When toddlers dance, it’s usually more entertaining than mind-blowing. Even the best dancers don’t learn their tricks overnight. Toddler dancing is clumsy, chaotic and totally adorable.
So you might be surprised to watch one of the most popular videos of a dancing toddler in 2017. With nearly 300 thousand views, it features a 2-year-old girl dancing a St. Patrick’s Day set dance.
The unusual thing about this little girl’s dancing is that it’s genuinely good. Any Irish dancer will know that the moves typically take years to master, and for a 2-year-old to even remember them is impressive in itself.
Irish dance refers to a group of dance styles that was first historically recorded in Ireland. It looks and sounds a little bit like tap dancing, but the moves are unique to the Irish style of dance alone.
The majority of Irish dancing puts a focus on the legs. In traditional dance, a person’s arms should be firmly pressed against their sides – which is what makes Irish dance distinct from other forms. Dancers cross their feet, stand up on their toes, roll their shoulders back and look straight ahead.
It’s clear that the little girl in the video has had some sort of professional training, as even with her tiny legs, she manages to pull off something that looks very close to the real thing.
The traditional folk music kicks in – a song known as “St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning”, which has been played to accompany the dance for centuries. It soon becomes apparent that even at the young age of two years old, this little girl absolutely knows how to dance.
It’s likely that there is some natural talent combined with years of practice at home on display here. For some Irish families, learning the St Patrick’s Day set dance is a tradition. The dance dates back to the early 20th century, and is well-known across the country today.
Moving with surprising grace, the toddler begins to hop across the floor, pointing her toes and clasping her hands behind her back. She manages a remarkable amount of precision and composure, performing the complex steps of the dance with ease.
We’re not Irish dance experts by any means, so we can’t say for definite that she’s following the moves precisely. But, comparing the video to videos of professionals taking on the dance, we’d say she did a very good job.
Her dancing might be surprisingly good, but what captures our hearts in this video is the little girl’s commitment to her performance. Dressed in a green dress and a bow in her hair, she smiles sweetly as she shows off her moves to the camera. With green being the St Patrick’s celebration color, we’d guess that this was filmed on St Patrick’s day.
There’s no doubt that the future holds promising things for this talented young dancer. In fact, another video was shared to the YouTube channel, called The Little Irish Dancer, last year. It shows the little girl, now aged 4, performing the same dance at a competition. She might be tiny, but she’s proven that she can compete already.
No matter how much you know about Irish dancing, you’ll love watching this sweet 2-year-old doing her thing. Scroll down to find the full video below.
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