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- New York Irish Dance Company on "America's Got Talent" - VIDEO
- Top seven favorite videos of Irish dancing boys and men
- Twenty questions with a "Reel Boy" from South Africa - Neil Roberts
- Teenage professional Irish dancers - Joey and Clare Roca in "Rhythm in the Night"
- Countdown to the final show of "Riverdance" - VIDEOS
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New York Irish Dance Company on "America's Got Talent" - VIDEO
The New York Irish Dance Company is made up of competitive and retired-from-the-competitive-circuit Irish dancers. Many of the Irish dancers in the company are ranked or have been ranked as top ten in their age group in the Irish dance world. Started in Tarrytown, New York through the Lynn Academy of Irish Dance, The New York Irish Dance Company is now a performance group of its own.
The group is open to Irish dancers from other Irish dance schools and to professional Irish dancers. There is a Junior performance group and a Senior performance group, and the The New York Irish Dance Company is available for bookings at events of all kinds.
This amazingly talented group of Irish dancers was spotted last night on NBC's America's Got Talented!! The New York Irish Dance Company received three "yes" votes from the judges: Howie Mandel, Sharon Osbourne, and this season's newest judge, Howard Stern.
Top seven favorite videos of Irish dancing boys and men
One of the greatest things about Irish dancing in this day and age is the great assortment of fabulous Irish dance videos of some of the best and brightest in the Irish dance world. Where it used to be that one would need to see the "greats" in person, or at the very least hear tell about a performance, now, we can make use of the internet and watch the "greats" or "near greats" on video.
My son, Cameron, and many other boys around the world are gearing up for the 2012 North American Irish Dance Championships in Chicago, Illinois which will happen in less than 2 months. Every time Cameron hits a lull in his training routine and needs a jump-start to encourage him to do even better and train a little harder, he goes to his favorite videos of Irish dancers to inspire him.
Twenty questions with a "Reel Boy" from South Africa - Neil Roberts
2012 World Irish Dancing Championships
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Teenage professional Irish dancers - Joey and Clare Roca in "Rhythm in the Night"
Teenagers and siblings, Joey and Clare Roca are competitive Irish dancers. They are also Irish dancers with professional dance experience. Eighteen year old Joey and sixteen year old Clare recently performed in the professional Irish dance showcase, Rhythm in the Night. I had a great time chatting with their mother, Colleen Roca. We definitely chatted about the experience of having had her children in a professional Irish dance production, but we also chatted about where Joey's and Clare's love of and talent for Irish dance came from.
Countdown to the final show of "Riverdance" - VIDEOS
Well, it's finally happening! Riverdance has scheduled its final farewell tour dates.
Irish dance musicals? Midnight musings may spark a trend
Do you know what I'd like to see?
I'd love to see a fabulous, slightly-campy, very entertaining, on-stage, Irish dance musical. Make it a love story of sorts with sappy-ish dialog and lots of quirky, romantic twists. Of course, like all musicals, there'd be catchy, toe-tapping, heart-felt musical dance numbers thrown in. Being Irish dance, they'd all be Irish dance pieces.
Seriously!! The more I think about this, the more I can see it as a reality.
Interview with professional Irish dancer Owen Barrington - VIDEO
Owen Barrington is currently on tour with Michael Londra's Beyond Celtic in New York. he took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about being a professional Irish dancer, how he got there, his competitive years, and some info about who he is.
Feis America: How old are you now, and when did you start Irish dance?
Barrington: I just turned 27 years old and I started my Irish dancing adventure at the relatively late age of 12. I didn’t compete at my first feis though until I was 15 because I was learning to dance in my hometown of Anchorage, Alaska and we did not have a certified instructor for several years.
Irish Dance - All Ireland Irish Dance Championships - Watching from the sidelines - Schedule of Competitions
I feel a bit like an arm-chair fan sitting at home, getting ready to cheer for their favorite sports team or Olympic athlete. Instead of "Go, Manchester United!!", or "Go, Steelers!!", or even "Go, Jamaican Bobsled Team!!" (Can't be helped- ever since "Cool Runnings", I've had a thing for them), I find myself getting ready to cheer from afar for the Irish dancing boys, who I know or whose names I know as being the names of major contenders for top place Irish dance championship titles. These Irish dancing young men will be at the 2012 All Ireland Championships. "Go, Irish dance boys! WooHoo!"
