It doesn't take much effort to wear green, speak with a brogue and put an O' in front of your name. But if you want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by moving like an Irish man or woman, that'll take some work. Casey O'Connor will be glad to help.
O'Connor, 28, has been Irish dancing since she was 9. She comes by her cultural inclination honestly; the Towson resident says her dad is "100-percent Irish." Three years ago, dissatisfied with her job choices after college, she decided to turn her passion into a profession, opening the O'Connor School of Irish Dance. Recently, she took time off during her busy season — she and her students are gearing up to perform in both the Baltimore and Dundalk St. Patrick's Day parades — to talk about her green-tinged footwork and how much Irish heritage Baltimore has to draw on.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH IRISH DANCING IN THE FIRST PLACE?
My mother saw a flier in our local Walmart when I was a kid, and she just brought it home and asked if I wanted to try Irish dancing. I said, 'Sure.' I didn't know what it was; I'd never seen Irish dancing before. 'Riverdance' wasn't even a thing yet, so it wasn't a big trending thing, like it has become.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES IRISH DANCE? WHAT MAKES A DANCE AN IRISH DANCE?
Well, it's traditional, and it's obviously from Ireland. It's just an old dance form. I'm not sure if anyone really knows how it originally came about. It's just very complex footwork, and it all has to fit perfectly with the music. Timing is very important.
Boys and girls dance, men and women. It's more common probably in Ireland for the guys to dance than they do in America. Some of my Irish friends had to take Irish dance in school, like how we have to take gym class in school. It's part of the culture, and that's how they can keep it alive.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE THAT NOT ONLY WOULD YOU BE DANCING IRISH, BUT THAT YOU'D BE TEACHING IRISH DANCE?
That was sort of a decision I made after college. I have a degree in visual arts and new media, so I do a lot of photography and painting and that sort of thing. After college, I was in retail, and I hated it. I quit one day, and my dad was like, 'You can't just quit.' And I was like, 'No, I have to be my own boss.' And I knew in order to do that, it would have to be something that I loved.
DO YOU FIND THERE'S A GREAT DEMAND FOR IRISH DANCE INSTRUCTION?
I'm not sure if the demand is necessarily high. I think it's more one of those things that people don't really think about until they see it, or they're exposed to it. You know, they have a daughter or a son and they want to take a dance [class] … people usually think of ballet and tap and jazz and stuff.
A lot of our kids have either came to us because it's all performance, or they saw another Irish dance school dancing somewhere. I have some kids that have been with me since Day 1, three years ago. That, on its own, I think is an accomplishment.
JUST HOW IRISH IS BALTIMORE?
You know, it's funny. When I first came back from college, I wasn't really involved in the Irish scene in the local community. Through Facebook, actually, I found people who were in the community. There's actually a large Irish community in Baltimore; I don't know if everyone is even aware of it.