A paper for my Judaeo-Christian Heritage class:
Christian anti-Jewish rhetoric has often been cited as the culprit that paved the way for the racist anti-Semitism that swept through Europe, culminating in the Holocaust. Without Christian hatred and persecution of the Jews, there would have been no precedent set that the Nazis could have adopted as their modus operandi. The sordid past of Christian-Jewish relations laid the bricks for the gas chambers, the execution walls, the Nazi guards’ watchtowers.
We are now sixty-some years removed from those horrific events, and the mantra “never again” has been championed by Jew and Christian, survivor and student, the heavily involved and the formerly apathetic. But how can we ensure that this will never happen again? What is it about Christianity that allowed for hatred of the Jews to happen in the first place? Scholars have discussed the blood libel charge, the accusation of deicide, the charges of ritual murder of Christian children, and on and on as the events which instigated hatred of Jews. However, today most of these past reasons for hating the Jews have been invalidated such that they carry much less weight than they used to. But even those Christians today who know that such things are untrue, who concede that “the Romans killed Jesus”, or “the Jews no longer practice animal sacrifice, and never murdered children”, may still, however, be highly skeptical and suspicious of Jews. Why is this, and what can be done to change it? Christians may no longer believe fantastical myths about Jews, but the current Christian attitude toward Jews (as well as towards Muslims and other religions) is no less dangerous. I trace the Christian suspicion towards Jews, and towards all other religious traditions in general, back to something quite basic: the presupposition of Christianity’s uniqueness.
Let’s follow the presupposition through its logical extensions. If Christianity alone is unique, good, and true, then no other religion is worthy of study, recognition, or respect. All religions are less the Christianity, anyway. Why give a single one more than a cursory nod, a name, and damnation to the fires of hell? To deny other religions legitimate recognition and genuine respect is to deny them the possibility of tolerance and acceptance. If a religious tradition other than Christianity isn’t respected in its own right, but only described in terms of its failings and flaws when placed next to Christianity, then, inevitably, Christians will begin to regard the other tradition with suspicion, which will build to intolerance, leading finally to hatred or complete disregard, either of which will result in murder. If a tradition and its adherents are disregarded as unnecessary, ‘lesser-than’, incomplete, wrong, sinful, and on and on, do Christians, the only possessors of truth, really have any option other than to eliminate the pestilence from the Earth? Thus the presupposition of uniqueness is inherently problematic and will only breed ideas that lead to an evil end.
To dismiss the blood libel and deicide charges as incorrect and historically unfounded is good and necessary—of this there can be no doubt. However, I don’t think this pushes the matter far enough. What is needed is a breakdown of the myth of Christian uniqueness. Only when Christians are willing to concede that theirs is not a tradition untouched and unaffected by history, that their religious tradition is not alone in speaking of a loving, redemptive God, that theirs cannot possibly be the only bearer of truth when other traditions hold the same core values and have the same core teachings, can the (dare I say) haughty and conceited pro-Christian bias start to break down. And once Christianity is no longer held to be unique or the sole bearer of truth (while Christians may still of course hold it is the best bearer of truth) can study and earnest inquiry into the nature of other religions begin, eventually leading to genuine respect and eventual love for other religions and religious peoples.
“Never again” doesn’t require just a new understanding of history, but a new vision of the future. We can rework history until we understand the birth, life, and death cycles and re-cycles of every idea that has ever lead to hatred and violence, but this will only get the historian and the person of faith so far. A new reading of history can only affect the future so much! Only a breakdown of the “I’m better and more worthy than you, and you are far less good than me” ideology of those who hold Christianity to be unique will ensure that never again truly means never again.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The "I just want to study in Morocco" story
Below is an email correspondence with SIT, the School for International Training, regarding my application to study in Morocco. The guiding question of the independent study project I proposed was "How has the Jewish community in Morocco been affected by antisemitism under Muslim rule?" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it). I'm proud of my response to their email, which demonstrates to the best of my ability at this point in time my true feelings on what I'm doing as a person involved in religious studies.
