There will be a bit of Irish dancing in our own backyard Aug. 12 at the Woodmen Hills Recreation Center West. Members of the St. Brendan’s Irish Dance Troop will perform reels, jigs, and the hard-shoe dancing made famous by Riverdance, all to the lilt of traditional Celtic music.One of the performers is Falcon’s own Audrey Parmentier. Although she is only 5 years old, Audrey’s Irish Dancing skills are impressive. She has only been dancing for one year, and has already won three medals for her reels and light jigs. Her parents, Dan and Carla Parmentier, praise St. Brendan’s Dance School because it groups dance students by their ability, instead of age. Adults and children begin on the same level and advance to the more challenging dances as they perfect their skills.”Every week Audrey learns something new,” said Dan Parmentier, also a music teacher. “Irish dancing has really helped her memorization and coordination skills.” He also likes it that St. Brendan’s encourages his daughter to do her best during each performance, competing against other dancers on an individual level, but also learning teamwork as she performs with the dance troop.Carla Parmentier said she believes the program builds her daughter’s self-confidence as she learns to perform in front of an audience, while helping to develop her social skills because she has to interact with both children and adults.Andria Beauveis, the event coordinator for St. Brendan’s, reports the dance school has more than 300 students, ranging in age from five to 65, in the Denver and Colorado Springs area.Students learn the fundamentals of Irish dancing wearing a soft shoe, somewhat like a ballet slipper. Concentrating on timing, body position and footwork, they must master the basic Irish dance steps known as the “threes of seven,” while also learning to dance in unison.Beauveis said the spatial awareness and footwork skills needed to advance to the hard-shoe dance routines used in Riverdance are very difficult and usually take at least three years to master. But for Audrey, Irish dancing is neither a learning experience nor hard work. She said she takes dance lessons because “it’s fun.”Don’t forget: Irish dancing on Aug. 12 at the Woodmen Hills Recreation Center West – the performance begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.
