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| PEARL RIVER It was below freezing outside but the two dozen step dancers practicing before a room-length mirror in the downtown dance studio needed the front door propped open to cool things down.The dancers, children and young adults wore T-shirts and shorts, socks and footwear called a "hard shoe." Irish music lilted through the building, and the dancers' shoes outfitted with fiberglass heel and toe tips sounded like hammers striking wood. |
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| Many dancers were just days away from leaving for the All Ireland Step Dancing Championship in Belfast, which starts Sunday and ends Feb. 12.No figures are available as to how many young people participate in step dancing worldwide, but experts agree that interest has soared during the past decade or so since master step dancer Michael Flatley starred in the popular show "Riverdance." |
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Though called dancers, the youths more closely resembled athletes as they practiced, their hair and shirts soaked with sweat, their breathing labored.
"You could never survive without the love of it because of the time and strength it takes," Bridget Marcellino said. Marcellino, 21, has been step dancing since she was 8, and like many dancers considers herself an athlete. "I think it's a combination of the athletics coupled with the mental encouragement you have to give yourself to go on," the Yonkers woman said. |
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| Marcellino is one of 24 Innishfree School of Dance students; most of whom hail from Rockland and Westchester; who will compete in Belfast. Several other schools in the metropolitan area will send competitors to the international contest. |
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| The All Ireland is the second-most prestigious of all Irish step dancing competitions, just behind the World Championships. The Worlds will take place in Ennis, Ireland, in March, and many Innishfree students also qualified to compete in that contest. |
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Nicole Sassone, a member of the O'Sullivan School of Irish Dance in Westchester, said she put in many hours en route to qualifying for the Worlds. "We put in just as much time as someone playing basketball," the 16-year-old Patterson girl said. |
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Step dancers perform in competitions throughout the year, and are judged on their technical skill, moving up in rankings based on their scores. Dancers must master such steps as jigs, reels and hornpipes, which sometimes are performed in soft shoes resembling ballet slippers. |
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19th-century roots |
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| During the mid-1800s, men known as dance masters made their way around Europe, including Ireland, teaching people how to dance. The masters would compete, and in an informal agreement the loser gave up his territory; his paying dance students; to the winner. The competitive form of step dancing practiced today can be traced back to this time period. |
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| To be a successful step dancer, a student must be able not only to dance, but also to perform athletically and to understand music, said Sean Reagan, Innishfree's owner and instructor. The school holds classes in different studios throughout the region, including the Classic Ballet Studio on Pearl River's Central Avenue. |
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| Reagan started step dancing when he was 9, with his parents taking him and his two brothers to classes at the Irish American Center in Mineola, N.Y. At age 21, he was able to obtain an official teaching certificate. He spent years working as a stockbroker by day and a step-dance instructor by night, until finally becoming a full-time teacher several years ago. |
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Meaghan Hill has been dancing since she was 9, brought to a class by her mother to see what it was like. The 15-year-old Ossining girl said she was hooked from the start. Hill won't head to Belfast this year, but she is determined to one day qualify. She practices on a stage in her garage for about an hour a day four days per week. That's in addition to attending classes in Pearl River and the Bronx. |
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| "I just find it fun," Hill said. "It gets you in shape and you meet a lot of people at the competitions." |
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Following familyfootsteps |
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| Those who earned the rank of open champion qualified to compete at Belfast and Ennis. Siblings Heather and Scott Hanson will compete in both contests. Heather Hanson, 17, began dancing five years ago after seeing step dancers in a St. Patrick's Day parade and remembering a photograph of her mother in a similar costume. She wanted to follow in Noreen Hanson's footsteps. |
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| "I wasn't good in sports and I wasn't really a fan," Heather Hanson said. "I tried softball, soccer. I even tried ballet." |
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| She found her niche in step dancing, and has learned how to balance its demands with those of high school, including participating in the school musical. "It's tough, but you have to learn how to balance everything out," Hanson said. "I like to compete. I like to travel. I like to go overseas and see things. I know people all over. I set goals for myself for dance, school and singing." |
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It is common in the days before a big competition for dancers to attend additional classes, sometimes increasing from one to four per week. The Hansons, of Orangeburg, and other Innishfree students take classes in Pearl River, the Bronx, Mineola and Port Jefferson, N.Y. |
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| To get to their classes, the dancers endure long car rides during which they try to do homework, study for tests, eat dinner, sleep or watch a DVD. The Port Jefferson trip takes the Hansons about four hours on the way out and about an hour and 40 minutes on the return. |
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| Patrick Cooper has been dancing for six years, also getting involved at his mother's urging; she step danced as a child. The Coopers drive from their Woodstock, Conn., home to Pearl River once a week. It's a 300-mile round trip that takes three to five hours each way. |
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But Cooper wants to practice with strong dancers and his mother said those at Innishfree were among the best. Cooper has a natural talent; he qualified for the world championships in his first year. Cooper, 14, is an open champion, but he won't go to the All Irelands this year; his sister will get a chance instead. |
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Males once dominated step dancing, but that changed abruptly in 1930, when females came to dominate the sport. It is unclear what prompted the nearly overnight change. |
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| Cooper said his friends didn't tease him about being a dancer because they knew the effort it took. "I danced in a talent show in school one time and everyone stood up and clapped." |
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| Scott Hanson's friends do poke fun at him. The 15-year-old said he didn't mind. |
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| "If they knew the other half of it, they'd probably try it," Hanson said. "It's a lot of work but when you go to the major competitions you have a ton of fun." |
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His interest was sparked one afternoon after watching his sisters dance. |
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| "My sisters started dancing and there were a ton of girls," he said. "Then I got interested in it." |
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Bridget Marcellino, 21, front, and Grainne Keogh, 15, both of Yonkers, practice an Irish step dance at the Classic Ballet Studio in Pearl River, Jan. 28, 2005.
( Peter Carr / The Journal News ) |
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