A Little About Me

Hi everyone! My name is Jackie and I am student at Rowan University. For one of my classes at school we have to write a blog on any topic that interests us. I chose Irish dance.

I have been Irish dancing for about ten years with the Peter Smith School of Irish Dance in New Jersey. Like so many other Irish dancers, my first influence was Riverdance. I will never forget the first day I saw it. My mom bought it at the store and made me watch it with her one rainy afternoon. I was less than thrilled, but sucked it up and watched it anyway. Little did I know that that movie would have such an impact on my life. I was instantly hooked and within a year started attending Irish dance classes.

Since then I have won a bunch of regional, national, and world championship medals, including winning the Ladies Over 16 ceili competition at the 2006 North American Irish Dance Championships. (I’ll explain what a ceili is later.) I’ve traveled around the world and met some of my best friends through dance. It’s given me such amazing opportunities while keeping me connected with my Irish heritage.

I thought it would be interesting to write my blog on Irish dance to share what I have learned about the history and workings of Irish dance, and to give others an opportunity to hopefully become hooked too. Hopefully this blog will be informative and give you a chance to see Irish dance as more than something people do on St. Patrick’s day.