Fancy footwork
Local Irish dancers victorious at world championships
by BREANN HOWELL Editor

St. Patrick's Day may be just around the corner, but the spirit of Ireland can be found all year in Rince Na Tiarna Irish dance school.

Practicing in rented studios in South Buffalo, East Aurora, Kenmore, Williamsville and Erie, Pa., dozens of students kick up their heels each week.

Directed by instructor Mary Kay Heneghan, dancers learn to master the toe-tapping, feet-flying moves of Irish dancing, all while keeping their arms rigid at their sides.

Several came home from the February 2007 All-Ireland Dance Championships with awards, and others have earned spots in the upcoming world championships in Scotland.

Though just about everyone is familiar with the jig, mastering the lightning-quick footwork of traditional Irish dance takes practice, poise and a whole lot of dedication and finesse, Heneghan said.

Heneghan, who recently moved from West Seneca to Orchard Park, has been been taking lessons since she was 4. She opened her own school in 1986 but said Irish dancing was really popularized about a decade ago by "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance."

"When 'Riverdance' hit, everyone wanted to Irish dance," said Heneghan, who teaches classes six days a week.

Though her company's name, Rince Na Tiarna, is Gaelic for "Lord of the Dance," Heneghan said it was not inspired by the Michael Flatley musical but rather by the song, often performed as a hymn.

"I always like the song 'Lord of the Dance,'" she said. "So, I had someone translate it into Gaelic."

Though her parents hail from Ireland, Heneghan said her students come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

Rince Na Tiarna dancers, ranging from age 3 to college students, wear soft shoes, often compared to ballet slippers, and hard shoes that click and clack on the floor. The dances can be performed individually or by teams of four to 20 people. Though the majority of her dancers are girls, Heneghan does have about nine male students.

While she said she loves teaching dances to new students, the instructor said her least favorite part of her job is choosing whom to send to competitions.

"What's hard is, it's competitive," she said. "You have to scrutinize which dancers get to compete."

At competitions, females don elaborate embroidered dresses designed by Heneghan. Unlike ballerinas or other types of dancers, Irish dancers wear the same outfit for all their competitions and shows. Once they outgrow the costume, they resell it, according to Heneghan.

In addition to designing outfits for her students, Heneghan has assisted with costume design for the 2001 movie, "Rockstar."

Heneghan's students compete overseas twice each year. In their most recent competition, the All-Ireland Championships, four dancers traveled to Killarney, Ireland ,and all four came home with medals.

Winners were Kevinah Dargan of Williamsville, who placed fifth overall, first in hard shoe and 12th in soft shoe; Fiona Dargan of Williamsville, second overall, fourth in hard shoe and fourth in soft shoe; Erin Lynch of Williamsville, 16th overall and 12th in hard shoe; and Rose White of Rochester, who placed 22nd overall and 16th in hard shoe.

Kevinah, Erin and Rose, along with Darcy Regan of Amherst, will represent Rince Na Tiarna in April in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Kevinah was the 2005 world champion, the youngest female in North American history to win the world championship, according to Heneghan. The former world champ is now 13.

While most of the dancers take about two classes a week, it's up to them to practice more on their own.

"Just like anything, the more you want it, the more you'll practice," Heneghan said.

The Rince Na Tiarna owner noted that there are approximately seven other Irish dance schools in the area, two of which also compete internationally.

In the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day, Rince Na Tiarna students will have more than 60 performances, including dancing at three weddings on March 17.

The Irish dancers can be seen during the following performances:

March 16 - 11:30 a.m., at the cafe in the Larkin Building, 726 Exchange St., Buffalo; 5:30 p.m., Hearthstone Manor, 333 Dick Road, Depew; 7:30 p.m., Roycroft Inn, 40 South Grove St., East Aurora; 9 p.m., Buffalo Irish Center, 245 Abbott Road, Buffalo.

March 17 - 7 p.m. at the Buffalo Irish Center.

March 18 - 5:15 p.m. at the Buffalo Irish Center and 7 p.m. at Malone's Pub, 3020 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

For more information on Rince Na Tiarna, call 675-8785.

e-mail: bhowell@beenews.com