Stepping Their Way to Worlds
NEIRAD enilno edition
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Every week, we hear about another sports team or an individual athlete that excels in their event, especially those on DHS sports teams. Very rarely do we hear about those who succeed outside of traditional school sports. Two DHS students are breaking out of the traditional athletic mold. Sophomore Virginia Van Ingen and freshman Catherine Becker have thrived in Irish step dancing. “When a dance teacher decided to open up her own dance school, she asked me and 19 other girls to dance at her school, and I have been there for the past 10 years,” Van Ingen said.
The words Irish step dancing and sport may sound like an oxymoron. But these girls train just as hard as any traditional athlete. “Most people laugh when I refer to dance as a sport, but we do the same exercises and go running just like other sports teams,” Becker said.
Those who dance, both Irish step dancers and non-Irish step dancers, respect the time, hard work and dedication it requires. Slowly people are starting to realize this fact. The feats of athleticism required in dance are helping to give it more ground as a recognized sport. Even though these girls wear wigs while they perform, spend thousands of dollars on costumes and are expected to tan their legs what they do truly is a sport.
Becker and Van Ingen spend many hours training at Pender-Keady Academy in Stamford. When preparing for Regionals, Nationals and Worlds, practices go from being only two hours a day up to three to seven hours a day. The girls are expected to practice for at least one hour a day at home. “Most girls only do Irish because it is too time consuming to participate in any other sport. I barely have time to be on the DHS tennis team,” Van Ingen said. Practicing at least five days a week, “we have the time to form friendships that will never be forgotten,” Van Ingen adds.
These girls have grown up together, spending countless hours at practice and traveling all over the world for competitions, to places such as California, Tennessee and Canada, Ireland and Scotland.
Practicing is not all these girls do to prepare for competitions, traditionally called feises. In order to compete, they must purchase elaborate dresses that retail anywhere from $500 to $3,000: a significant cost because these expensive garments are only worn for about one year. In addition to the intricate costumes, the girls are required to wear curly wigs, “that are heavy and painful. To help hold it on, we use between 50 to a 100 bobby pins,” Becker said. The girls are expected to tan their legs to make their tricks or skills look more defined. New regulations are also requesting girls above the age of 16 to wear black tights instead of the traditional poodle socks.
Last year, the then 14-yeard-old Becker traveled to Glasgow, Scotland to compete in the Worlds competition. She may not have placed, but “most Americans just go for the experience and are not expected to place,” Becker said. She has already qualified to compete in Worlds this year as an individual, and about 25 other girls from her academy are expected to join Becker.
This April, it will be Becker’s second time traveling overseas to compete in the Worlds competition, which will be appropriately take place in Belfast, Ireland; a trip that makes all the long hours, physical challenges and cost commitment worth it to perform in the land that gave birth to this uniquely beautiful dance.
