A love for Irish Dance

9 Years old, that's how old I was when I started dancing, Irish dancing that is. I still remember when mum came home from the Royal Variety Performance and told my sister and I that she was going to start taking us to Irish dancing lessons. I remember when she said that I wasn't very impressed, how could I be? Irish dancing, really when you're 9 years old and all your friends are learning ballet and gymnastics, Irish dancing didn't sound like the most appealing of things to be getting into. This was a time before it was well known, there was no Riverdance, no Lord of the Dance and no one had heard of Michael Flatley. This was unknown territory that sounded like the least fun way to spend your Saturday morning as a child. However a couple of weeks later I found myself in a hall at the back of a church surrounded by other kids and parents, the parents sitting around the sides, while their children where dancing around the hall. I remember being told by the teacher to get up and join the others while they did the traditional group dance The Walls of Limerick. I had no idea what I was doing, I felt ridiculous, but I did what I was told.

It wasn't until a few years later I really started to form a passion for Irish Dancing. I couldn't tell you how my love for dancing started or why, it just formed and before I new it, it was my life. Unlike most of my fellow dancers I have no Irish heritage, I'd never been to Ireland let alone stepped a foot outside of New Zealand but my passion pulled me into all things Irish. By this time Riverdance and Lord of the Dance were a huge international sensation, our class size must have tripled with keen children thinking that they could do a few lessons and that would land them in one of these shows.

Many rags, rollers and wigs later. Countless competitions, shows, fundraisers and St Patricks Days I started to find myself getting tired of the fuss that was involved with dancing and it was time to start thinking of new things for my life now. Though my true love for dancing had never faded, I needed to end that chapter of my life and begin a new one.14 years is how long I danced for, well I still find myself skipping along to some tunes every now and again, but 14 years of competitions, wigs and dresses was the official length I danced for. I still love it and even when I'm having a bad day I can always put on some dancing music and find myself humming along and chilling out to it, it's hard to describe how much I really do love Irish dancing. It was St Patricks Day the other day and you would have found me at work and then at home preparing dinner, why? I guess after 14 years of dancing every single St Patricks Day in stuffy pubs with drunk patrons it's kind of nice to just have the day to yourself and not be one of those drunk patrons. Yes I know I could have done something great being in London and all, but I just didn't want to. I will be having a delayed celebration next month however, not only for St Patricks Day but all other things that are Irish, for the first time I am going to Ireland. I'm going to explore the country and to top it off I will be there to watch the World Irish Dancing Championships which are taking place in Dublin this year, and I can't describe how excited I am!