Top-level Irish dancers re-form cultural group

At a school where parties dominate the social scene, the same old music and entertainment every weekend can start to wear thin.

IU students offer many alternative forms of entertainment, and the championship-level dancers in the Identity Irish Dancers could make for fun entertainment at a St. Patrick’s Day party.

After the original club members graduated, the club went dormant, but freshman Katherine O’Malley re-founded it this year.

The dance troupe consists of nine top Irish dancers who will perform for multiple events, such as the Celtic Culture Weekend from March 27 to 29.

The group’s upcoming Celtic Culture Weekend performances will take place between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. March 27 and between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. March 28 in the Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union. The dancers will perform first and teach later during the weekend.

The routines they perform combine shorter routines they learned while dancing for different dance academies, creating longer, more intricate dances.

“Our aim in performing for different parties is to get our name out there,” O’Malley said.

The type of dancing the group does requires the dancers to keep their arms straight to their sides while jumping, turning and making other movements with their legs and feet.

After members from a previous Irish dancing club at IU graduated, O’Malley decided it was time to start another one. The nine members found one another through word of mouth and Facebook.

The current members formed the club because they missed Irish dancing, which had been a big part of their lives since they were young.

“There aren’t that many Irish dancers at IU to begin with, and we all just sort of found each other,” freshman Iris Summers said.

One of the requirements to join the club is to be a championship-level Irish dancer, or a dancer who competed at the highest level. Dancers all around the country perform in feis, an Irish dancing competition. Dancers can make it to the Preliminary Championship competition by placing and moving up in the first four levels.

At any feis, there are dancers as young as 5 or 6 years old. Although one can find a feis in any major city, Summers said there are more in the Midwest, which is more populated with Irish dancers and more competitive than in other regions.

Traditional Irish dance is a big part of the competitors’ lives, taking up much of their time with private lessons and feis competitions.

“If you’re Irish, it’s something you are around and see a lot,” junior Lauren Reckley said.

Though the Irish Dancing Club dancers embrace their heritage, they were sure to clear up one misconception about Irish dancing - all Irish dancers clog.

“Our hard shoes have fiberglass heels and toes ... and they are not cloggers,” freshman Colleen King said.