Cochranite Carra Hurley, 13, is already an accomplished Irish dancer even at such a young age. She recently returned from the 2018 World Irish Dancing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland that took place from March 24 to April 1. Hurley along with her 11-year-old sister Caitrin and Amy Callaghan, also of Cochrane will be competing in the North American Dancing Championship in Orlando, Florida during the first week of July. Hurley dances at the Casey O’Loughlin Academy of Irish Dance under the instruction of Cara Casey-O'Loughlin, former Riverdance lead dancer and Mark O'Loughlin, former Riverdance dance captain.
Carra’s mother Tanya Hurley said her daughter has been competing since 2012 and that Irish dancing has always been part of Carra’s family.
“She’s competed and qualified as a soloist for the World Irish Dancing Championships three times. She didn’t go to Scotland in 2016 due to an adjudicator conflict, but attended the Dublin competition in 2017 as well as this year in Glasgow. Prior to that she competed at the 2015 World’s (Championships) in Montreal as part of an under 11 mixed ceili team. They won second so she’s got a lot of experience on stage performing,” Hurley said.
“She danced at the Western Canadian Oireachtas that took place in November of 2017, which allowed her to qualify for the World Championships.”
“Carra has taken Irish dance lessons since age five and has been competing for seven years now. As a three year old Carra participated in other forms of dance but my husband’s family is from Dublin, Ireland and my sister-in-law is a former dancer who competed at the world level so naturally she gravitated towards Irish dance. I think it was something Carra knew she wanted to do from a young age and she has remained dedicated to achieving her goals.”
“Irish dance is a passion for them. They sacrifice so much as dancers to achieve their goals. Carra loves to perform and perfect her steps. She’s been competing for six years now, so she’s already got a lot of experience at such a young age.”
“Children who are involved in competitive Irish dancing are willing to give up birthday parties, sleepovers and time with friends to compete at this level. There’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into becoming an accomplished dancer. Her goal is to recall at the World Championships, which didn’t happen this year, but I know with more training and persistence it will.”
"In team dancing there can be upwards of 30 teams competing from around the world. It’s a really steep competition for the girls teams because so many girls participate in Irish dance. In solo dancing, which can have up to 150 dancers competing, the goal is to be in the top 50 per cent of competitors. Achieving this goal allows the dancer to perform their set dance which is a solo, " said Hurley.
Irish dancing is a group of traditional dance forms originated from Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from various influences such as French quadrilles and English country dancing throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
Solo Irish dance includes the most well-known form of Irish dance, Irish step dance, which was popularized in 1994 and onwards by dance shows such as Riverdance, and is practiced competitively across Ireland and other surrounding countries.
The trio of Cochrane girls will now prepare for the upcoming North American Irish Dance Championships this summer.