Monthly feature with an Irish dancer - Twenty questions for a Reel Boy
Every month, an Open Champion Irish dancer will be featured here on the Moms to Reel Boys blog.
This month, I interviewed Brandon Asazawa of Ohio, USA. He came in 18th at the 2011 World Championships of Irish Dance in Dublin and 4th at the 2011 North American Nationals. Most recently, Brandon came in 1st place at the 2011 MidAmerica Regional Oireachtas.
What is your name?
Brandon Asazawa
Do you have any nicknames?
None that I know of.
How old are you?
I am 16yrs old.
What Irish dance school do you dance for?
I am from the Leneghan Academy of Irish Dance located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Irish dance is expensive - Ways to save money
Today, having kids who are interested in anything means money out of pocket for classes and gear and opportunities to use their new found talents. Music lessons, sports, art classes all cost money. Irish dance is no exception.
Advice to bullied boy Irish dancers
I found all kinds of sites with info on the latest statistics of bullying. Verbal abuse, cyber bullying, physical violence, etc. all make the list. It's a sad reality that over half of all kids won't make it to adulthood without at some point feeling ostracized, threatened, insulted, and belittled for being perceived as being different or not normal.
My kids have been given the lectures from very early-on about treating people with respect no matter how they look, talk, act, etc- no matter what they do, say, or believe that might set them apart. Every person should be valued. Without exception- every person.
Christmas stocking stuffers for Irish dancers
With four more days until Christmas, many parents are done with the big gifts and looking for those little stocking stuffers and extras for their kids. I know I am!
With Irish dancing children, it is actually pretty easy to find fun things to toss in the Christmas stockings. Here is a list of a few that are on this momma's list.
Duct tape: Okay, for anyone who has Irish dance kiddos, duct tape is a must. In practice, competition, and performances, a small strip on the sole of the shoe can help with traction and prevent slips in hardshoes. It used to be that duct tape only came in boring gray, but now, there is everything from the Irish dance standard of black to hot pick. There is also a line of patterned duct tape with animal prints, sculls, flowers, and our new family favorite, flames. "Feet O'Flames!!" Get it? Funny stuff! While the patterns are not that practical for a feis or performance, they're always good for a laugh when worn at a practice or class.
Play is the great equalizer for boys in Irish dance - boys will be boys
Zane Pall and Ciaran Traynor playing a video game at the North American Nationals in Ottawa- 2007
Is friendship possible in the world of competitive Irish dance?
To the right is a picture from the Southern Region Oireachtas in Washington, D.C., December 2010. Three boys from three different schools. Friends and competitors in the same competitions- Cameron, Nick, and Zane.
Things can always get a little sticky when combining competition and friendship.
Learning the language of Irish dance- definitions of common Irish dance words, terms, and steps
The Language of Irish dance for beginners and non-Irish dancers.
The place:
If you've never been to an Irish dance competition, then going to one is a bit like stepping onto another planet where wigs and rhinestones and loud shoes making rhythmic, percussive noise is the norm.
Guys in Irish dance and their gravity-defying hair - PHOTOS of styles
Recently, I polled some fabulous moms of Irish dancing boys from around the world about their sons' hair styles and anything different that they might do to get ready for a feis or major competion or show as far as hair care.
Sooooo....... your son is getting ready for a feis..........
What does he do to his hair? Any products he especially loves? Gravity-defying, gelled styles?? Do you do it or does he do it?
New trends in boys' Irish dance costumes
I remember four years ago. My son was getting ready to compete at his first big regional Irish dance competition, an Oireachtas. He had always just worn the "school costume" for his Irish dance that consisted of a colored shirt that was one of the school's colors, a black satin tie with a Celtic trinity knot embroidered on it, and black dress pants straight out of a department store. That was what many of the boys wore. We knew that we would need to improve his costume a bit to compete at the higher Oireachtas level, by adding a black vest.
