A Morden-based dance program had a successful showing at a recent major competition in the United States.
Irish dancers from Danceworks headed south over the February long weekend to take part in the North American Irish Dance National Championships in Minneapolis.
The group of 13 dancers came home with 12 first places, nine second places, 12 thirds, three fourths, six fifth places, one sixth place, one seventh place, and three honourable mentions for 44 placings overall.
Dancers then advanced to the awards levels one and two on the Sunday. The most significant achievement there was in level two where there was a first-place finish in U18 for 17-year-old Ella Kalinouski. Many other local dancers reached the podium or ranked in the top 10 in their cateogries.
“Our dancers were amazing,” said instructor Cathy Savage. “We had really, really good results. I was so incredibly proud of them. This is a really great bunch of kids.”
She attributed their success to “a lot of hard work, practicing and listening to their teacher. It was just really working at it and correcting the mistakes that need to be corrected … and it’s even just having the confidence to go out on stage and compete, which is huge.”
And Savage suggested others in the competition took notice of these dancers coming from rural Manitoba.
“There were dance schools from all over the States, and there were three schools from Ireland, so it was a really big competition for us to be there,” she said. “Small-town Manitoba is competing against these dancers from places like Kansas City, Ohio, Minneapolis … competing against these bigger schools from places like Boston and Chicago.
“They do really, really well compared to these other schools … so it’s just a huge accomplishment for them.”
For many of the dance students, who range in age from nine to 17 and hail from across the Pembina Valley, this event was a new experience.
“Of those 13 who went, only one girl had danced at the nationals before,” Savage noted. “For six of them, it was their first competition ever. So that is amazing in itself, and some of them were trying new dances they had just started learning in September.”
She suggested their success reflects a high level of passion and dedication for Irish dance among the students.
“They have to love it and enjoy it,” she said, adding her thoughts on the attraction of Irish dance.
“I think it’s just the music … and it’s just a little different from a lot of the other genres,” she suggested. “Irish dance is hard work, but once you start doing it and you get it … and the physicality of it too is amazing. It’s like a workout every time you get on the stage.”
Local dance students can now look forward to April when they travel to Regina for another competition. Before that, Danceworks will also be hosting an Irish ceilidh March 27 at the Kenmor Theatre in Morden. Tickets are available through the Danceworks website.
