Berks teen Irish dancer finishes 2nd in world
Five million Irish in Ireland, and here comes some kid from Berks County to outdo them in their very own style of folk dancing.
Well, not 5 million of them, but Zachariah McLaughlin beat all but one of the dancers he competed against last month in Killarney, Ireland, taking second place in the under-19 category of the An Chomhdhail World Irish Dance Championship.
An Chomhdhail — pronounce it however you wish, though it’s roughly ‘an cogal’ — is one of Ireland’s two largest dance organizations. While it’s not unheard-of for a Yank to take such a prize in Ireland — American musicians have claimed a few Irish fiddling championships over the years — it’s not common, either.
“It fluctuates in rarity,” said Zachariah, a 17-yearold senior who studies dance of all varieties — jazz, modern, ballet — at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts in Bethlehem.
Irish dancing is that straight-backed, stiffarmed, high-kicking, stutter-stepping, foot-stomping style that exploded in popularity on these shores when the stage show “Riverdance” debuted in New York, followed by dancer Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance.”
That was almost 30 years ago, and while Irish dance isn’t the phenomenon it was back then, it remains a cherished part of celebrations in the homeland and in the U.S.
If you’ve been to Celtic Classic, you’ve almost certainly seen it. You’ve probably seen Zachariah, too, because he performs at the Bethlehem festival every year. He also dances at St. Patrick’s Day events and brings his talent to school classrooms.
While the style is challenging to learn, “it’s not complicated in the way traditional dance is,” he said. “I like to compare it to a martial art, because it’s more technical than artistic.”
Indeed, Zachariah kicked high and fast as any kickboxer in demonstrating a
few steps outside his school on a recent afternoon, wearing the same dark suit and heavy shoes he wore at the competition.
He kept his arms at his side, a distinctive part of the form.
“Irish dance is very particular about where your body is,” he said. “We keep our bodies and arms up and the legs do the work.”
That’s not to say the body is neglected. Zachariah said it takes great core strength to maintain such rigidity.
“It’s definitely the most singular of the styles I do,” he said.
Zachariah’s mother, Christa, said her son was an energetic child but too small for team sports.
“His dad [Richard] is pretty much all Irish, so Irish dance it was,” she said.
Zachariah, who lives
in Hereford Township, began studying at the O’Grady-Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance in Easton when he was 4. Instructor Maureen O’Grady said he was always a grinder, devoting long hours to perfecting the craft.
She called his March 29 Killarney performance — a whirlwind of a dance performed to a galloping style of Irish tune called a reel — “an amazing accomplishment” that left the audience mesmerized.
It was an ideal way for Zachariah to cap off his tenure at the academy. He plans to go to college this fall in Colorado to pursue a civil engineering degree and, he hopes, dance professionally during that time.
“We’re so proud of him,” O’Grady said. “When you meet a child when they’re
4 or 5 and you’re able to stay with them and watch them grow up and see them do really well like this at the end is so gratifying.”
There could be more McLaughlin family championships in the future. O’Grady counts Zachariah’s 12-yearold sister, Katharyna, among her other prize-winning students.
After that, who knows?
In many families, the love of Irish dancing is sustained along the generations.
“I’m at the point now where I’ve had former students’ children competing at the worlds,” O’Grady said.