Quick Pace, High Energy Hold Appeal For Irish Step Dancer

March 7, 2010 by John Rook

This is high octane dancing at its best.
The feet and legs remain in constant motion, most often keeping time with the frenetic beat of the Celtic music playing in the background, while arms and hands usually remain in a fixed position and a smile securely fastened to the performer’s face.
It is the type of talent and artistry, and good old fashion fun, that has made Irish step dancing popular for centuries and, come this weekend, a few Cheshire residents will be treating audiences to their own interpretation of the old routine.
On Saturday, students at the Horgan Academy of Irish Dance performed in the school’s 15th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Extravaganza. The show is a part of the school’s Shamrocks for Scholarships program, with scholarship forms available for all high school students planning to attend college in the fall.
Among the dancers was Lila Purvis, 14, a student at the Academy. Purvis, though only a teenager, has been taking dance lessons for much of her life, studying a wide variety of genres and trying to introduce herself to as many new and original steps as possible.
It was five years ago when Purvis first became involved with Irish step dancing. She had been introduced to the dance form during a few different shows she has seen as a child and was fascinated by the quick pace and high energy of the routines.
“It really seemed fun to me and I thought I would enjoy it,” she said.
While Irish step dancing is “fun,” Purvis admits it is also challenging. The difficulty, she explained, lies in the fact that the dance must remain upbeat, as must the dancer, throughout the entire show. There is little time for rest, but the maneuvers are not that uncommon to her.
“It is really like the faster parts of ballet,” she concluded.
But, there are some differences that make Irish dancing unique in its own right. One happens to be the shoes.
Most dance forms require specific shoes, such as ballet or tap shoes, yet Irish dance requires two different forms of footwear. One, the soft shoes, called ghillies, are worn by women dancers and resemble a ballet shoe, only in black instead of the traditional pink. Soft shoes are mostly used for three routines in the Irish Dance set: the jig, the slip-jig, and the reel.
Hard shoes are very different and are mostly mistaken for tap shoes. The bottoms are made of wood or fiberglass and they are used to primarily perform a hard jig or a hornpipe.
During the shows performed by the Horgan Academy, dancers are usually asked to change shoes in the middle of the production, and Purvis has heard rumors that, for an upcoming show, there might be an even more immediate footwear change.
“They are talking about us possibly changing shoes in the middle of a routine, so we will see what happens there,” she said, with a laugh.
While maintaining an upbeat attitude and making at least a few changes in shoes during a performance can be challenging, it doesn’t take anything away from Purvis’ enjoyment of the routines. One aspect of the show that she likes the most is the fact that many of the routines involve several dancers on stage at once.
“I like how a lot of it is groups,” she explained. “You end up grabbing a partner and spinning around the stage.”
The show this weekend kicked off a season of performances that will also take Purvis and her fellow students to the Palace Theater in Waterbury, which she acknowledged excites her.
“I have done a lot of smaller shows but never anything that size,” she said. “It is a great change of pace.”
There are always some nerves before taking to the stage, Purvis admits, but, over the last few years, she has grown more comfortable and confident in her abilities, and she expects to help put on a great show with her fellow dancers.
“I had my own solo last year and I think it has helped me become more comfortable,” she said. “I am really excited.”