Tereza, you are the director of one of the leading Irish dance schools in the Czech Republic – inSpiral Dance. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into Irish dance?
I got into Irish dancing thanks to my father. My dad was always interested in different cultures like Scottish, Irish, English, especially their music and dance and once he found an advertisement for Irish dance classes. And so he said, come on, let's go and we'll try it together - this could have been around 1995. There was a lady at the British Council offering Irish dance lessons. And so we went to try, but I remember thinking it was all too easy for me (I remember learning sevens and jig step in that one class). But a few years later, when I was about 16 or 17, I said I'm going to give this a go once more. And I did.
By then this British Council teacher had left the country, but her students had founded an Irish dance club - Rinceoirí, and were having weekly sessions although there were no teachers as such. And so we mostly did céilí dancing, not much solo dancing, we used imported VHS videos to guide us (nothing like this was available here). Around 1999 another girl - Tereza Bachová (who is no longer in Irish dancing) - started teaching Irish hard shoes, inspired by shows such as Riverdance/Lord of the Dance. At that time it was almost a standard that people who wanted to learn Irish dancing would attend both dance groups. Back then we all learned from each other. Once we saw Slovak Irish dancers and realised that they were quite bit more advanced than us. We got in touch with Irish dance teachers abroad. We saw Sean Kilkenny dancing at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Ireland and heard that he was based in the Netherlands (though originally from Ireland). Through him we heard of another Irish dance teacher (Mary Sweeney) in Munich and we invited them to our Summer School of Irish dance in Prague which we started in 2001. These two people were quite important to Irish dance history in Continental Europe - they helped shape it to where it is today. So they were our first proper sources of information about Irish dancing. And through them, we learned about competitions. We attended workshops or invited other dancers - mostly former Riverdance dancers and later other dance teachers - who introduced us gradually to all the different styles. So the credit goes to many people over time.
When I finished school, I decided to move to the UK to be an au pair – the main reason why I went abroad was to improve in Irish dance and being an au pair seemed like the easiest way to make that possible. So I looked after children and in my free time I attended Irish dance classes at Delaney Academy in London. I also had a chance to compete more often. In London there are many Irish dance schools, so it was much easier to get to compete, because they were many competitions, unlike in Continental Europe where everything was only starting at that time.
When I came back to Prague in 2004 we founded Rinceoirí Irish Dance Academy, to teach Irish dance. It was also around that time that we started to co-operate closely with an Irish dance teacher - Anne-Marie Cunningham, who would come to Prague 2-3 times a year to do weekend workshops with us. So we would teach more solo dancing by then. That time there was an Irish Dance boom because Lord of the Dance and Riverdance were travelling around Europe. Eventually I realized one year abroad was not enough and I also learned about the University of Limerick Irish dance studies and it really captured my heart. But at that time I felt I was not experienced enough, and there was the financial barrier too. It stayed in my mind and became a long-term dream. I decided to go to England one more time for another year of au pairing and Irish dancing of course. And from there I moved directly to Ireland to do a full-time job in Galway, where I lived for four years. I still wanted to just improve and develop and I was aware that I was already an older dancer – when I went to dance classes at the renowned Hession School of Dance with the world champions, it was amazing but they were all young - the oldest was about 16 years old when I joined them. But I didn't mind that at all. I wanted to learn more and get more experience in competing.
At that time I was at the champion level already so I was trying to go to more major championships including the World Championship. And when I finished competing, a chance came up to join a show. So I said, why not? I already had some experience in sean-nós dancing, and this was an offer to be a sean-nós dancer with the Rhythm of the Dance show, where I alternated with Emma O’Sullivan, who is one of the long-term leading sean-nós dancers in Ireland.
And with the Rhythm of The Dance you were touring around Ireland or also other countries?
