I have seen my fair share of Irish dances in my time. I never miss any of the Irish festivals when St. Patrick’s Day comes and even though the dance is pretty much the same, each group has their own way of doing it. Many people say that if you really want to experience an Irish dance routine, you should go to where it all started, Ireland.
I had the chance to go some time ago and decided to put that theory to the test. One of the guys from my class had family in Ireland and invited us to join him on vacation. After a little bit of consideration, we decided to take him up on his word and we had the best time ever. We got to see Irish dances in the place of origin and I must admit that I saw a few things that I had not seen before.
The modern Irish dance includes traditional dance moves and influence from other types of dance. One of the dances that brought this unique style into the mainstream was Riverdance. It combines amazing dance routines with brilliant choreography. It kind of merges the old with the new but in a very exciting way. Even today, you can find that Riverdance is still strong in many people’s minds.
Some of the things that have made Irish dancing so accessible are the costumes and pageantry of Riverdance. It’s a very high-stepping and fast-paced dancing that it’s done with amazing precision. It’s truly something amazing to watch. Now, on the other hand, ice skating has also been around for a long time. During this time, competitors have thought of ways of incorporating dance elements from different regions to make their routines flashier.
This is not something easy to achieve as ice-skaters also need to incorporate many of the compulsory elements in order to get the scores they need to make it to the following rounds. Would it be possible to incorporate something as complicated as the Irish dance to something so technical as ice-skating? Well, a figure skater by the name of Jason Brown decided to take on that challenge. He is an Olympian and top-class figure skater with an extensive career and several accomplishments in the sport.
He took on this challenge and decided to present it in front of a large audience. He hired a choreographer in order to add something new and fresh to his routine. The result was about to excite crowds around the world, starting with the audience in the following video. I promise that you’ll love this routine if you are an Irish dance fan. But if you’re also a figure skating fan… well, let’s just say it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen!
https://youtu.be/J61k2XjRryM