SHENANDOAH - St. Patrick's Day came a little early to Shenandoah on Tuesday as a performance of Irish step dancing was enjoyed at the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society headquarters.
More than 60 people attended the society's monthly meeting that includes a program dealing with history or culture. Tuesday's program was performed by members of the McCormick School of Irish Dance, located in New Philadelphia.
"We try to come up with different kinds of programs," society President Valerie Macdonald said. "We have most of the programs for the year scheduled."
Macdonald spoke before the performance about upcoming programs and fundraisers, the first being a Chinese auction on March 18. Macdonald introduced the dancers and thanked the school for their appearance at the society.
The dancers ranged from very young children to teens, providing a variety of step dancing for the half-hour program. The number of dancers changed throughout the program with one dancer taking the floor, or groups of four or more, including the entire group.
After the performance, Caitlin McCormick, who operates the school, said the group did a great performance even without a few dancers who could not attend.
"When I was six, my grandparents gave me Irish dance lessons as a birthday gift. I was really excited since it's part of our Irish heritage and culture," McCormick said. "Once you start, it's almost like an addiction. When you get into it, it's really enjoyable. And you don't have to be Irish to do it."
She said the dancing involves a lot of intricate footwork, especially when the person is dancing solo.
"There are several different types of dance. When you start out, you do something call 'soft shoe.' They're the shoes that don't make much noise," McCormick said. "Eventually you progress into the 'hard shoe,' which is a little bit more difficult and challenging."
McCormick said there are competitions for Irish dancing, where winning a trophy is a matter of pride.
"We're very busy this month," McCormick said about events in the month of St. Patrick. "We have nine performances coming up. This is our first one, so we're kicking off the season."