So, when he came out of an Oireachtas workshop class and shared with me that he'd been told he needed a black vest with rhinestone buttons, I was a bit shocked. Rhinestone buttons? As in shiny, giant, diamond-looking buttons on my boy child?? Ummmmm........ like a Liberace-esque, crystal, shiny, costume on my kid?
Yes, I know.
I look back and see that the costume slippery-slope began that day for us.
Cross-Training for Irish Dance
Cross-training is training in two or more sports in order to improve fitness and performance in a main sport- i.e. Irish dance. It is also called conditioning.
Many Irish dancing boys play sports or do activities other than Irish dance. Some of those activities are just for fun, but many of them, while fun, help with improving skills that make them as an Irish dancer even more competitive.
I remember several years back getting to meet a professional Irish dancer with my son after a show. He talked to us and found out that my son at the time was a hockey player in addition to doing Irish dance. He said that he had been a hockey player too. His next comment has really stuck with me through the years. He said that hockey was great for Irish dance because it had given him really quick feet. After thinking about it, I could see what perfect sense that makes. Same thing happened a year or two later when we waited backstage at a Riverdance show. The lead male dancer at the time came out and talked with us. He said he had been a soccer kid first before he had ever even tried Irish dance. He felt that soccer had given him great turn-out, fast feet, and great stamina.
Competing in Irish Dance - Packing for a Feis
The days leading up to a feis can be stressful. There is a lot of preparation and planning that goes into getting ready to compete on feis day.
In my house, my Irish dancing son is preparing. He is practicing like crazy- stretching, running through steps, working on stamina, and doing drills. The rhythmic percussion of feet on floors and the Irish dance music playing from speakers are norms in most houses with Irish dancers, but getting ready for competitions can up the volume. Our house is no different. You can often walk past my house and hear the music even from the sidewalk. I wonder if one can see the walls shake a bit as he practices his hard-shoe steps.
Along with what my son is doing on his end of things, I also am busy on my end. Costumes need regular upkeep. I am Making sure things are pressed and hung up, checking the length of the ever-shrinking, black, dress pants on the ever-growing boy, re-attaching errant crystals on the vest and tie, and making sure there is a matched pair of black trouser socks- and a spare at the ready. Along with costume responsibilities, I also print out stage schedules and maps to the feis venue and make sure hubby/Dad polishes the shoes and places them in the back of the car on newspaper and gasses up the car. One of the big things on my feis "to-do list" is to pack and check the feis bag.
You know your son is an Irish dancer when...
You just never know what's going to prompt a great discussion.
On a day this last spring, a great disussion was started with an interesting comment on Facebook by a mom from Wisconsin. Kristina is a mom to a twelve year old Irish dancing boy who dances with the Trinity School. She posted this comment:
"You know your son is an Irish dancer when... he spends an entire Saturday at a high school doing Irish dance shows and playing soccer in the hall between shows with the other boys. Then, when the janitors tell the boys to not play in the hallway, they move backstage and play "Hangman" – with the names of traditional and non-trad set dances. :-)"
The Beginning of Moms to Reel Boys
I am a mom to an Irish dancing boy!
My son Cameron is the second of six kiddos and has been Irish dancing since he was six. He is now a 13 year old Preliminary Champion. He has learned so much from his T.C.R.G., and we love her choreography. However, there is one thing missing at his Irish dance school: boys! He is the only Champion-level boy. For years we have had to find our own way with costumes and navigating the world of feiseanna with a boy. Once Cameron moved up to Novice and Prizewinner, I started seeking out moms of the few other boys in his competitions, and I'd catch myself cheering for the boys we'd met. I found camaraderie with the other moms whose sons were in schools with multiple boy dancers. They had answers to questions such as ‘Where do you find pants that work for Irish dance?’, ‘Do boys use sock glue?’ and ‘Where are the cool vests coming from?”.
