Teenager keeps Irish dancing in family
Young Irish dancers came to Halifax this past weekend to do the Irish jig for judges.
Charlotte Malone is 15 and has been Irish dancing for nearly a decade because it runs in her family. She competed in the third annual Atlantic Canadian Irish Dancing Championships.
“My aunt was an Irish dancer when she was little,” said Charlotte. “So my parents thought it would be cool if I could do it.”
She started to learn Irish dancing at the age of seven. When her family moved to Halifax, she was enrolled at Rising Tide Irish Dance Academy.
“My school is one of my favourite places to be,” Charlotte said. “My confidence is always boosted by my coaches, even if I mess up.”
Rising Tide opened in 2015 with locations in Halifax and Bedford. They are registered with An Coimisiún Le Rinci Gaelacha in Dublin, Ireland, the world’s largest Irish dance governing body.
Charlotte practises her dancing for four to six hours per week and is also a coach at Rising Tide, on top of her schoolwork. She dances at a preliminary championship level.
“The stamina is difficult,” she said. “At a higher level of dancing, the dances are so long and there’s more steps involved.”
Irish dancing is an important part of the heritage and culture of Ireland and has been around since the 18th century. It involves little upper body movement and lots of fast footwork.
“Most of the time, your feet should be pointing outward,” said Charlotte. “And then your legs and ankles are always crossed. It’s one of the biggest things the judges look for, on top of posture.”
The Westin Nova Scotian hotel hosted more than 250 Irish dancers over the weekend. Dancers and judges came from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Irish dance competitions are also known as feiseanna and were once rare to see in Atlantic Canada.
Laura Hopper, chair of the event, said the championship is something that was missing in the Maritimes.
“Until recently, few feiseanna were held in Atlantic Canada. There used to be only one local feis in all Atlantic provinces once every four years,” said Hopper.
“Around 2012, one feis was held annually and, starting in 2015, two were offered each year.”
In 2022, the Atlantic Canadian Irish Dance Championships were held for the first time, bringing the number of area competitions to four. This is significant for Irish dancers in the Maritimes.
“Feiseanna are a necessary component of Irish dance and the primary way Irish dancers advance and measure progress,” Hopper said.
Atlantic Canadian dancers take longer to advance their skills as they have fewer opportunities to be exposed to elite dancing and fewer opportunities to receive feedback from adjudicators, perform with live music and advance through the levels, she said.
The regional dancing championship wants to put an end to this. The event will be held in Halifax again next year, keeping the opportunity for Atlantic Canadian Irish dancers to come together.