Here's what happened:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Allison,
I hope that you are doing well! My name is Kimberly King, and I am the
Coordinator for SIT Study Abroad's Morocco: Culture and Society
program. The Admissions Committee is reviewing your application so I
wanted to follow up with you about your Independent Study Project
proposal. There were some concerns regarding the biased perspective of
your ISP proposal. Though there certainly is some validity to your
topic, you don't want to start out your stay in Morocco with the biased
opinion that Moroccan Muslims mistreat Moroccan Jews. Your topic paints
a very negative picture of Moroccan Muslims before you've even landed on
Moroccan soil and begun to collect your data. Focusing on the Jewish
community is possible but you should formulate a more unbiased topic to
start with and then bring your opinions, ideas, etc. out in your final
paper once you have the research to back them up.
Coming up with an ISP topic prior to the semester can be tough, and
there are lots of ins and outs of the ISP that you will explore during
the course of the semester. As a reminder though, you will only have
three weeks in which to conduct your research and analyze your data and
then one week to write the paper., Also, keep in mind you may have to
adjust your topic or methods accordingly, and the Academic Director and
ISP advisor are prepared to help students with just that. So, please, be
prepared to be flexible.
[I cut out a few paragraphs here---not important]
I hope that this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have
any questions, and please confirm receipt of this email. You can send
your revised topic idea to me by email and then the Admissions Committee
can finish their review of your application.
Kim
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim,
I'm sure my proposal does sound biased----I was afraid of this! I will try, very inadequately, to defend it.
I know very little about Moroccan religious culture, but what I have gathered is that responses to the Jewish community in Morocco throughout the centuries have been mixed. The Jews have been oppressed wherever they've lived, really, and this has meant that either Christians or Muslims, depending on who had the power at the time, have been the oppressors. When Muslims were in power, they indeed granted more religious freedom and were much more tolerant of the Jewish communities than when Christians were in power. The history of Jewish-Christian relations is dark and sordid, and tons of blame is to be laid on the Christians. Moroccan Muslims seem to have treated the Jews very well throughout the course of history, particularly when compared to various Christian leaders and communities. The king of Morocco (I hope king is the proper title!) did tell Hitler when he demanded Morocco's Jews: "There are no Jews here, only Moroccans." Succinctly, I wish to study Moroccan Muslim-Jewish relations.
I want to research the life of the Moroccan Jewish community to see how it is that Jewish life has existed there. Sometimes it flourished under Muslim rule, sometimes it may have been struggling for survival. Please understand, though, that I am not entering this Morocco experience (if I am granted the opportunity to go) with a biased, anti-Muslim view. I am entering it with the knowledge that the Jews have historically been a people misunderstood and oppressed. Their oppression has been held by some scholars to be unique and different from the situations of other peoples; by some it has been held to just be another example of one group of people dominating over another, part of the ebb and flow of history. Christians have been persecuted, murdered, and oppressed Jews and Muslims; the Muslims have done the same to Christians and Jews. The Jews have never really held a position of power in which they could do so. Perhaps if they had been the powerful majority, they would have. (Are we seeing this now in Israel?) The three Abrahamic traditions have been alternatively embroiled in war (the Crusades just one instance) and in times of mutual respect and a cooperative pursuit of knowledge (the convivencia in Spain, for example).
