Lily Danielle
Viewpoints Editor
Blackbirds, The College of Wooster’s team and community of Irish dancers, has started preparations for an intercollegiate Irish dance festival and competition at Villanova University (which the team calls a ‘feis’). The team’s hopes for success at Villanova, combined with a variety of public performances that’ll stretch on through the year, reflect a period of newly realized engagements for a dance team that hopes to increase its impact at Wooster.
The club has grown rapidly since its inception, reaching an all-time grand total of 17 total dancers as of this semester, with at least seven joining after Scot Spirit Day outreach.
Kat Neis ’18, co-president alongside Erin O’Leary ’18, remarked on the club entering a period of transition when she first joined, small on account of several seniors graduating.
“We only did practices once a week,” said O’Leary, “[We] performed once the whole year. We had very little presence on campus.”
Other challenges have plagued Blackbirds’ footsteps — namely, the challenge of proper footwear. Hard shoes, essential in certain dances, are expensive, and the team feared that new members couldn’t manage the price. Unfortunately, Blackbirds had received record low funds in the club allocation process. In the 2015-2016 timeframe, they were awarded a grand total of $67.00 for all their club funding. Buying shoes was impossible, in addition to off-campus events and other programs.
This year, with a budget of $2,000, Blackbirds looks forward to buying shoes for new members and traveling with ease.
Although Neis and O’Leary both had dancing experience before attending the College, they were ecstatic for two new dancers to join their efforts at the Villanova, though they had only begun in September.
“I think our biggest focus is that we want our dancers to have a fun time,” said Neis. Neis and O’Leary explained that the mix of competition opportunities with the team’s flexibility regarding new members creates an environment where veterans instruct newbies. Other dancers, who are invested for the hobby of athleticism, prevent the environment from becoming a detrimental stress.
“Everyone’s nice and it’s an interesting, weird skill I’m developing,” said Bronwen Kessler ‘19, a new member as of the fall semester. She plans on participating in the upcoming contest at Villanova. “I’m working on my party tricks. It’s a good skill to seem interesting.”
The hardest part, Kessler said, is not moving your arms — a cultural practice which O’Leary said stemmed from the oppressive practice of British powers during their occupation of Ireland. The Irish would dance in bars, arms close to their side, appearing ordinary from a window, surreptitiously concentrating all their dancing in their feet. This gives the dances an aggressive effect, according to Neis, who explained that Irish dance contains a diversity of both graceful, ballet-style dance, and more powerful, rhythmic renditions.
Neis said that for those involved in the competition, they are practicing up to three times a week before the event at Villanova, which starts in the beginning of October. “We’ll drive up to Villanova, and hopefully come back as winners,” said O’Leary.
Moving forward, Neis and O’Leary said they would participate in another competition at the University of Dayton, in addition to shows in the intimate space of Common Grounds at the College and potentially a local nursing home, where the team has performed in the past.
For now, the team anticipates uploading more pictures of practice sessions on their Instagram and Facebook accounts (facebook.com/blackbirdsirishdance), as they share all their efforts and dance with the rest of the community.