I have never revealed this secret before – especially not to all the Irish dancers in my family – but I, too, once performed a jig in public.
In 1939, when I was in third grade at St. Patrick’s School in Cedar Rapids, Sister Mary Magdalene, our piano teacher, was apparently inspired to talk our class’s teacher, Sister Mary Saint Pierre, into teaching all the little girls in the class to do an Irish dance as part of a Saint Patrick’s day program. To be held in the gym for the parents and the rest of the student body, and for Monsignor Lenihan, Father Peters and Father Derga.
We were, of course, shocked! Me, especially. Dancing Sisters? I didn’t even think that the nuns had hair, or ever had to go pee-pee, let alone that they had toes which may have been exposed in a previous life to (gasp!) a dance floor! It was the equivalent of facing the news that your dignified elderly grandmother is a belly dancer.
Not that we had anything against dancing, you understand. Not at all. I, for example, was well-versed in frequently – and urgently – performing the well-known tinkle dance. (These performances could have been avoided, by the way, had the nuns ever heard of breaking up the school day with a practice – adopted in a later century – called recess!)
Like me, many of the girls in our class took piano lessons (at a price to our families of 50 cents per week) and learning that we would be practicing something besides the major and minor scales, was remarkable in itself, but the titillating news that we would be performing as dancers – well! – the next door to open to us could only be to stardom in Hollywood!
I couldn’t wait to get to school each day! Plump Sister Mary Saint Pierre, with her rosary beads nicely secured, got a little winded but, to our awe, managed to teach us the steps she must have learned as an urchin. I wish I could recreate them today, but I can’t remember them, occupied as I was with planning my next career as the new partner of Fred Astaire.
For “costumes” we would be wearing our school uniforms, our long stockings, and whatever battered shoes we owned at the time. The one frivolity the Sisters surprised us with was that instead of the colored ribbon tie which identified us as third graders, we were bedecked with bright green kerchiefs around our necks. When the nuns tied the kerchiefs on us, I can still remember their big smiles – it must have been their idea of extravagant bling.
The girls weren’t smiling though. The chorus line was nervous, but I wasn’t. It was exciting! While we waited in a classroom to go onstage, I remember how I felt it was my duty to visit every single one of my stage-frightened classmates to remind them that – for heaven’s sake – they mustn’t forget to curtsy at the end of the performance. After all, there would be clergy present! (As a nine-year-old, I may have had a tendency to be a tiny bit insufferable.)
As I mentioned, it was all very exciting as we waited our turn to make our debut! Very exciting, indeed. Unfortunately the “girl’s room” was on another floor and . . . . . But just then, Sister called, “Line up, girls, it’s time to go on!”
So we did! I think there were about 15 of us, all lined up in a row – Rockettes-style – on the stage in the gym. Sister Mary Magdalene went to the piano, and played a chord which cued us to stand up on our toes to begin the reel.
I wish I could tell you how well I did. Oh, I did a jig, all right, but it wasn’t the one the other girls were doing . . . unless any of them were improvising with a few tinkle dance steps. Most ignominious of all is the painful recollection that I was the only one who forgot to curtsy when the ordeal was over. That may have been for the best though, since it would have been tricky doing a curtsy with my legs crossed.
I do hope this story hasn’t ruined your St. Patrick’s Day this week. To make us all feel better about it, maybe you can watch the following video. (Or re-watch it since I posted it two years ago.) It’s a performance of “Celtic Cousins” – 11 of my grandchildren doing an Irish Dance performance several years ago.
If I make it to my 100th birthday party, I’m putting in a demand for a repeat performance, only this time I’ll be insisting that my three grandsons – Neil, Bryce, and Ford – also appear in it. If they have any trouble learning the steps, maybe I can tutor them. This time, I’ll make sure to be wearing Depends.
Here it is . . . . https://youtu.be/GTO6_mAtFn8
And a Happy Saint Paddy’s Day to you!
And yet another wonderful family story!! I loved imagining the nuns teaching all of you those dance steps. I spent 2 years at St Patrick’s for 4th and 5th grades and one of my fondest memories is when the nuns taught us how to jump Double Dutch. It was during recess (things had progressed by my time there) and I was fascinated with the way they’d hold up those long black skirts and move in to the intertwining ropes with rosaries acting as metronomes. Then they’d take their turn as the rope twirlers so we could each give it a try. What fun!
Thank you for sharing the Celtic Cousins again. I love all those bouncing curls. Those girls are so talented. I admire their courage to perform for such a crowd and their kind support of one another. You’ve got a great group there!!
Happy Saint Paddy’s Day! I sure wish I could have seen your special jig! 🙂
What a wonderful story!
Mom! Thanks for sharing this funny story!!!! It is wonderful to learn about your personality as a young girl! I love your confidence and great hopes. That must have been a surprising and fabulous Irish Dance show for the school and family community!!! I love your challenge of an Irish Dance performance for your 100th birthday!