I do not view the Muslims of Morocco as the "bad guys", by any means. They are merely a historical and current entity whose past and present attitudes towards a minority I would like to study. I welcome the opportunity to immerse myself in a Muslim country, to infuse myself with their religious practices, the ebb and flow and the rhythm of life. As a person of emotion who for some strange reason feels a connection to the Jewish people, I am saddened by their historic plight. Also as a person of emotion, I am angered by the displacement of and violence towards Palestinians, and have very mixed and confused opinions about Zionism. As a very young, inexperienced, but passionate scholar of religions and religious history, I deeply respect and have a fondness for different religions and those who practice them, and earnestly desire to understand the lives and loves of members of different religions. I do not hold a bias against my Muslim friends because Muslims have sometimes persecuted Christians and Jews. I do not hold Jews in contempt for "crucifying Christ" (a silly myth), or for the creation of a Jewish homeland, which has been shown to be more or less the oppression of one people by another oppressed people. The cycle doesn't seem to ever stop. To hold either group in contempt or to enter into study with a biased view would be wrong, both for me as a person of conscience, and for me as a historian. I cannot be biased (although I can hurt deeply) towards Christians for centuries of Christian persecution and hatred of Jews, which provided the breeding ground for anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. While emotionally involved, I strive to behave in a scholarly manner and observe Christians, Muslims, and Jews as historic entities. I wish to study their interaction, their times of mutual respect and times of conflict, in order to better understand the climate of today's world.
I don't know if I adequately defended myself at all. Perhaps my proposal should have been more thought-out? Worded in a way that indicates a genuine and earnest desire to study both groups in a way that is respectful, compassionate, and accepting? That is my intention.
If you could submit this email, my honest, off-the-cuff feelings about my proposal, to the applications committee, I would be most grateful. It is an inadequate attempt to explain to those who have not met me that I am deeply committed to compassion, mutual respect and understanding between members of different religious faiths, as well as an exposition of history and its effects on our modern world.
Thank you. While I am very much looking forward to studying this topic, I understand if the committee still finds it inappropriate. Please let me know if a complete revision of my topic is necessary. Having not set foot in Morocco, I don't know much else to study for my ISP, but I can do my best to come up with another topic!
Sincerely,
Allison Asay
-------------she responded!!!--------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Allison,
This is more than we could have asked for. You gave a good defense and definitely better articulated your respect for people of differing faiths. You should hear from the Admissions Committee in the next two to three weeks.
Kim
Hopefully they let me in!
Here's what happened:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Allison,
I hope that you are doing well! My name is Kimberly King, and I am the
Coordinator for SIT Study Abroad's Morocco: Culture and Society
program. The Admissions Committee is reviewing your application so I
wanted to follow up with you about your Independent Study Project
proposal. There were some concerns regarding the biased perspective of
your ISP proposal. Though there certainly is some validity to your
topic, you don't want to start out your stay in Morocco with the biased
opinion that Moroccan Muslims mistreat Moroccan Jews. Your topic paints
a very negative picture of Moroccan Muslims before you've even landed on
Moroccan soil and begun to collect your data. Focusing on the Jewish
community is possible but you should formulate a more unbiased topic to
start with and then bring your opinions, ideas, etc. out in your final
paper once you have the research to back them up.
Coming up with an ISP topic prior to the semester can be tough, and
there are lots of ins and outs of the ISP that you will explore during
the course of the semester. As a reminder though, you will only have
three weeks in which to conduct your research and analyze your data and
then one week to write the paper., Also, keep in mind you may have to
adjust your topic or methods accordingly, and the Academic Director and
ISP advisor are prepared to help students with just that. So, please, be
prepared to be flexible.
[I cut out a few paragraphs here---not important]
I hope that this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have
any questions, and please confirm receipt of this email. You can send
your revised topic idea to me by email and then the Admissions Committee
can finish their review of your application.
Kim
--------------------------
Kim,
I'm sure my proposal does sound biased----I was afraid of this! I will try, very inadequately, to defend it.
I know very little about Moroccan religious culture, but what I have gathered is that responses to the Jewish community in Morocco throughout the centuries have been mixed. The Jews have been oppressed wherever they've lived, really, and this has meant that either Christians or Muslims, depending on who had the power at the time, have been the oppressors. When Muslims were in power, they indeed granted more religious freedom and were much more tolerant of the Jewish communities than when Christians were in power. The history of Jewish-Christian relations is dark and sordid, and tons of blame is to be laid on the Christians. Moroccan Muslims seem to have treated the Jews very well throughout the course of history, particularly when compared to various Christian leaders and communities. The king of Morocco (I hope king is the proper title!) did tell Hitler when he demanded Morocco's Jews: "There are no Jews here, only Moroccans." Succinctly, I wish to study Moroccan Muslim-Jewish relations.
