IRISH DANCERS' WINNING WAYS.

STEPS GET HARDER, PRACTICES GET LONGER ON COMPETITION CIRCUIT

In recent years, Irish step dance has enjoyed an unprecedented amount of international attention, thanks to the phenomenal success of shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Less known to the public, however, is the intense competition circuit that helps develop the intricate steps and the next generation of performers. An annual highlight of the North American circuit is the regional Oireachtas, held in seven locations across the country during November. The Gaelic term means "gathering," and the event draws top-notch competitors from different dance academies who compete in order to qualify for the World Championships held in April in Ireland. Even for those who don't travel overseas, it's a large honor in and of itself to, as Irish dancers say, "win the Oireachtas"--meaning, to win first place in one's age category.

More than 2,000 entrants from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware took part in the 2000 Eastern Regional Oireachtas in Philadelphia over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Eastern Region has a high concentration of Irish dance academies and is also home to one of the first Irish dance schools in America--Peter Smith's, which opened in New Jersey in 1957--to be registered with Ireland's step dance governing body, An Coimisiun. In fact, several of the original stars of major Irish dance shows received their training in the Eastern region. Jean Butler, the original female lead of Riverdance, studied at the Donny Golden School in New York, while Mary Ann Schade and Kathleen Keady, the only two American women in the original cast of Lord of the Dance, both trained at the Schade Academy in New York (run by Mary Ann Schade's mother, Mary Lou).

With such a legacy, competition is taken very seriously in the Eastern region, and many dancers juggle heavy practice schedules. Take 22-year-old Amy Siegel of the Peter Smith School, who has won in her age category at the Oireachtas six times and was the Junior Ladies World Champion in 1999. She attends five Irish dance classes per week, training for two to three hours at a time, and also practices on her own.

Though he's still a senior in high school, 18-year-old Tim Kochka, of the New Jersey- and Pennsylvania-based Davis Academy, is already performing several days a week in the Broadway production of Riverdance. "I'll come home from school and practice in the afternoon before catching the bus to Manhattan," he says. "I'll do my homework on the bus to the city, then do the show, then return home again. I manage to squeeze everything in. There is not a spare moment anywhere, but somehow it works out. And it is worth it. I love to dance, and that is the bottom line." Kochka has won the Oireachtas for the last three years, and last year he was accepted into Riverdance and placed second in the World Championships, the All-Irelands and the Nationals. The difference this year? He boosted his practice time to two hours a day.

Such dedication is found among younger competitors as well. Tommy Cahill, a 10-year-old dancer from the Schade Academy and another three-time Oireachtas winner, follows a rigorous schedule when preparing for a major competition. He'll wake at 6 A.M. to practice before school, then practice again late at night.

Shane Kelly, 14, of the Broesler Academy, who has won the Eastern Region Oireachtas every time he's entered it, describes his practice routine as "lots of drills. I'll do forty-eight front clicks [swing one leg up in a sharp front kick, switch legs via a second kick, meet heels as they pass] in a row. Then repeat that. I'll do sixteen to twenty-four over two-threes [a jump similar to a runner's hurdle, but done with a vertical back] in a row. Then batters [shuffles]. Over and over. Then, I'll start doing my steps individually first, before going into lead and twos." [A lead is a portion of the dance meant to circumscribe the stage. Twos refers to the first step followed by the second step. In the reel, each step consists of eight counts of four, done on the right side and then repeated on the left side.]

Natalie Fetherston, an 11-year-old dancer for the New York-based Petri school who has won the Oireachtas for the past four years, recommends another tactic for building stamina. She explains, "After stretching in my soft shoes, I'll switch to hard shoes and start adding on my steps. We have to do three steps on stage, so I'll practice four in a row in class and on my own, so that I don't tire during a competition."

For many of these dancers, lengthy practice sessions are motivated by the desire to keep their titles. The Eastern region has a large number of returning champions, spread throughout its age categories. Of this year's twenty-two winners, fourteen had won the Oireachtas for the previous two years, and six of those have won it for an even longer streak. The pressure is often intensified for returning winners who feel they must prove themselves again. Jillian Farmer, 16, has won the Oireachtas six times in a row and the Nationals four times in a row, all under the direction of the Schade Academy. "The pressure is tremendously increased, because I've won so often," she says. "I actually get very nervous. People watch to see if you've improved, if you've been practicing."

The increased pressure felt by returning champions is compounded by the overall increase in competition standards in recent years. Dancers, teachers and adjudicators uniformly agree that competition steps are much more difficult today than five or ten years ago. This is a trend noticed even in the younger age categories. Currently, it is not uncommon to see dancers in the under-8 category mastering material that is comparable to what a competitor in the Senior Ladies would have performed several years ago. This increase in technical difficulty was apparent on all four stages in Philadelphia, and I wondered whether shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance were responsible. Interestingly enough, many people I spoke with saw no causal relationship there, explaining that the difficult steps existed before the shows, and that Riverdance and Lord of the Dance simply spread awareness of what could be done.

NEXT MONTH: IRISH DANCERS, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

WINNERS

These were the winners in the various age categories in November 2000's Eastern Region Oireachtas in Philadelphia and the schools where they train:

BOYS

Joseph Seletski, Senior Men Over 20, Golden School

Justin Kotelnicki, Men Under 20, Ryan School

Timothy Kochka, Men Under 18, Davis Academy

Darrin Lorady, Boys Under 16, Marie Moore School

Shane Kelly, Boys Under 14, Broesler School

Sean Tierney, Boys Under 12, Inishfree School

Tommy Cahill, Boys Under 10, Schade Academy

Ryan Broesler, Boys Under 8, Broesler School

GIRLS

Amy Siegel, Senior Ladies Over 21, Peter Smith School

Theresa Wall, Ladies Under 21, Verlin School

Siobhan Mackin, Ladies Under 19, De Nogla School

Jaime Lynn Crowley, Ladies Under 18, Davis Academy

Bridget Surgoft, Girls Under 17, Ryan School

Jilian Farmer, Girls Under 16, Schade Academy

Meghan Reilly, Girls Under 15, Peter Smith School

Lexa Hickey, Girls Under 14, Broesler School

Jacqueline Markey, Girls Under 13, Davis Academy

Kaitlin West, Girls Under 12, McLoughlin School

Natalie Fetherston, Girls Under 11, Petri School

Amanda McHugh, Girls Under 10, Hunt School

Brianne Marron, Girls Under 9, Petri School

Taylor Kerrane, Girls Under 8, Petri School

Darrah Carr is a New York City-based writer, Irish dancer and choreographer who recently completed her MFA at New York University.