An unlikely home for Irish dance
Tasmania is 18,000km away from us and worlds apart but a very passionate teacher is bringing nine of her students to Killarney to compete next week
TASMANIA might be very, very far away from our Emerald Isle, but Ireland has some things in common with the Australian island. For example, it’s roughly the same size as here, plus Tasmanians share a mutual appreciation for our national dance.
On the other side of the world, Irish dancing is as loved as it is here — in fact, in Australia, our heritage dance was being practised as early as 1844. Now, thanks to Riverdance, Irish dancing has conquered the world, with a huge global community in no less than 30 countries in far-flung destinations dancing competitively, or purely for fun. In Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, one woman in particular has played no small part in keeping this Celtic tradition alive.
Bronwyn Kelly has been teaching Irish dancing for the last 14 years. Next week, she’s bringing nine of her students — many of whom have never been outside Australia — to Killarney for the All Ireland Irish Dancing
Championships. Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann, run by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha, is the oldest Irish dance championships in the world. It’s also the largest Irish dance event held in Ireland — over 2,000 dancers will descend on Killarney to compete at the INEC from February 11-17.
It will take Bronwyn and the group of students from Scoil Rince Ní Kelly 30 hours to travel almost 18,000km to get to the home of Irish dancing.
For Bronwyn, it’s also a case of coming full circle — she made the same trip to Killarney at the age of 21 to compete in the Irish Dancing Commission Worlds, which was being held there at the time.
This year, the Worlds are being held in Glasgow but there was only ever one location Bronwyn was interested in for this particular journey.
‘The whole goal was to go to the home of Irish dance,’ she says of the upcoming momentous trip. ‘I wanted them to come and experience the Irish culture — let them be tourists, take them to a little Irish pub, maybe learn a cúpla focal!’ she laughs.
Bronwyn has no direct connection with Ireland, but her love of Irish dancing stems from early childhood, when her father first took her along to a class at the Lahl School of Irish Dance, which was run by Margaret Lahl at the time. It was love at first step.
‘It was my Saturday hobby for years and years,’ she says. ‘It was the thing I looked forward to most in the week. It was different to all the usual extracurricular activities and I just loved it. Oh my god, I loved it.’
While her other friends’ childhood hobbies fell away as they got into their teenage years, Bronwyn’s love for Irish dancing only got stronger. In fact, she says, it wasn’t until she was a teenager that she really started to take the ‘sport’ seriously, and realised that the world of competitive dance was one she wanted to be actively involved in.
‘I remember taking a trip to Melbourne with the dance school and my eyes were opened to just how popular Irish dancing was, and how big a deal it was across the world,’ says Bronwyn. ‘I did my first proper competition at the age of 14 and I remember looking at the older girls winning awards for dance and I just wanted to be like them.’
Peak Irish dancing fever happened with Riverdance, when, Bronwyn remembers, the dance classes she was going to ‘just exploded’.
At this stage Bronwyn left Hobart to attend university to study graphic design in Melbourne, continuing her dance at a much bigger school there.
‘I was dancing at a competitive level and was travelling overseas a lot — in fact, the first major trip I did was at the Worlds which was in Killarney, when I was 21,’ she remembers. ‘I’m 45 now, so this trip is going to bring up lots of memories.’
At this stage, Bronwyn decided to follow her heart and trained as an Irish dancing teacher, working in a school in Melbourne, before fate intervened.
‘I got word that my first dance teacher Margaret was going to retire and close the school,’ she says. ‘I just couldn’t let that happen, so I tried to think of a way around it.’
Amazingly, for six years, Bronwyn flew the 1.5 hours back to Hobart at the weekends to teach classes and keep her beloved school alive, until she made a decision that would change the course of her life — and which resulted in keeping the Irish dancing tradition alive in Tasmania too. ‘I knew Hobart and the dance school was truly where my heart was,’ she shrugs. ‘So I moved back — that was seven years ago.’
Now, Bronwyn has more than 50 students, ranging in age from three into their 60s. She also teaches adults Irish dancing.
‘We have lots of Irish parents who want their children to learn the dance, then we do events on St Patrick’s Day and festivals, so people really love it,’ she says.