I want to research the life of the Moroccan Jewish community to see how it is that Jewish life has existed there. Sometimes it flourished under Muslim rule, sometimes it may have been struggling for survival. Please understand, though, that I am not entering this Morocco experience (if I am granted the opportunity to go) with a biased, anti-Muslim view. I am entering it with the knowledge that the Jews have historically been a people misunderstood and oppressed. Their oppression has been held by some scholars to be unique and different from the situations of other peoples; by some it has been held to just be another example of one group of people dominating over another, part of the ebb and flow of history. Christians have been persecuted, murdered, and oppressed Jews and Muslims; the Muslims have done the same to Christians and Jews. The Jews have never really held a position of power in which they could do so. Perhaps if they had been the powerful majority, they would have. (Are we seeing this now in Israel?) The three Abrahamic traditions have been alternatively embroiled in war (the Crusades just one instance) and in times of mutual respect and a cooperative pursuit of knowledge (the convivencia in Spain, for example).
I do not view the Muslims of Morocco as the "bad guys", by any means. They are merely a historical and current entity whose past and present attitudes towards a minority I would like to study. I welcome the opportunity to immerse myself in a Muslim country, to infuse myself with their religious practices, the ebb and flow and the rhythm of life. As a person of emotion who for some strange reason feels a connection to the Jewish people, I am saddened by their historic plight. Also as a person of emotion, I am angered by the displacement of and violence towards Palestinians, and have very mixed and confused opinions about Zionism. As a very young, inexperienced, but passionate scholar of religions and religious history, I deeply respect and have a fondness for different religions and those who practice them, and earnestly desire to understand the lives and loves of members of different religions. I do not hold a bias against my Muslim friends because Muslims have sometimes persecuted Christians and Jews. I do not hold Jews in contempt for "crucifying Christ" (a silly myth), or for the creation of a Jewish homeland, which has been shown to be more or less the oppression of one people by another oppressed people. The cycle doesn't seem to ever stop. To hold either group in contempt or to enter into study with a biased view would be wrong, both for me as a person of conscience, and for me as a historian. I cannot be biased (although I can hurt deeply) towards Christians for centuries of Christian persecution and hatred of Jews, which provided the breeding ground for anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. While emotionally involved, I strive to behave in a scholarly manner and observe Christians, Muslims, and Jews as historic entities. I wish to study their interaction, their times of mutual respect and times of conflict, in order to better understand the climate of today's world.
I don't know if I adequately defended myself at all. Perhaps my proposal should have been more thought-out? Worded in a way that indicates a genuine and earnest desire to study both groups in a way that is respectful, compassionate, and accepting? That is my intention.
If you could submit this email, my honest, off-the-cuff feelings about my proposal, to the applications committee, I would be most grateful. It is an inadequate attempt to explain to those who have not met me that I am deeply committed to compassion, mutual respect and understanding between members of different religious faiths, as well as an exposition of history and its effects on our modern world.
Thank you. While I am very much looking forward to studying this topic, I understand if the committee still finds it inappropriate. Please let me know if a complete revision of my topic is necessary. Having not set foot in Morocco, I don't know much else to study for my ISP, but I can do my best to come up with another topic!
Sincerely,
Allison Asay
-------------she responded!!!--------------
Hi Allison,
This is more than we could have asked for. You gave a good defense and definitely better articulated your respect for people of differing faiths. You should hear from the Admissions Committee in the next two to three weeks.
Kim
Hopefully they let me in!
Final message from Scotland
Sorry for the delay in posting this final message from Scotland. Life’s been hectic here at home!
