Thanksgiving Weekend & The 2014 Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas
Most people in America spend Thanksgiving weekend cooking a turkey, shopping for Christmas presents & watching football games. I spend every Thanksgiving weekend in Center City Philadelphia at the Downtown Marriott helping my daughter’s get ready to dance at the Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas. So you’ve never heard of an Oireachtas? Well if you were to Google “Oireachtas” the first two items to come up in your search would probably be from Wikipedia. Today my first definition to come up was this:
The Oireachtas /ˈɛrəktəs/,[1] sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the legislature of Ireland… The term oireachtas derives from the Old Irish word airech, meaning “nobleman”. Its first recorded use as the name of a legislative body was within the Irish Free State.
My second definition that came up today is the Oireachtas I’m talking about:
In modern Irish dance, the term Oireachtas (plural:Oireachtasaí) refers to an annual championship competition. The word “oireachtas” literally means “gathering” in English… Oireachtas are qualifying events for the World Irish Dance Championship competition (Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne).
Over the past few years Irish dance has gotten some notable publicity & press. The documentary “Jig” by Sue Bourne was released in 2011 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748062/), & The New York Times has put the spotlight on Irish dance more then once in the last 2 years. Last February Siobhan Burke wrote The Jig Is Up, if You’re Irish or Not (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/arts/dance/following-riverdance-competitions-and-shows-abound.html), but in 2012 photographs taken by Kenneth O’Halloran for Sunday Magazine section of The New York Times The Jig is On (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/17/magazine/irish-dancing.html) created dialog in the community that continues today.
Just recently I told a story from several years back about how another mother I knew was feeling defensive around friends & family, because they always seemed to have a comment about the “look” of Irish dancers. In that moment it hit me & I asked “so if they were ballet dancers with their hair constantly being pulled into buns so tight they had balding patterns, wore layers of stage make-up, had feet that were being destroyed by pointe shoes & they were wearing gigantic stiff tutus that would be ok? Really what’s the difference?” We both just looked at each other for a few seconds. Honestly it was one of those moments when the light bulb went on for both of us.
Many people in the Irish dance community in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States know me. Some people only know me as that woman who usually has a big camera with her. I have spent many years trying to catch the spirit of Irish dance in America today. Here are a few of my pictures from Thanksgiving weekend.
Woman Under 20 just after learning they are World Qualifiers
Awards for Girls Under 17
Megan waiting to dance teams
Girls Under 16 awards
Dancers from The Lynn Academy of Irish Dance waiting for awards to begin Sunday night
Boys Under 10 awards
Boys Under 10 Oireachtas champion Daniel Callanan being congratulated by his teacher Maureen Collins – Novaco
Kerri
So I’m hoping to see some of my favorite Irish friends this weekend if (ughhhh) it doesn’t snow. I haven’t seen too many people since the holidays for lots of reasons. Living in the Northeast one of those reasons would be snow… the new four letter word.
Thinking of bringing my camera. Yes I know I should always have it with me, and I usually do. Sometimes having my camera around friends makes them uneasy I think. Like I’m going to start snapping like the paparazzi lol.
Are there people I could just take shots of all day without pause? Absolutely. My daughter’s have been my muse since birth, and for the most part they entertain my obsession with them. I love to photograph dancers as my friends & many Irish dancers know. Many of the dancers now know me by sight. There is something about a person who is blessed with the ability to dance. The love of the dance comes through the lens in a magnificent fashion even when they aren’t performing.
I took the photograph above a year & a half ago. I’ve known Kerri for many years, & I just love this girl! The shot looks posed, but it isn’t. She was sitting next to me on the ground. When I looked down I saw her. As I grabbed my camera & looked down she looked up. With any picture that you love you know in that fraction of a second that it takes to catch the image you have what you wanted to capture. I hope to see Kerri this weekend even if I don’t take her picture (but I know I probably will).
NYT & Irish Dance
The New York Times is looking at ID again. I think they should use me as a freelance photographer for their ID stories.
bmbphotos 