I was touring in Europe - Russia, Germany, Switzerland and Romania. And while I was touring with the show there was, you know, the idea of applying for the University of Limerick Masters course again. So after my last tour with this show, I applied and was accepted into the postgraduate program – the MA in Traditional Irish Dance Performance – this was 2011. That was probably the best year of my Irish dance life. I would say still, even after all the experience afterwards, because it just gave me so much knowledge, so much information. And that was the reason why I went for it – I wanted to learn, I didn’t really care so much about the certification. Of course I had to do loads myself - it was a lot of studying on my own, countless hours in a dance studio and some field work. It was very intense. When the year finished, I got an offer from another dance show so I said yes, of course, because that time it wasn't just sean-nós dancing, but it was also step dancing (meaning soft and hard shoes). And that was something I never even dreamt I could do, because I started Irish dancing quite late, an offer like this doesn’t appear every day! It was the show Ragús. I toured with that show for several years, on and off. At the same time, I said I really would like to have my own dance school because it was my dream since I was about 13 years old. So I also started studying for the teachers exams of An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha [The Irish Dancing Commission] and I completed them in 2013. And that was the right moment for me to move home and start my dance school. I had been in Ireland for six years, and I moved back to the Czech Republic, while I still travelled to Ireland for several years for dance work during the summer for another show - Pulses of Tradition, which was based in Cork city.
Seeing how the students are here, do you do you notice differences between the way people adopt the Irish dancing here compared to in Ireland?
I don't think it's the same. I mean it is hard to compare. You find many fantastic Irish dancers around the world who are not Irish. However, when you're in Ireland, you see the music and the Irish dance culture everywhere. In Ireland there is a deeper connection between the music and the dance, it is simply natural because it is part of Irish culture and heritage and so people have different feel for it than abroad. The adopting process has a different background and initial motivation in my opinion.
Do you prefer being a dancer or teaching people how to dance?
That's a tough question. It depends. I love both, for different reasons. I love Irish dance, I love the culture, so, you know, I feel like I have it under my skin and, you know, if you like doing something, you like showing it, right? I have the passion and I want to show the whole world, how exciting the dance is, whether it's the social dancing, step dancing or whether it's sean-nós dancing, it has some excitement. And when I teach, I'm still learning what I can change or adopt or do better myself. But I'm excited for those dancers, for those moments when we can't do something for a while and all of a sudden the „aha“ moment arrives and that happiness they have, or if they do well in a competition or exam.
And one of the things you mentioned earlier on was an injury you had, is that is it fair to say that it's quite tough being a dancer physically?
That depends. There are so many different styles - if you go to social dancing, if you go to céilís in Ireland, you see all generations. When I first experienced set dancing céilí, there were mostly older people but also younger dancers participating. And it was fascinating because, they could dance for three hours at a time. It's quite dynamic, yet it's fun, so you don't really notice. But if you compare it to the competitive form, that is much more physical. I remember when I was in University of Limerick, we were discussing whether Irish dancing should not be classified as a sport, because it's becoming (it's still developing) more and more athletic. So that style is very physically demanding - preparing for competitions. And of course, the injuries are part of that. But the great thing nowadays, people do more specific warm up exercises, to help prevent injury and exercises to strengthen the muscles - to care about yourself as a dancer. There's more and more available information in this area. So also thanks to that, you see less injuries, nowadays.
And there's lots of dance Irish dance groups are there in Prague and in the Czech Republic overall now…?
It's really interesting the way the Irish dancing arrived. Quite many people got interested so I think - for being such a small country - there are lots of groups. I do not think you see this in other European countries (in the continental Europe). I think we are about four schools at the moment who have qualified teachers based in Prague and then you have another two schools coming in to teach from abroad. And there are also more dance groups across the country doing it for the joy. Prague is also very busy this year because it is going to have one of the CLRG teacher’s and adjudicator’s exams here this year. And we also have the qualifiers for the World Irish dance championships (for our region - RCCEA - Regional Council of Continental Europe and Asia), and that's going to be the first time in the Czech Republic as well.
In your dance school, you have monthly céilí sessions that anyone can join. Do people come to try it out Irish Dance for the first time?
They do. The idea is meant for those who want to try it, but may be shy to go to bigger dance events, they want to get an idea of what Irish dancing is like first. So this is these events the céilí sessions. They're focused on just céilí dancing, which is just that one specific form of Irish social dancing. And, some people come back multiple times, they are not dancers, but they are just having fun. I also have dancers from regular classes sometimes coming in.
What are your aspirations for the future?
I want to continue in promoting Irish dancing and it’s various styles and grow the Irish dance community within my school but also outside regardless age or level.
Tereza, thank you very much for your time.
Thank you.
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