Irish dancing might seem unusual to some, but for Bryanee Jarrett and Teisha Hedges, the dance form is a longstanding part of everyday life.
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While Bryanee, 18, has adopted her family’s love of Irish dancing, sixteen-year-old Teisha’s inspiration came from further afield.
“I just always loved river dance and it just made me want to do it,” Teisha said.
The girls, who attend the Bird studio of Irish dance in Port Kembla, will represent Australia at the 2017 World Irish Dancing Championships in Dublin. Bryanee said she is particularly interested in “seeing the level of the other dancers over there. Everyone from Ireland and then the USA have heaps of good ones as well.”
With 80 countries attending the event this year, an intense level of training is required to even qualify, let alone place in the competition.
“You can train, when you get to this level, anywhere up to eight hours a day to get to the world championship,” said Jennifer Bird, principal of the girls’ dancing studio.
While they’ve been dancing since they were toddlers, both are in awe of the size of the international event. “There’s going to be hundreds per section,” said Teisha. “The stage is massive.”
The girls will be busking at Wollongong mall during the school holidays to raise funds for the trip and competition, which runs for a week from April 9.
