Whiz Kids: Irish Steppers Leap to the Music

Ailene Doherty, 8, whose father is from County Kildare, has been to Ireland and is keeping her culture alive. “This is my fifth year dancing. I started when I was four.”

 The tiny girl stole hearts as she pixied her way across the stage at last weekend's Irish Festival. “It's a lot of fun,” she said, nodding her little curly-wigged head. “I dance about three hours a week, and I have a lot of friends who dance, too. I always think I will do this forever.”

 Ailene's mother, Jennifer Doherty said, “All of our kids have Irish names. I have three older boys and it was not looking very hopeful on the dance floor with them.” Doherty has a bit o' the brogue that she inherited from her spouse, even though she herself is American of Scottish descent. “Ailene has absolutely taken on to it, and as long as she wants to dance, we will keep up with it.”

 Taylor McCafferty, 14, is in her 10th year with the Gray School of Dance. “I just love dancing. Once you get to ten years, you get a trophy. It's a big accomplishment. Plus this year I am a student teacher, and I am helping out teaching the younger kids. I just love it, the teachers and the other dancers. We go to Danbury High school. I definitely want to keep dancing, but with school work coming in, and getting ready for college, I don't know if I will be able to keep up with it,” Taylor said. “I am a freshman, you get used to how big the school is, but the hallways can get pretty congested.” 

“When I was younger I did gymnastics, I did tap, jazz ballet, and I gave it all up to do Irish dancing. I wouldn't have any leg muscles if I didn't do dancing,” McCafferty said. “If you go into a strange place wearing your wig and they don't know about Irish dancing, you get some weird looks. People always ask if the wigs are real.”

 “We travel and that is fun,” Taylor said. “We went to Philadelphia for nationals, and Nashville, and we went to world (championships) in Florida. One year I made it to 7th place for my Kalie team. The Kalie Team is a group dance, four hands and eight hands.

 Sarah Broggy, 14, had a grandfather who was from Ireland, but that was not the cause for her inspiration. “I actually started dancing because I came to the Irish festival when I was in fourth grade and I saw the curls and the wigs, and I told my mom I wanted them. She said it was going to be a lot of hard work, and it was!”

 Smiling, Broggy said, “This is my sixth year. Miss Iris is my favorite teacher.”

 Dancing has helped to make Sarah a little more outgoing. “I am normally shy, I don't like to dance in front of people that I don't know. But I can dance in front of a crowd no problem.”

 Broggy explained the differences in the dresses and wigs. “For our school dress, the dress that I wear, we wear the bun wig. But if you have a solo dress, you get a long wig.  My aunt is supposed to make my solo dress.” Hint to aunt.

 The proprietor of the Gray School of Irish Dance, Iris Gray Sharnick has been working with all three girls since they started dancing. “They are great girls. They are very passionate about their dance. They get lots of exercise and they develop friendships. Once they start dancing, they begin to enjoy the music, the activity, and they get to go to different places. They have all won solo awards, and awards in their class.”

 Only about half of the students at the studio have an Irish background. “You definitely don't need to be Irish to dance. It's just a different way to have fun. With all the steps they learn, it really sharpens the mind. The two older girls went to different elementary schools, and they have been dancing together for at least four years. They are excited now to go to high school together,” Sharnick said, with a smile. “They practice their steps during gym.”

 Sharnick and her sister Margie both teach Dance. Sharnick has been dancing almost her whole life. “My mom took me to Irish dancing classes in the early '60s. Both myself and my sister, we love teaching the children and Irish dancing.”