Irish Dancing

If it were easy it would be called "Hockey."

It was Rebekah's fault. Honest.

One of the things Dayton is known for is the annual international festival held in late May, "A World A'Fair." In 1999, we took the children, and managed to catch the Celtic Academy's performance on the big stage. Rebekah was hooked. That September, we signed her up for the Academy's beginner class.

A funny thing happened over the next few months. As the sole driver in the family, I ended up taking her to class each week. I realized very quickly that in order for her to progress in skill, someone had to coach her at home between lessons, and that someone was going to have to be me. This was asking almost too much, since I had spent all my life thinking of myself a clumsy person. Nonetheless, if Rebekah was going to enjoy her new interest, failure on my part was not an option. I started learning her steps on my own in the hall outside the studio, and drilled her on them nightly.

By the end of 1999, she was promoted to the next skill level. Then, the Academy announced a new Adult beginner class. Devonna had always wanted to do Irish dancing, so I signed her up. Since I was going to be there anyway (you do remember who the designated driver in our family is, don't you?), I signed myself up while I was at it. To my surprise, I didn't suck at it in a real class. One thing led to another, and we all got bitten rather badly by the Irish Dancing Bug. Rebekah is now dancing at Open/Prizewinner level in competition, Rachel is in Novice, both Devonna and I are in Adult Open/Prizewinner level, and Luke has taken to the family business with a vengeance.

And it was all Rebekah's fault :-)