M1-Irish Dancing

St. Patrick’s Day has always been a big deal to me. Being Irish it is nice to celebrate your heritage. For a few years I took Irish dancing lessons. When I was a little girl my favorite thing to watch was a tape of Riverdance. I would watch it over and over again and try to mimic what I saw. Finally my parents put me in to lessons with Rince Na Tiarna, and it was so amazing to actually learn how to dance instead of watching it on TV.  After two years of dancing my class was asked to walk and dance in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Buffalo. I never thought that I would be given that opportunity. But it was one of the best days of my life, despite the weather.

The night before I was preparing the routine. While I was thinking, my mom had to curl my whole head in foam curlers that I would have to sleep in. It took about 2 hours just to put the curlers in my hair, and we even ran out a few times and we had to run to the store to get more, but it was worth it. After my hair was done I had to learn how to tie my ghillies. The ghillies are a soft shoe that only has a thin piece of leather covering the bass of your foot.  By the end of the night I master how to tie my shoes (which are actually quite complicated to tie) and my dance routine. The next day, to my surprise it was pouring rain! Great!...Not! When I got to the parade, I was amazed to see so many Irish dancers and I couldn’t believe that I had the opportunity to dance with them. Then I was told that I would have to walk/ skip for the entire thing and that we would do our routine when we passed the judges. After the long walk my hair was ruined, my feet soaking wet and in so much pain from practically walking bare foot on the street, but I didn’t care. If it was up to me I would have done it all over again and wouldn’t change a thing.

Even though I am no longer an Irish dancer (because I thought cheerleading was cooler) I still remember everything I was taught. Looking back, I’m glad I was giving such a great opportunity and I was able to celebrate my heritage in the best way!