Day #198 in A Year of Thanks:
I’m thankful for my time with O’Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance.

I was looking something up on YouTube, and my old YouTube account appeared, which I no longer remember how to access. Anyway, when my old YouTube channel popped up, I saw some old videos of me and my bestie, Mollie. Of all the videos I posted so many years ago, this one, attached below, is my all-time favorite. Mollie and I used to go to O’Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance until we graduated from high school [we didn’t go to the same high school, but we both attended the same Irish step dancing class together]. We were deeply passionate about Irish dancing and took pride in showcasing our heritage.

You’ll have to forgive the quality of the video below, as it was recorded on one of those old-school cameras. I’d had a 1-minute commercial project in high school that I needed to do for my Small Business Ownership class, and Mollie and I created our own dance to “Siamsa” from Lord of the Dance. The TV commercial project was for a fake Irish airline. I had to convince consumers to buy trips to Ireland with my airline. So, that’s why you’ll see it cut off from one scene to the next at the beginning of the video. I received an A+ on the project, and since my teacher was also Irish, he was impressed with my creativity in adding a short, unique Irish dance that Mollie and I created, which isn’t easy to do at all. For the life of me, I cannot remember what happened to the videotape with the fake commercial on it, but I’m so thankful that I uploaded this part of the tape to YouTube. I miss dancing with O’Grady Quinlan Academy, because my love for Irish dancing, especially with Mollie, was one of those things that helped me through high school.

It’s interesting to me how this video randomly popped up on YouTube, because yesterday, I was in my living room, doing some random leg exercises out of pure boredom. At the same time, I had so much pent-up energy that needed to be released, and it was like my legs had minds of their own. These legs wanted to dance, jump, and skip just as you see in the video below, and I really haven’t been in tune with my Irish heritage for quite a few years. Since my legs are already eager to do these old leg exercises, I’m going to give them purpose by incorporating them into my exercise routine, preparing myself for the stamina required to return to my love of Irish dancing. Then, I’m going to recreate this dance with Mollie, using our real ghillies (Irish dancing shoes similar to ballet shoes, but they’re made without the toe blocks). Perhaps we’ll even wear our old Irish dancing wigs from our O’Grady Quinlan performance days. We both still have them, and I’m definitely not opposed to putting mine back on for old times’ sake. 😉 I’m realizing just how much I miss Irish dancing, and I really want to get back to it. 💚

Enjoy the short video below! ☘️🇮🇪💚

Day 197 | Day 198 | Day 199
Year of Thanks