From the Edinburgh airport:
While here, I've
--seen crazy Irish dance styles. Dresses span a large spectrum now. The latest thing seems to be very ornate dresses, sans Celtic knotwork, with a traditional shawl on the back. The shawls are pinned as are McTeggart school costume shawls, but they are dotted with glitter and sequins and metallic embroidery. They're very cool. Some dresses are returning to velvet now, too. The prettiest one I saw was a rich fuschia velvet with white Celtic knot embroidery (the only dress with Celtic knotwork), lots of rhinestones, and a traditional (though VERY sparkly) shawl on the back. Wigs are larger, with a beaded/glittered/bedazzled headband instead of tiaras or crowns. Also, wigs are changing a lot I didn't see too many of these, but two girls were wearing wigs that looked like cute 1950's hairstyles. Like Olivia Newton-John in Grease if she had curled her hair a little more. I'll have to find a photo of that hairstyle to show you. They were few and far between, but SO cute. I couldn't take my eyes off of one girl who had the 1950's wig---not really because of her dancing, but the hair just moved in such a pretty way
–realized that English is not the same in every English-speaking country. I thought I’d be right at home in Scotland because people speak English, but the accents were so thick that I felt like they were speaking a completely different language. I had to ask one woman at an internet café to repeat herself three times when she asked the simple question “Would you like ice in your drink?”. Scotland is just as much a foreign country as Poland. I might have been a little more comfortable in Poland, actually. At least there I couldn’t claim that I knew the language–I had an excuse for not understanding!
–been astounded on several occasions by people of Chinese or Indian descent speaking English with a thick Scottish brogue. Never thought I’d see the day when a slight Chinese woman spoke English to me with no trace of a Mandarin accent, but with an unintelligible (to me!) Scottish accent. It was a learning experience.
–realized that Irish dancing is absolutely amazing. I’m so blessed to be a part of the McTeggart School, and so blessed to have been given the opportunity to attend the Worlds. Irish dancing is so intricate, so detailed, so energetic, exciting, innovative...just breathtaking. There is so much more to Irish dancing than what we see in Lexington. Keep working, girls and boys. Practice hard. It will be so rewarding when you reach the levels of dancing that I witnessed. And you can. I can’t wait to be home and get to work!
From the Edinburgh airport:
While here, I've
--seen crazy Irish dance styles. Dresses span a large spectrum now. The latest thing seems to be very ornate dresses, sans Celtic knotwork, with a traditional shawl on the back. The shawls are pinned as are McTeggart school costume shawls, but they are dotted with glitter and sequins and metallic embroidery. They're very cool. Some dresses are returning to velvet now, too. The prettiest one I saw was a rich fuschia velvet with white Celtic knot embroidery (the only dress with Celtic knotwork), lots of rhinestones, and a traditional (though VERY sparkly) shawl on the back. Wigs are larger, with a beaded/glittered/bedazzled headband instead of tiaras or crowns. Also, wigs are changing a lot I didn't see too many of these, but two girls were wearing wigs that looked like cute 1950's hairstyles. Like Olivia Newton-John in Grease if she had curled her hair a little more. I'll have to find a photo of that hairstyle to show you. They were few and far between, but SO cute. I couldn't take my eyes off of one girl who had the 1950's wig---not really because of her dancing, but the hair just moved in such a pretty way
–realized that English is not the same in every English-speaking country. I thought I’d be right at home in Scotland because people speak English, but the accents were so thick that I felt like they were speaking a completely different language. I had to ask one woman at an internet café to repeat herself three times when she asked the simple question “Would you like ice in your drink?”. Scotland is just as much a foreign country as Poland. I might have been a little more comfortable in Poland, actually. At least there I couldn’t claim that I knew the language–I had an excuse for not understanding!
–been astounded on several occasions by people of Chinese or Indian descent speaking English with a thick Scottish brogue. Never thought I’d see the day when a slight Chinese woman spoke English to me with no trace of a Mandarin accent, but with an unintelligible (to me!) Scottish accent. It was a learning experience.
