Dancing her way to the top of the world

SLEEPLESS nights spent in sponge curlers, watching your bobble socks on the boil and guarding the sacred stash of dress co-ordinated underwear.

This was all part of the ritual ahead of Feis time 30 years ago when legs were hoisted on to high counters to stretch (little good it did me) and we all had our own batch of batteries to clench to control the flying arms syndrome many of us learners were prone to.

Falling in love with Irish Dancing must be the leap of lifetime for some as many of there are still many familiar faces on the Irish Dancing teaching circuit, many decades on.

While the dancing world has transformed hugely and the plain class costumes are almost obsolete, the basics have remained the same. Learning the old reliable Easy Reel and taking the first one-two-threes is still part of many primary school early life.

Dancing quickly became a passion for Claire Greaney whose living room in Loughgeorge is overflowing with trophies, polished cups and countless rows of medals.

Her natural talent for what has become akin to a top sport was first noticed by her teacher in Bawnmore NS when she was just four years old. Now, having won six world titles, she has retired at 24 years of age.

Claire took her first dancing steps with the Celine Hession School of Dancing in Galway and says she could never have achieved what she has without Celine and recently her daughter Gemma.

The modest dancing star won her category six out of the seven times she competed in the World Championships, where she has competed against top dancers from all over the world, from America to Japan.

It will be an emotional visit for her to the competition this year when she will hand back the globe trophy for good, knowing that she won’t get the chance to hold it or dance for it again. In fact, many of the large cups that cover shelves and display units in her home will be handed back throughout the year. But there’s no fear of the walls looking bare as there are still hundreds of trophies from her 19 years of dancing that she will keep as treasured keepsakes.

The colourful hand-embroidered, heavy velvet dresses of years ago have been replaced by even more flamboyant, more lavish and much lighter dancing costumes. The sleepless nights spent tossing and turning in bendy rollers to achieve the much coveted ringlets are also extinct, overtaken by the somewhat controversial wearing of curly wigs.

'Personally I prefer wigs. I think the dress looks a lot better with them and it save a lot of time,' says Claire, who has always hidden away her natural long hair for competitions.

But the wigs are a minor part of the look whereas a competitor’s dress is very individual and of course costly.

Claire, who would usually have bought a new costume each year, says at her level, it would have cost on average €1,200 and she bought a lot of her dresses from a dressmaker in Belfast. A dancer would usually buy a different costume each year, not only to change the appearance but also because most are involved when they are growing a lot.

'If Irish Dancing hadn’t progressed and the costumes changed, it wouldn’t be the wonderful spectacle that it is today,' says Claire.

There is a length rule which disallows too short costumes and more recently under-ten competitors are forbidden to wear make up during competitions.

During her nearly 20 years of dancing Claire has danced against people from many different countries where Irish dancing is increasingly popular, and more recently it has become a big hit in South Africa, China and Japan.

England, Scotland and America, along with Ireland, continue to be the main countries involved but Australia and New Zealand are also producing more top dancers. In the region of 6,000 dancers qualify each year for the Worlds in various age categories, and as Claire says, it’s like the Olympics of Irish Dancing.

Claire’s talent has always received the support of her family and her mum and dad, Mary and Martin Joe, have never been far from her side.

Her mum spent countless weekends driving to Feiseanna and never minded the time it took up.

'You’re either into it or you’re not. It’s like going to football matches if your child is in to sport but I have to say I enjoyed and I still go to the odd Feis. I never got tired of it,' says Claire’s mother Mary.

Compared to the progress of young dancers today, Claire’s success began slowly, which she is grateful for.

'I remember when she was about 11 or 12 and she was complaining of a sore heel after dancing class. I innocently suggested that it might be time to give it up but she quickly responded ‘You put me in Irish dancing but you will never take me out’,' recalls Mary.

Claire came seventh in her age category when she qualified for her first World Dancing Championships and she returned the following year (2007) to take her first World’s title, which she continued to win until 2012 when she came second.

The costumes and style might have changed but the basic dances have stayed the same, such as the reel, jig and hornpipe. Claire is adept in them all but her favourite is the slip-jig.

'It’s all about style and elegance but not being boring. You have to dance it without over-dancing it,' she remarks.

Although a dancer is only on stage for a minute and a half for competition, it takes tremendous dedication and training to get there. While at school and later at college, Claire practised in the mornings or in the evenings and would dance about seven hours a week for training.

Other dancers may dance for even longer but Claire felt she performed better by pushing herself further in a shorter space of time.

'I’ve always had a good level of fitness but it involves so much more. Your feet have to be well turned out, your legs and arms perfectly straight and toes pointed,' says Claire. There’s also being able to nonchalantly kick your leg up high above your head, spin on your toes and almost fly through the air.

In one of her last dances at the World Championships Claire did six spins without stopping, a rare achievement in competitive dancing.

'I felt my fitness was at my peak and so I decided to attempt six spins for my sixth worlds.' Claire has won six world titles, five All-Irelands, seven Great Britains, three British nationals, two Irish nationals, two All-Scotlands and 13 Connacht titles and as she danced, people couldn’t help themselves but to stop and watch, mesmerised by her energy and talent.

'People forget how fit Irish dancers are. The ability and technique aren’t really appreciated sometimes,' she says, pointing out that dancing has gotten faster with dancers trying to fit in twice as many steps and moves as before.

The energetic and ever-smiling dancer has been previously courted by Irish Dancing shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance but she is adamant that she’s too much of a home bird to be away on tour for months at a time.

Apart from competitive dancing Claire has been involved in the Trad on the Prom show for the past eight years in Salthill and it’s something she really enjoys. The wigs and decorated costumes are off for these productions and the style of dancing is slightly different, but audiences are equally captivated. 'There are a lot more opportunities now with dancing and it certainly has opened a lot of doors for me. 'It has been great fun and I’ve met great friends. I’ll always have great memories and the first time I retained my world title was the best feeling in the world.'