Burke's Irish dancers kick off St. Patrick's Day week at Poland Library

POLAND

The week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day got started with a kick, actually lots of kicks, at the Poland Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Dancers from the Burke School of Irish Dance’s Youngstown chapter put on a lively demonstration of traditional Irish dances Saturday before a room full of spectators in the library’s meeting room.

It was the capper to the Library Leprechaun Lollapalooza at the Poland branch. Similar events also took place at the library’s Canfield Branch.

Lisa Devlin, president of the BSID’s booster association, said about 30 students, ranging in age from 3 to 19, are enrolled at the school, which is located on Canfield Road in Cornersburg. Only about half of them performed Saturday at Poland library.

Irish dancing originated in Ireland hundreds of years ago, and is rich in Irish heritage and ethnicity, Devlin said. It is a unique form of dancing in that dancers’ upper bodies – shoulders, arms, hands – must remain still as the dancers perform jumps and intricate movements with their feet.

Devlin said Irish dance was popularized some 20 years ago when the theatrical show “Riverdance” hit stages all over the world.

“It has just continued to grow in popularity ever since then,” said Devlin, whose 9-year-old daughter, Madeleine, is a member of the local dance troupe.

The dancers perform in competitions locally and regionally, and some have even travelled to Ireland to compete, she noted.

“I like to watch my daughter making friends from around the world. That’s so cool,” Devlin said. “My daughter has friends all over the world that she keeps in touch with on-line, and she’s met them through Irish dance.”

Read more about the dance and the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.