It’s a little like history repeating itself too as Niamh, Bronwyn’s 14year-old
‘I want to take them to a little Irish pub, learn a cúpla focal!’ ‘I can see myself teaching until I can’t walk basically’
daughter, has inherited her mother’s love of dance, and will make the same trip to Killarney just as her mother did all those years ago.
‘Niamh’s dad is from Kilkenny so it’s not the first time she’s been in Ireland, but it’s definitely poignant,’ says Bronwyn of the long-awaited journey.
‘Originally we planned to go in 2020 but then Covid happened, so that had be be postponed. It was challenging keeping the kids dancing at a competitive level for two years, but we managed,’ she says.
The mammoth journey is not just significant in terms of achievement and skill — dancers have to be ‘top of their game’, training for hours in preparation. For many of the dance students, who range in age from 14-19, it will mark a goodbye to their beloved teacher, and something that’s been a big part of their childhood. It’s an emotional trek. ‘Most of the kids have been with me about 13 years — since they were five, some even before that,’ she says.
‘A lot go travelling, move away to uni,
you know, find their feet that way.
‘That’s another reason I decided to really go for it and do this trip of a lifetime. I hope that it convinces a few of them who might think about giving up to actually keep going and aim higher.
‘I’ve got a few students who already know they want to be teachers and I just I love that. If they want to keep teaching with me they can — I can see myself teaching until I can’t walk basically,’ she laughs.
Heartwarmingly, the community of Hobart has gotten behind the dance school and helped in funding the journey, organising lots of trivia nights, raffles and chocolate drives (similar to bake sales) over the last year.
‘We’ve really upped the ante in the last month, organising dance displays at festivals and markets,’ admits Bronwyn. ‘People have been so generous because they just love the fact that we are representing Tasmania and Australia at such a prestigious event.’
Flying nine students — eight girls and one boy — plus their parents almost 20,000km across the world, alongside accommodation for a 2.5-week trip is not cheap. Then there’s the intricate outfits and elaborate hair and make-up, all of which Bronwyn explains are very important factors for the performance — and something the students love too.
Inspired by iconic Irish dancer Jean Butler, the girls representing Scoil Rince Ní Kelly will be rocking flame-haired wigs and bright dresses for the major competition.
‘The red wigs were a bit of a bold move, but I think they really pop with the blue dresses — it’s become a signature look, which I’ve stuck with for the last five years or so now,’ says Bronwyn. ‘The costumes are very expensive, I have a lady in America who makes them for me. For Killarney, I really wanted a traditional Celticlooking costume, so many of them come from Ireland.’
For weeks the team have been training especially hard for the competition, where they will compete in a group and also in solo dances — three are going on to the Worlds in Glasgow too. Irish dancing on a competitive level is extremely rigorous and involves a high level of fitness, with practice coming up to the championships up to four hours and more a day, a number of times a week.
‘On top of that, I’d expect them to be stretching at home and doing additional cardio work,’ says Bronwyn. ‘The stamina required for dance is akin to sport — you need to be ready to sprint for a minute and a half, which is a long time to sprint for. I’m very aware that injuries at this level are rife too, and the fitter and stronger they are, the less chance there is of that happening.’
Irish dancing is not just for girls, says Bronwyn, who has five male students in her school at the moment — one of whom is getting ready to come to Killarney too.
‘He’s so pumped,’ Bronwyn says of Christian Barry, who is also the Australian Irish dancing boys’ champion. ‘He’s so driven. He’s
‘I just want the kids to enjoy it and dance their absolute best’
been coming to class since he was three and now he doesn’t walk, he springs around the place.
‘I love that,’ says Bronwyn of the passion her children have for Irish dance. ‘They get drawn into that Irish dancing addiction, and then they stop walking. They just dance everywhere.
‘I love the joy that it brings to the kids and I love watching them work really hard and nail what they’re doing. I especially enjoyed watching the friendships that they form, especially when they’re in a team together,’ she says, adding that when it comes to winning in Killarney, the fact that the team are there is victory enough.
‘I always go into a competition with the attitude of just wanting the kids to enjoy it and dance their absolute best. Anything above and beyond that is icing on the cake. We’re not that type of dance school — we want the whole experience. I want the kids to meet some Irish people and start up friendships. My friends that I’ve met from dancing are my best friends still.’
■ THE All Ireland Irish Dancing Championships will be held in Killarney INEC from February 11-17, see cclrgoireachtas.com