When you think of youth dance classes, you typically think of the jazz, ballet, tap or hip-hop. But how often does Irish dancing — with a style that is characterized by a rigid upper body with fast moving footwork — come to mind as an extracurricular option? The sport is actually much bigger and more competitive than one would think.
This form of step dance, which originated in Ireland in the 18th century, has spread to almost 30 countries throughout the world. And, just in Syracuse, there are almost 10 Irish dance schools with about 500 total dancers.
Recently, three East Syracuse Minoa school district students have excelled in the sport by qualifying for the Irish Dance World Championships, which will be held in Montreal in April. They include Sage Almstead, 13, Cody Hoctor, 14, and Sierra Falcone, 15.
“‘Can you teach me how to do a jig?’ is a question I get a lot,” Almstead said when asked about what people say when they hear she is involved in Irish dancing.
“Are you Irish?’ is something I hear,” Falcone added.
“It’s nice to do something different and stand out from everyone else,” Hoctor said. “Not a lot of people know about it or do it, and I think it’s fun.”
Irish dance requires dedication and goes throughout the entire year with competitions, called feis, for the dancers. Each region also holds an oireachta, which is a qualifying competition for the World Championship.
All three girls are in the Mid-Atlantic region and competed in the oireachta in October in Philadelphia.
Hoctor and Falcone’s 16-hand senior figure team from Johnston Schools of Irish Dance, in Syracuse, placed first to qualify for the world championships.
Falcone, who dances for the Roisin Academy of Irish Dance, placed 10th in the competition for her solo dance in the U13 division.
Hoctor also qualified for the world championship by placing 13th with her U14 solo dance.
“It’s like ‘Toddlers in Tiara’s’ with talent,” Kristin Cass-Hoctor, Cody’s mother, said of the sport. “You’ve got the hair, the expensive dress, the makeup, the spray tans.”
“But it’s not just about looks,” fellow Irish dance mom Leslie Almstead added. “It’s also about the talent and ability.”
For competitions, girls wear colorful and jeweled dresses with Celtic themed embroidery. Over the years, the competitive dance has grown to include spray tans, lavish makeup and wigs of tight ringlets decorated with headbands or tiaras.
Compared to other “normal” styles of dance, like jazz or tap, the girls think that Irish dancing takes more effort to learn and improve in.
“In order to perfect Irish dancing, you have to think about every individual element, plus keeping in time with the music, keeping your arms down and on top of that you have to make sure everything’s perfect,” Falcone said. “You have to make sure your wig stays on, make sure your socks are glued. I just think it’s really challenging.”
“It takes a lot of stamina,” Cody Hoctor added.
With competitions, there are both team and solo dances. For solo dances, competitors must do a hard shoe and then a soft shoe dance to show their abilities to the judges. From there, 30 to 50 percent of the dancers from that age group are recalled, depending on the competition. These recalled dancers must perform a solo set piece where they get to showcase their talents and style to the judges.
“I like solos better because you don’t have to rely on anyone else,” said Sage Almstead, who qualified for the world championship with her solo set. “If someone messes up and you did your best, you could become a bit upset.”
For team dances, all of the dancers wear matching costumes.
“I like team dances,” Falcone said. “In solo, there’s so much pressure on you to dance well, but when you’re on a team you have to dance collectively great, which is a lot less pressure.”
Hoctor and Falcone’s 16-hand senior figure team, who qualified for the world championship, have been practicing their routine for the past four years, but were competing in a higher age group at this year’s qualifying oireachta.
“It was really exciting because we weren’t sure how we were going to do against the new teams we were competing against,” Falcone said.
To prepare for the Irish Dance World Championships in April, the girls said they will continue to practice several times a week for both solo and team dances. Almstead said there were some changes made to her solo routine that she will have to learn with practice over the next few months.
In addition to competitions, Irish dance schools have dance-outs, in places like schools, nursing homes and festivals, to perform a selection of their dance numbers to the public.
“Some of the younger people we dance in front of seem intrigued by it and some of them start whispering, I guess they like it,” Almstead said. “Some of the older audience looks so happy to see us. It’s cool to give back.”
All three girls agree that one of the hardest parts of participating in Irish dance is finding a balance between dance practice, traveling for competitions, school and other activities.
Falcone, who is also her school class president, said on average she practices about 10 hours in a week.
“It’s very difficult to organize events for my class and also do dancing,” she said.
Despite the hours of hard work the girls spend practicing their dance, they all agree that it’s a rewarding experience and they get to meet a lot of people.
“You can end up having your dance friends become your best friends,” Hoctor said.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
