It might be a quiet and cold winter, but the Johnston School of Irish Dance is loud and proud as dance practice is underway. Here, two local girls are preparing to dance in the upcoming World Irish Dancing Championships.
From dancing with weights in her pockets, and practicing with hard shoes and soft shoes, fifteen-year-old Sophia Hatch Johnston says she’s been practicing for about twelve hours a week since Thanksgiving.
Sophia Hatch Johnston: I have to say like, going home and practicing on your own, not just in class, and like, really working for your dream. I just keep doing it even though sometimes it’s harder, but I realize I love it so much, I can’t quit.
Dance teacher and school founder Ann Johnston Sullivan has been supervising the practices on top of the other Irish dance classes, and her day job as an accountant. She says competitors need to prove their skill until the very end.
Ann Johnston Sullivan: You have to be the one at the end, before you bow, that still has the strength and the power. And that’s the kids that go to the Worlds. The ones that have the power till the very end, through the whole entire routine.
Johnston Sullivan says the girls practice everyday. With even private lessons on Wednesdays. But the coach says it will benefit them, hopefully in the long run.
Ann Johnston Sullivan: I think it’s fantastic for when they’re older, and going to job interviews, and meeting people. Guy comes up to you and asks you to prom. You got it. You got it going on. They have poise, they have posture. They have confidence. I just think it’s great for them.
STAND-UP: For these two girls competing at the World Championships, they got to give it all they got to make sure they have a little bounce in their step.
The World Championships begin in a little more than a month, in mid-April in Greensboro, North Carolina. But until then, the show must go on.
Lianza Reyes, N-C-C News.
By Lianza Reyes, SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – For nine years, Sophia Hatch Johnston has tapped and danced in the Irish style. Today, she is one of two girls competing at the World Irish Dancing Championships, also known as Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne. Hatch Johnston is dancing solo, and will be representing Syracuse.
“I practice up to 12 hours a week,” she said. According to her, she will attend class, dance at the studio, go home to freshen up, dance again, then stay up to do homework. On Wednesdays, she has private classes at home. Other days, she’ll head over to the Johnston School of Irish Dance after school.
“You have to be the one at the end, before you bow, to still have strength and power. And that’s the kids that go to the Worlds,” said Ann Johnston Sullivan, the founder and dance teacher at the school. This is not the first time her students have competed at the World Championships, as they have competed in Glasgow and Dublin as well.
But this is the first time the United States has hosted the Championships since 2013, when Boston last hosted the competition. This year, it will be hosted in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Koury Convention Center. Sullivan believes that this can benefit the school’s competitors greatly.
“I think it’s interesting that it’s in our neck of the woods, because that means the students don’t have to fly and get used to the time. They can fly, they can drive, it’s not as big of a challenge,” she said.
