when I was 8 years old with the Shanahan School of Irish Dance in Columbus, Ohio. Peggy Shanahan, my first teacher her son played baseball with my brother, so when my she and my parents became friends and she asked if I wanted to start dance lessons, free for boys for a year, my response was Dzsure!dzI had at the time absolutely no knowledge of what Irish dance was, and at the time questioned it as to how or why it was even a thing. My first class, I heard Peggy shout out DzGood Myles that’s itdz while we learned skip 2, 3s. I didn’t even know I was doing all that good, but hearing Peggy say that made me know I wanted to never stop hearing that from anybody in any situation. Over the years I would have two boys with me in class, both older and both at different stages of my dance career. They weren’t really

I quickly moved from the door to First Sergeant Attaway’s room. I arrived there before anyone else did so I started to make my uniform cleaned up and spotless, along with going over the questions I thought might have been asked. There was plenty and I was not really prepared as I wanted to be, but I was going to do my best. Everyone else started to show up, putting on their uniforms or cleaning their uniforms. The judges walked in and we lead them to where First Sergeant was. We then sent everything we needed to the gymnasium we were going to be in. The flags, the harnesses, the rifles, the stands, everything we needed was right there. We then started off with a little talk from First Sergeant then we started off with the color guards. One with and one without a saber. We then moved into a group marching with and without rifles. After that were the questions, and then he flags. The flags have been the easiest part, since the whole group you were in, which was five people this year, were able to talk and help each other. We finally completed the day. None of us embarrassed ourselves and we made it out without anything awful happening. We put everything away and then talked about what happened at both the practices and the auditions. We were then finally able to go

Marie and I had just left her house and were walking to the tryouts. It was a really quick walk because she lives only 2 houses away from the studio. This was back in August 2017, a few days after dance camp ended for the summer. We hurried down the stairs to go inside and kept talking about how nervous and excited we were the whole way down. Once we got inside of Bleker’s, we started talking to the other girls. After just a few minutes we were all taken into the dance room and together we all learned a hip hop, jazz, and tap routine. We only had about 30 minutes to learn all of the routines so we were all feeling a little rushed. Before we knew it, the dance teachers put us into groups of 3-5 girls. These groups were the people we would perform our dance routines with. My group was Meghan S, Grace, and I.

Then we started to warm up because we had a judge's preview. So basically we just went into a classroom and performed our dance it was really scary at first, but then it got better because I knew they weren’t judging us that

I wake up. It’s the day of the show. I feel a nervous knot in my stomach and the pressure on my shoulders. I was the only person on my team to qualify for IEA Regional’s. Usually on show days we get up early and to the barn by 6 or 7. Today was different, I didn’t need to be there until noon. I couldn’t sleep though, so I got up and got dressed. The show was in Charleston, so my dad and I went the night before to spend time downtown. After breakfast we drove to Starbucks to buy some time before meeting my coach at the show.

there was so many people out there seating in their seats clapping cheering it was amazing. When we start dancing there where so much enthusiasm going through my body I felt exuberant! The stage lights on was perfect with music and the people in their seats cheering, clapping, and really, enjoying themselves and I loved every minute of it. It made me feel special that I was part of something great. Finally, my dream came true to dance and to dance in front of a lot of people and I knew right there that this was not going be my last performance. After we were done, my group and I told each other how much we were proud of each other. Then later we all meet up with our parents and went home with smiles on are faces because it was the best moment of my

Pendleton dance team were all sitting in a circle with big smiles on their faces like as they had already won. They were our biggest competition this competition because our scores were really close first round. When we performed second round most of my teammates were telling us how they messed up which I hated because it made me think

Mister Chan called us, We went near him and he told us that “Don’t be nervous or be scared, Just think about how hard all of you practice to perfect these performance. You guys can do it, Some of you are first timers and might think that you can’t do it but YOU CAN because YOU WILL” We did a group hug and went up to the stage. Thanks to My dance instructor Mister Chan and to Eleanor Roosevelt because that quote made me what I am

Yay.I just won tickets,to america's got talent.America's got talent is a show where people come on and show off their skills.I won these tickets by doing trivia.When I got the tickets,I discussed with my parents.I expected to see a stage,the judges booth,the curtain,and people doing cool stuff on stage.We prepare by packing,and we're staying in a motel while we are there.I take my friend Alexis,then I called Alexis.

Ever since I was three years old, Irish Dancing was a part of my life. Whether it be rigorous practices or just showing my friends an interesting talent, I can not remember a day that Irish Dancing was not a part of my life. To be an Irish Dancer, the student has to be a dedicated individual not afraid of failure. Countless times you both literally, and figuratively get knocked down and have to keep moving forward. To be an Irish Dancer is to be able to work as a strong team but an even stronger individual. In 2008, I won my first First Place medal for a dance called the Jig. Years and years of practice paid off and all you receive is one little medal. While working on something you really love, it is not the prize awarded at the end that truly matters. But the struggle and

"Besides the part where I have to wear a rubber mouse head for 6 minutes, yeah" I responded laughing. We continued to stretch, going through our splits, and adding some relevés to get our ankles warmed up. We stretched our arms and legs, did a few push-ups and jumping jacks. All you could smell was the hairspray, and the make-up, and weirdly cookies, but that's because we all teamed up and brought snacks. We all made our way onto the stage, pitch black, to hear mumbling out by the sound booth and up in the light box. All of a sudden the lights come on, and we sit ourselves in a semi circle around the three teachers, Lauren, Gretchen, and Vanessa. I zone out as they begin speaking and focus

The next day we went to Central Park, where I got to see the Strawberry Fields memorial. Then we got to go in groups and walk around Time Square and see some of the cool things that Time

“Emily stop! There is something on your back and head. Wait, why is there blood dripping down your back!?”

I think that my body had not been used to the practice schedule that we had that week. I was super happy that my dad was going to be at the competition though. My parents aren’t home very often so whenever they are it means the world to me. So, this made me want to do very well at this competition to make my dad proud. At dance and cheer competitions they require you to wear your hair a certain way and do a lot of makeup. I personally loved it. I think that it is super fun to do that and to not even really look like yourself anymore. So, I did my hair and makeup and we went to the studio to practice before the competition. We had like two hours of practice then some of the girls and I went to eat Subway before the competition. After that, we got to the competition and warmed up our pieces so we were ready to show

Another major change in Irish step dancing since its creation, and even in the last century, is the actual movement of the dancers. Watching Irish step dancing now, it is very clear that the movement is about the feet. In competition, dancers move their feet and legs quickly and swiftly in order to impress judges and the audience. Another distinct feature about Irish dance as opposed to other dance styles is the rigidity of the top half of the body. Dancers keep their torsos straight and keep their arms at their side. Keeping the arms at the sides is so important to the sport that judges will actually deduct points from a dancer’s score if there is any movement in the arms. However, this rigidity in the torso and arms was not always the