Lexington, KY - Late last year, Allison Asay Duvall, a head coach and performer with the Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers, qualified for the World Irish Dancing Championships, to be held in Dublin this April, with her Planxty Drury performance.
To celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, the McTeggart dancers will host Celtic Accents at 7 p.m. March 19 in the Singletary Center for the Arts. For more information on the troupe, visit www.kyirishdancers.org.
How did you first become interested in Irish dancing?
The easy answer is "Riverdance," but that's partially true. I remember seeing "Riverdance" in '95 or '96 on PBS and thinking it was amazing. But really, I had just quit figure skating (I developed a terrible fear of falling on the ice), and one of my mother's friends told her about the Irish dancing school her daughters participated in. I was interested and started dancing at age 10.
How did you become involved with the Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers (KMID)?
McTeggart was my first and has been my only dance school. When I started dancing in 1997, we had only a handful of dancers, and classes were held in a basement of a house in Andover, all ages, all levels in that basement for one and a half hours a week.
My involvement in the school increased throughout the years; I started coaching when I was 15. Now we have classes three days a week; I'm in the studio 10-11 hours a week, and cross-training at the gym an additional 5-6 hours per week. We've come a long way from the basement days.
Now that you're a head coach with the dance troupe, what do you like most about teaching people Irish dancing?
The thing I love the most, I think, is watching my students move from being students to being amateur artists -
watching them take the raw material from the beginning of the learning process through to the point where they know it so well it becomes them, where the veil between the dancer and the dance disappears. It's really incredible to watch, and to feel.
What's the significance of dancing in Irish culture?
Traditionally, Irish dancing was social - people gathering at the crossroads with a wandering musician to dance historic group dances and have a good time. The social aspect of Irish dancing has subsided with the rise of the competitive dance world and shows like "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance," but the social aspect of dance - ceili dancing (pronounced "kay-lee") - is the foundation for everything that followed.
Irish step dancers today concentrate on solo dancing, but still compete on ceili and figure (group choreography) teams. In our Mid-America region, team dancing is very strong. And it is true that you cannot be a good solo dancer if you aren't a good teams dancer, and vice versa.
What's the deal with those performance costumes?
The perennial question. The costumes are another part of the rise of the competitive dancing world. Irish dancers 50 years ago would look at us today and wouldn't recognize what we wear as Irish dance costumes. The costumes are insane, really. Once a dancer reaches a certain level, she is allowed by her teacher to purchase a "solo costume." Every solo costume is unique and custom-made; there are no two in the world alike. It's meant to set the dancer apart on the competitive stage and make her stand out. And, as much as I try to be a purist and appreciate good dancing for what it is, I'll tell you - on a stage of 30 girls, fuchsia stands out a lot more than brown, even if the girl in brown is superb.
Were you surprised you qualified for the World Irish Dancing Championships?
It means so much. I have struggled a lot with my dancing - with feeling inadequate, like I didn't have the talent to really pursue the sport, that all my work was for naught. However, when I returned to the competitive world in 2008, I made a vow that I wouldn't give up on myself again. I had no idea that within two and a half years, not giving up on myself would mean that I could qualify for the World Championships.
What were the dances you performed to qualify, and what do you plan on performing in Ireland?
Once you reach the championships, there are only four dances that you can perform: reel, slip jig, treble jig and hornpipe. The dances at the Mid-America Irish Dance Championships were pre-determined for each age group, so I danced the slip jig and treble jig. When I recalled (placed in the top 50 percent), I danced Planxty Drury, which is a specially choreographed set dance performed in hard shoes to music of the same name.
I'll dance the slip jig and treble jig in Ireland, though I've now switched my set to "Garden of Daisies." It's a killer - a lot more demanding, physically. I'm still working on it.
KMID as a whole also fared really well at the competition. What does this say about the school?
It says that central Kentucky can produce talented, athletic, graceful Irish dancers. The girls did so well, they all had personal victories. Their hard work and years of dedication paid off. For Brooke (my co-coach) and me, it was a stunning moment.
When you're not dancing, how do you spend your time?
I'm the Executive Director of Reading Camp, a remedial literacy program for at-risk children that is a secular outreach ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington. I'm also a pianist and a church musician; I've been playing longer than I've been dancing.
For somebody so steeped in Irish culture, what's the best way to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day?
Put down the Guinness and sign up for Irish dance classes!