There are a lot of things that make up a person’s identity. Much of who an individual is comes from where they call home and what their childhood was like. To my surprise, I have a lot more in common with Irish women than I thought. We all have very strong connections to our past. Where we come from makes us all who we are as individuals and strangely very similar.

After seeing an Irish step dancing show in the Fitzsimons Hotel and Restaurant, I noticed that the dancers were having a lot of fun while doing their performance. I was really intrigued as to why Irish dancers still practice such an old tradition so I decided to ask Louise, the young, female dancer about her experiences with the dancing culture in Ireland.

Louise talked to me about the enormous amount of pressure that is put on young girls in Ireland to learn Irish step dancing. Louise enjoyed her childhood dancing activity until she was a teenager and Irish step dancing wasn’t the “cool” thing to do anymore. She stopped dancing for a few years but then she found herself wanting to go back to dancing. Tradition was a word that came up a lot when I talked with her. A lot of why she and her other dancing colleagues still dance and find it enjoyable is because there are strong roots that go along with it. She feels a connection to her childhood and traditional Ireland when she dances. Louise believes that because she’s Irish, it’s important to keep alive what might eventually die.

Louise’s experience being an Irish dancer is something I can definitely relate to. Although I couldn’t dance to save my life, I was pressured to do something similar as a child. As a young girl I was told I needed to pick a sport or an activity to be involved in. I chose to play basketball because I come from long line of basketball stars and being the tallest kid in my class I figured I would be good at it. Before high school began I decided to stop playing because I didn’t feel that I was good enough to continue at the next level. Like the rest of my family, I have a special place in my heart for the game of basketball. I grew up going to basketball games, playing HORSE in the driveway, and watching March Madness during dinnertime. I feel a connection with the tradition of basketball not only as an American sport but also as my family’s sport.

Although I may not have stayed with basketball at a higher level, it’s still a part of who I am as a person. Louise’s love for Irish dancing is a piece of her identity as well.
Louise, from Dublin and Shannon, from Philadelphia may be two different stories and two very different lifestyles but we’re not so different, she and I.

Shannon Haugh