Schools

Traditional Dance Taking St. Michael Girl to Emerald Isles

Irelandrose Langer will make her first-ever trip to her namesake country to take part in International Dance Competition.

It's never easy to talk to a 12-year-old girl. Any parent can tell you that.

But you can't help but laugh when speaking with Irelandrose Langer, a student in sixth grade at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West.

She never stops dancing.

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Irelandrose's feet are always on the move. She's hopping, switching feet, kicking and shuffling her way through life. And why not?

It's getting her all the way to Ireland this weekend.

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The daughter of Brad Langer and Sheila Fallon Langer has been dancing since was in first grade and she caught a dance troupe at the Landmark in downtown St. Paul.

"I loved the jumps, and all of the stuff they did," Irelandrose said with her dazzling smile. "I thought that really looked fun."

At first, Brad and Sheila were a bit hesitant to sign their daughter up. Classes at the closest school were all the way down in Medina. Plus, they were sure other, more "mainstream" or popular activities like softball, soccer or even camp might draw her attention away.

"She really stuck with it," Sheila said. "Even after Celtic Fire [in Medina] closed, she wanted to keep going."

She teamed up with Rince Nua, which is based in Maple Grove (Celtic for Dance New). Teacher Erin Cooney has been able to, and now Irelandrose has competed in both Chicago and Pennsylvania, leading up to this week's trip to Ireland.

Irelandrose qualified for the CRN Irish Open in Dublin by placing in five of her seven dances at the North American Irish Dance championships in Chicago. She will compete in those five open categories.

"It's kind of every Irish dancer's dream," Sheila said. "She's worked very hard. She's been able to raise funds to help us out with the trip. The school has done some work as well. She's just very determined."

“I was just so thrilled that they had qualified,” Cooney told 'Maple Grove Magazine' last month.. “I don’t think they really understood what that meant at first, but when families took into consideration the opportunity, they were all really excited for the girls. And I think they’ll add to our program when they see the level of dancing [at the international level].

Irelandrose said she's happy to follow up her Chicago trip–"The buildings there are so tall!" she said–with a trip to the place that inspires both her and her mom.

"It's going to be a girls' week," she said, as just she and Sheila are headed over, and will stretch the three-day competition into a seven-day trip.

You can watch one of Irelandrose's performances here, courtesy of her family.

 


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