A sea of perfect curls, orange legs and faces, two thousand dollar dresses, and beauty-pageant like makeup swarmed the JW Marriott in Orlando, Florida this past weekend. Add in some nerves, stress, and blood, sweat, and tears, and you’ve got the perfect equation for the Southern Regional Oireachtas (pronounced o-rock-tas).
From December 2 to December 4, Irish dancers from Maryland to Texas gathered together to compete in their regional qualifiers. Dancers each perform two rounds, in hardshoes and then softshoes (similar to tap and ballet shoes). Then, they wait in anticipation to see if they have placed in the top half of their competition, and if so, they dance a third round by themselves. Competitions held from about twenty to over 120 girls or boys each.
Simone Loysen, a nine year old from the Culkin School of Irish Dance, won her age division with a perfect score of 900, beating out 65 other girls. Each round has a panel of three different judges, who can award up to 100 points. As a result, Simone received 100 from all nine judges she had.
“Her hard work, dedication, and practices with Cierra certainly paid off,” said her coach Sean Culkin. “It was so exciting to see such a tiny powerhouse on top of that tall podium.”
Many other Mount de Sales girls represented their respective schools at regionals this past weekend. Amanda Golebiowski ‘13, Meredith Miller ‘13, Claire Welzant ‘14, and Emily Sonni ‘12, each competed. Amanda placed in the top half of her age group.
“It’s good to know that all the hard work I put into practice and training payed off in the end and that I am on my way to accomplishing my goals,” said Golebiowski.
-C. O'Keefe '12