–realized that Irish dancing is absolutely amazing. I’m so blessed to be a part of the McTeggart School, and so blessed to have been given the opportunity to attend the Worlds. Irish dancing is so intricate, so detailed, so energetic, exciting, innovative...just breathtaking. There is so much more to Irish dancing than what we see in Lexington. Keep working, girls and boys. Practice hard. It will be so rewarding when you reach the levels of dancing that I witnessed. And you can. I can’t wait to be home and get to work!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Glasgow Day 2
Today is a wonderful day. Finally I don’t feel sick anymore!
The day began early.... we wanted to be at the concert hall close to 8:00am to watch Annelise’s competition. Before we left the hotel, though, we had breakfast and talked to a nice older man from Germany. When I told him I’d be in Berlin and Heidelberg this summer, he was excited to tell me how beautiful Berlin is now “since the wall came down.” He apparently left work the day the wall was brought down, and was there when East Germany met West. It was amazing to talk to him.
Annelise danced very well this morning—hornpipe and reel. It wasn’t her best, though. She’s definitely one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen, but when you put her up against the best in the world, well... She’s pretty average. Mrs Hall lamented that she wouldn’t “show off”. “She doesn’t like showing off, you know? She thinks that if you stick your chin up and smile that you’re showing off. I just tell her she needs to look confident. She doesn’t think she’s very good.” Mrs. Hall loves telling dad about dancers and the All-Irelands, Great Britains, etc. And Dad loves putting in his two cents worth and giving his take on the competitions. Dancers often collide and sometimes fall down, and Dad likes to say “oh she did that on purpose!” and “that’s strategy!”. He’s really funny.
Jason’s competition was right after Annelise’s. I expected an explosion on stage, but, as Mrs. Hall said, “He’s just not dancing like he wants to win.” His dancing was brilliant, no doubt, but it just wasn’t “WOW!”. Now, if you saw him on any normal day in the States, your jaw would drop. But here, he’s up against the best of the best. It takes everything these dancers have to perform, and win.
I watched Jillian Gordon dance her hornpipe, but then stepped out of the hall to a nearby internet café to post this on my blog.
I’ll try to put updates up tomorrow, but the Worlds website (go to www.clrg.ie) will have results up before I can!
Miss you guys! Check out www.theherald.co.uk/irishdance For links to World Championships videos. Link courtesy of Leslie Heerman.
The day began early.... we wanted to be at the concert hall close to 8:00am to watch Annelise’s competition. Before we left the hotel, though, we had breakfast and talked to a nice older man from Germany. When I told him I’d be in Berlin and Heidelberg this summer, he was excited to tell me how beautiful Berlin is now “since the wall came down.” He apparently left work the day the wall was brought down, and was there when East Germany met West. It was amazing to talk to him.
Annelise danced very well this morning—hornpipe and reel. It wasn’t her best, though. She’s definitely one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen, but when you put her up against the best in the world, well... She’s pretty average. Mrs Hall lamented that she wouldn’t “show off”. “She doesn’t like showing off, you know? She thinks that if you stick your chin up and smile that you’re showing off. I just tell her she needs to look confident. She doesn’t think she’s very good.” Mrs. Hall loves telling dad about dancers and the All-Irelands, Great Britains, etc. And Dad loves putting in his two cents worth and giving his take on the competitions. Dancers often collide and sometimes fall down, and Dad likes to say “oh she did that on purpose!” and “that’s strategy!”. He’s really funny.
Jason’s competition was right after Annelise’s. I expected an explosion on stage, but, as Mrs. Hall said, “He’s just not dancing like he wants to win.” His dancing was brilliant, no doubt, but it just wasn’t “WOW!”. Now, if you saw him on any normal day in the States, your jaw would drop. But here, he’s up against the best of the best. It takes everything these dancers have to perform, and win.
