Irish Dance. Still Number One.

Renee 5 dresses ago. Graphics by Matt Kominiarek. Dress by Colleen O’Neil.

Canandaigua, NY. It’s truly amazing to look back on the lifetime of a child now grown, and to have witnessed an unbroken chain of events guided by one central theme. I’ve eluded in past posts to what I guess you could call the “Riverdance effect”, as very early on, we came to the rather startling realization: this kid really wants to dance. Renee had memorized and performed “Riverdance” and its dramatic Flatley follow-up, “Lord of the Dance”, almost daily for years before ever setting foot in an Irish Dance studio. Jean Butler was her star.

So began our Irish saga and 18 years of a life fueled by dreams, passion, determination, adversity and elation. I sense the chapter nearing an end and it makes me think of the song that goes, “What are you doing the rest of your life?” You have to be pretty old to remember that tune, and it continues, “The North and South, the East and West of your life?” We’ve been a lot of places and made a lot of memories, but what exactly is next?

Apparently we’ve come to some turning points. Renee certainly has, and at 18 we’re glad she has a number of directions in which she can turn and retrain that laser focus of hers.

I could say that these past 18 years have literally flown by, but they have not. They have been long and hard seeing this child all the way to the World Championship stage. There has been a lot I wish had worked out differently, but that’s hindsight, and really, it all unfolded just the way it was meant to. I hope for Renee, that her last experience in competitive Irish Dance is as rewarding as her first experience. When and where that may occur I can’t predict. I do know that now it’s on to Montreal for one more World Championships.

World Championships, where everything has to click, and it has to click to the beat!

Now is the time we will see just how Renee’s love of Irish Dance has matured and how it will move her toward this goal. It’s a restart, for sure. Time away, is exactly that and you really feel it when you once again engage the strain of perfecting the intricate footwork, the precise jumps and turns. Fortunately, all the while she’s been healing her knee injury she has been able to rely on her employ as a coach at the gymnastics center, the YMCA and her dance students to keep her moving and at the very least, on the edge of the conditioning she will need on Dance Day, April 2^nd. It fast approaches.

After a podium finish in Philadelphia, then failing to recall in Boston in 2012, but achieving her ranking in London in 2013, a top 10 at Nationals, I guess you could say that at this juncture, Renee is poised to come from out of nowhere – perhaps her best position. However, a lot depends on the quality and persistence in her training. How much can be accomplished in a very short time?

Well, let’s see.

Keeping you posted.

 

Jim

 

Greetings from the Waterford Ambassador

 

St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Rochester, NY 2014

Canandaigua, NY. Rochester’s 37th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was undoubtedly an auspicious beginning to our 2014 tour. Renee has been a marcher in our annual rite of spring since ’04 or ’05, but this year was clearly a very special year. She was so warmly welcomed by the Rochester Irish community and she was so proud to be recognized. She held her own place in the first division. A parade needs a princess, right?

Renee’s parade appearance was as special honoree, the Waterford Ambassador, selected by the Waterford Scholarship committee representing the sister city relationship Rochester, New York shares with Waterford, Ireland. This is a bit poignant as Renee, nor I or her mother has ever been to Waterford. We’d like to remedy that, yet in just a couple of weeks we’ll be skipping over the Emerald Isle once again on the way to London for the Irish Dance World Championships.

Nevertheless, because we have poured our souls and our pocketbooks into continued adventures ever nearer, we could have been no prouder, her mother and I, than to see her waving to the crowd out in the middle of Main Street. The next stop to Ireland couldn’t be that far off, surely. We trust in faith, in God and a bit of destiny to guide us along. Perhaps we’ll meet an Irish dancer from Waterford at the Worlds.

Yes, it’s all about the World Championships now and it’s hard to believe we’re nearly there. With a couple of competitions on tap this next two weeks, Renee will take the stage to get a reading on her readiness to quest for a world ranking. Not too many are called, and fewer are chosen at the World Championships. It’s estimated that less than 1% of competitive Irish dancers of all ages qualify to compete on the World stage.

Regardless the outcome, Renee will always be a beautiful Irish dancer and a true standard bearer for the Irish here in America, and wherever she may fly. She has immersed herself in the music, the literature and the history in a big way. Growing up, I had little exposure to the Irish save for the few sisters with that funny Gaelic lilt in their voices at Our Lady of Lourdes School.
Years from now,

I hope Renee will be able to look back upon a rich Irish heritage. She’s contributed more to ours than anyone I know save for my mother’s brother, my uncle Bill, who could sing a fine Irish ditty. It seems we’ve condensed an extreme amount of Irish into a single generation, but that’s really thanks to Renee herself.

I see Michael Flatley is a special guest speaker at this year’s World Championship opening ceremonies. Sadly, we won’t arrive in time to see him then, but I’d like to thank him in advance for setting a stage for a little girl to dance and work and grow to be a champion. Special props to Jean Butler.

Jim