Arts & Entertainment
Irish Dancers Come Together for Dublin Festivities
Irish dancers from throughout the Tri-Valley will perform in Dublin at St. Patrick's festivities.
You think your feet are aching after a long day of work?
Try being an Irish dancer in Dublin over St. Patrick's week.
With their jigs, hornpipes and reels, local Irish dance schools have become a fixture in Dublin, offering entertainment and cultural education to dancers and their fans and an opportunity for the performers to compete.
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Erin Davidson has been dancing in Dublin since she was 7 years old. The graduate continues to dance, finding time between work and her classes at UC Santa Cruz.
"St. Patrick's weekend is crazy. But I have a blast," she said. "We are all together and it's a gigantic bonding experience. We are all tired and sore at the end of it, but we have a great time."
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Like Davidson, many local dancers began their careers by taking classes through the Dublin Parks and Rec Department.
Valerie Deam has taught those classes since 1997. A former Irish dance champion, Deam is the founder of the McGrath Irish Dancers, an offshoot of the school her family founded in Waterford, Ireland.
Her dancers come from Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Castro Valley and Livermore. They have performed all over the Bay Area and competed nationally and internationally.
St. Patrick's Day weekend in Dublin is a tradition for the dancers.
"We get a lot of e-mails heading into St. Patrick's Day from people coming from out of town to check to see if the dancers will be there," Deam said. "They are coming to see the dancers."
Davidson said she is approached by fans throughout the weekend who compliment the dancers.
"When we are dancing, people are always coming up to us to tell us how amazing we are," she said. "It's really nice."
McGrath is just one of the local schools.
The , which also is based in Dublin, performs and competes locally. The school has earned national recognition since dancers have placed at many of the major Irish dance competitions.
Carley Reger, an eighth grader at , dances with the Butler Fearon O'Connor (BFOC) schools of San Francisco, and maintains a 4.0 grade-point average while traveling around the country and throughout Europe to compete.
She has turned her love of Irish dance into an international experience and success story.
Carley competed over the President's Day weekend in the All Ireland Championships in Ireland and placed 21st in an age division that had 160 dancers from around the world. She will compete in the world championships in April in Dublin, Ireland.
Meanwhile, the McGrath dancers have a full calendar for the next couple of weeks, performing at Dublin's Green and White Gala on Friday night and Dublin's St. Patrick's Day Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
Next week, they will dance in San Francisco at the premiere of Lord of the Dance in 3D at the Metreon, and will appear in Palo Alto, San Ramon and Danville. On March 26, the dancers will accompany the Diablo Symphony at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
"It's our favorite week," Deam said.