I watched Jillian Gordon dance her hornpipe, but then stepped out of the hall to a nearby internet café to post this on my blog.
I’ll try to put updates up tomorrow, but the Worlds website (go to www.clrg.ie) will have results up before I can!
Miss you guys! Check out www.theherald.co.uk/irishdance For links to World Championships videos. Link courtesy of Leslie Heerman.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Pictures from the Worlds in Glasgow
go to http://picasaweb.google.com/aaasay09/
to see my pictures and video footage from the Worlds and elsewhere!
Scotland
I wish I knew where to begin I arrived in Edinburgh feeling absolutely awful.... But being ill hasn’t put a damper on this Scotland experience. The country is beautiful.
After we arrived in Edinburgh, we took a bus to the center of town and then took another to Glasgow. We dropped our things off at the hotel and made our way straight to the Royal Concert Hall. The 13-14 mixed and girls’ ceili competitions were going on when we arrived. I’ve seen world ceili competitions on video before, but seeing them in person is so much more exciting. The precision, the control, the attention to detail. It’s astounding. I wish that I had been a member of a ceili team when I was growing up in Irish dance.
Later in the evening we watched the 13-14 figure competitions. I’ve included just a few clips of those performances on my photo album. Every single team made my jaw drop. I’ve heard of Sean Eireann McMahon—they always win figure and ceilis at the Worlds. Their performance was breathtaking. Then Trinity took the stage. Trinity brought 16 thirteen year olds—all blondes. The costumes were black with sequins and glitter all over them. Their wigs had glitter, their socks had glitter. The whole team sparkled. The routine they performed was called “The Celts”, and no description I can give will capture how outstanding it was. After they performed, I had tears in my eyes and couldn’t speak. I had no idea that Irish dance could be so intricate, so beautiful, and so artistic. Trinity’s performance made me so proud to be a dancer. It was far better than any figure choreography in Riverdance or Lord of the Dance—and I adore Riverdance. Just......wow. Irish dancing has to be one of the most difficult, most intricate sports/forms of dance in the world.
That evening dad and I went to a Cantonese restaurant for dinner. I loved the food; Dad complained about it. The coolest part of the evening, though, was that just a few tables away was Olive Hurley—the woman who makes all the set dancing and ceili videos. I didn’t go up and talk to her, though I should have. Seeing these important Irish dancers and teachers is better than seeing celebrities. They are celebrities.
Today I watched Jenna Pace and Allie Pisula, two McTeggarts from Houston, perform their solos. It was their first Worlds, and they did great. Jenna didn’t recall, though, and while I write this we’re waiting on Allie’s results. Just to make some mouths water (for those who know these names), I saw Kevinah Dargan, Maisie Bishop, and Aine Coleman dance. They were incredible. My favorite dancer from the Girls 12-13 was Gabrielle Corrigan from the Penk-O’Donnell school in Washington State. Brilliant. She’ll be doing great things over her years in this sport.
It was inspirational to see my dance steps performed on the world stage. Jenna danced my slip jig and Allie danced one of my reel steps. Mrs. Hall keeps reminding me: “Allison, you’re a good dancer. All you need to do is practice.”
Tonight we’ll get to watch more figure dancing—I hope to get some video footage of it. It is the most incredible stuff you’ll ever see.
I sat with Mrs. Hall, Ann and Jennifer Hale (TCRG in Houston) today to watch Allie Pisula’s competition. Mrs. Hall is wearing hot pink—something I never thought I’d see.
Tomorrow Jason Hays–reigning World Champion McTeggart from Dallas, Annelise Rubbo–reigning Southern Region Oireachtas champ and World recaller from McTeggart Houston, and Jillian Gordon from McTeggart Houston will be dancing. It will be awesome.
