Ten time world Irish dance champion John Lonergan was sharing his skills with some young dancers in Guelph on Friday.
Lonergan was at the University of Guelph teaching dancers at the Celtic Academy of Canada.
“It's such a big deal,” said director of the Celtic Academy of Canada Mary Foley who helps prepare young dancers so they can go towards the national level.
“Not every child gets this opportunity and I think the parents see it on that level that when you're involved in a competitive sport, to get it right and to get them to the level that the children are trying to achieve, bringing in somebody who’s got that level for expertise is a big deal.”
Lonergan was teaching children the proper techniques, performance and work ethic of Irish dancing.
For Lonergan, teaching Irish dancing is just as much of a sport as it is an art form.
“If people from the athletic world came in and see the level of dedication it takes, the level of talent, work ethic and determination, if they saw what it takes to be an Irish dancer they would 100 per cent be like oh my god, these kids are being taught a sport,” says Lonergan.
“It's a serious sport and a serious art form.”
Lonergan, 26, is from Cork, Ireland, has been dancing since the age of 6. By the age of 20, he won 10 world champions for Irish dancing which included six solo titles and four Céili titles and was then ready to move to his next venture of teaching and began touring with the Riverdance Academy.
“I always knew I wanted to dance. I wanted to be a professional dancer which is why I auditioned for river dance and I've been on tour with them for 8 years now,” said Lonergan who has been doing workshops for the past six years around the world teaching young dancers the skill that are needed in dancing.
He recently opened his own school - the John Lonergan academy which he says was a massive adventure.
“For me, it's just being able to pass on the love I have for Irish dancing. I would have been a very strict teacher and that's because all of my teachers would have been strict and I knew if they weren't strict I wouldn't be where I was,” says Lonergan.
He says it's important to get the best out of the students because there is no shortcut and the work you put in will allow you to see results.
Lonergan says teaching also puts him in a position of constant learning because of how much Irish dancing has evolved over the 10 years.
“Even since I competed in 2013, it has changed,” says Lonergan.
“It's so athletic now. People are doing double spins, double 360’s.”
He says the credit to organize such events with the dance academy goes to Foley- who also of Irish descent- understands the importance of recognizing the origins of Irish dancing.
“Its one of things that comes from the roots and the root is being Ireland so know it's proven that people who get people from Ireland to help with workshops, their results do get better because it is in the hub of it over there. Every weekend, there are competitions,” says Lonergan.
He says a lot of people assume that Irish dancing is just a dance form that takes place casually at parties.
“And it’s all kind of flimsy and fluffy and its not really taken seriously but then again if you were to come into the class and see from a teachers point of view, the level of detail that they go into to teach and from a dancer’s point of view, the detail that they have to go into to make sure its right,” Lonergan says it would be easy to understand the level of commitment it takes.
Foley says competitive schools bring a level of challenge to the dancing, and mixed with the talent - which she says very few have - and the opportunity to learn from a world champion, there are possibilities to go very far with dancing.
And with the dance form rapidly growing across the world, Foley says it brings students together regardless of their race, religion or creed.
