IRISH EYES ARE DANCING SCHOOL BRINGS CULTURAL TRADITION TO GENERATION.Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer PALMDALE - Kathleen Kennedy's love of Irish dancing began at age 4 under the teaching of her parents. Her parents had moved to the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. from Ireland and taught both Kennedy and her brother the art. Now Kennedy, brother Vincent O'Connor and Canadian partner Rose Fearon are teaching Irish dance Irish dances come in several forms, which can broadly be divided into social dances and performance dances. Irish social dancing can be divided further into céilí and set dancing. to a new generation from Orange County to Utah. ``I just enjoy it. I enjoy teaching. I enjoy watching a child come in not knowing anything about it and watching them develop their skills and become great dancers,'' said Kennedy, a Palmdale resident. ``It develops their friendships, their physical skills; they're able to stand in front of the public and perform. I've had lots of feedback from parents about how it's changed their child.'' In the eight years since the Fearon-O'Connor School of Irish Dance opened its Palmdale school, Kennedy has seen the number of students increase from two to 65. The trio now has more than 300 students in their various locations. ``When `Riverdance' came out there was a very big boom. It brought Irish dancing to the common household,'' said Kennedy. Twenty-six dance students ages 11 to 19 recently returned from a week in Belfast, Ireland, where they competed against thousands of step dancers from around the world. Each competitor is responsible for their own choreography, and they are judged on rhythm and timing, posture, foot position and height in jumps. In addition to teaching dancing full time, Kennedy recently became an adjudicator ad·ju·di·cate v. ad·ju·di·cat·ed, ad·ju·di·cat·ing, ad·ju·di·cates v.tr. 1. To hear and settle (a case) by judicial procedure. 2. for Irish dancing and now judges competitions. The dancers recently performed at the California Poppy California poppy: see poppy. California poppy Annual garden plant (Eschscholzia californica) in the poppy family, native to the western coast of North America and naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. Festival in Lancaster. They also perform at private parties, weddings, the House of Blues House of Blues (HOB) is a chain of music halls and restaurants founded in 1992 by Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett and his friend and investor Dan Aykroyd. It is a home for live music and southern-inspired cuisine, whose clubs celebrate African-American culture, specifically in Anaheim, local school assemblies and Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . Students will perform at a festival in Van Nuys next weekend and in Chatsworth. The Palmdale location at 3005 E. Palmdale Blvd. is open Mondays and Fridays and an occasional weekend. The school's Web site is www.irishdancing.net and its telephone is (818) 773-3633. Peggy Hager, (661) 267-5741 peggy.grimm-hager(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Above, members of the Fearon-O'Connor School of Irish Dance Emily MacConnell, from left, Mireille Rondeau rondeau One of several formes fixes (fixed forms) in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th–15th century, later popular with many English poets. The rondeau has only two rhymes (allowing no repetition of rhyme words) and consists of 13 or 15 lines of 8 or 10 and Casey McLeod perform at the California Poppy Festival in Lancaster recently. Members of the dance school, left, don traditional costumes for step dancing Noun 1. step dancing - dancing in which the steps are more important than gestures or postures hoofing dancing, terpsichore, dance, saltation - taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music performances and competitions. The school's Palmdale location has 65 students. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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