I’m sitting in a restaurant across from the Royal Concert Hall right now... And let me just comment... It’s the funniest thing to see Indian, Chinese, and Japanese teenagers speaking English with thick Scottish accents. I guess that’s what happens when you’re brought up in Scotland—but I just never thought I’d see it
That’s all for now. Sorry for the unpoetic style, and the lack of intimate details. Not feeling too hot, and want to get back to the competition Love you and miss you all.
(Hope dance class went well yesterday—I was going to sleep when beginner softshoe was starting )
After we arrived in Edinburgh, we took a bus to the center of town and then took another to Glasgow. We dropped our things off at the hotel and made our way straight to the Royal Concert Hall. The 13-14 mixed and girls’ ceili competitions were going on when we arrived. I’ve seen world ceili competitions on video before, but seeing them in person is so much more exciting. The precision, the control, the attention to detail. It’s astounding. I wish that I had been a member of a ceili team when I was growing up in Irish dance.
Later in the evening we watched the 13-14 figure competitions. I’ve included just a few clips of those performances on my photo album. Every single team made my jaw drop. I’ve heard of Sean Eireann McMahon—they always win figure and ceilis at the Worlds. Their performance was breathtaking. Then Trinity took the stage. Trinity brought 16 thirteen year olds—all blondes. The costumes were black with sequins and glitter all over them. Their wigs had glitter, their socks had glitter. The whole team sparkled. The routine they performed was called “The Celts”, and no description I can give will capture how outstanding it was. After they performed, I had tears in my eyes and couldn’t speak. I had no idea that Irish dance could be so intricate, so beautiful, and so artistic. Trinity’s performance made me so proud to be a dancer. It was far better than any figure choreography in Riverdance or Lord of the Dance—and I adore Riverdance. Just......wow. Irish dancing has to be one of the most difficult, most intricate sports/forms of dance in the world.
That evening dad and I went to a Cantonese restaurant for dinner. I loved the food; Dad complained about it. The coolest part of the evening, though, was that just a few tables away was Olive Hurley—the woman who makes all the set dancing and ceili videos. I didn’t go up and talk to her, though I should have. Seeing these important Irish dancers and teachers is better than seeing celebrities. They are celebrities.
Today I watched Jenna Pace and Allie Pisula, two McTeggarts from Houston, perform their solos. It was their first Worlds, and they did great. Jenna didn’t recall, though, and while I write this we’re waiting on Allie’s results. Just to make some mouths water (for those who know these names), I saw Kevinah Dargan, Maisie Bishop, and Aine Coleman dance. They were incredible. My favorite dancer from the Girls 12-13 was Gabrielle Corrigan from the Penk-O’Donnell school in Washington State. Brilliant. She’ll be doing great things over her years in this sport.
It was inspirational to see my dance steps performed on the world stage. Jenna danced my slip jig and Allie danced one of my reel steps. Mrs. Hall keeps reminding me: “Allison, you’re a good dancer. All you need to do is practice.”
Tonight we’ll get to watch more figure dancing—I hope to get some video footage of it. It is the most incredible stuff you’ll ever see.
I sat with Mrs. Hall, Ann and Jennifer Hale (TCRG in Houston) today to watch Allie Pisula’s competition. Mrs. Hall is wearing hot pink—something I never thought I’d see.
Tomorrow Jason Hays–reigning World Champion McTeggart from Dallas, Annelise Rubbo–reigning Southern Region Oireachtas champ and World recaller from McTeggart Houston, and Jillian Gordon from McTeggart Houston will be dancing. It will be awesome.
I’m sitting in a restaurant across from the Royal Concert Hall right now... And let me just comment... It’s the funniest thing to see Indian, Chinese, and Japanese teenagers speaking English with thick Scottish accents. I guess that’s what happens when you’re brought up in Scotland—but I just never thought I’d see it
That’s all for now. Sorry for the unpoetic style, and the lack of intimate details. Not feeling too hot, and want to get back to the competition Love you and miss you all.
(Hope dance class went well yesterday—I was going to sleep when beginner softshoe was starting )
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