Episode 3 Jigs and Wigs: The Extreme World of Irish Dancing

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Riverdance's seminal

Eurovision performance

which thrilled and inspired a worldwide audience.

The show and its offshoots have since proved immensely popular

and Irish dance is now practised by people of all ages,

ethnicities and backgrounds.

Ronan Morgan, from Dublin,

toured the world as part of Lord Of The Dance.

Now a dance teacher, he continues to spread the traditional

Irish art form a little further afield.

So, this is the Taipei Irish Dance Academy. We began the school in 2006.

It was actually the first Irish dance school in Asia.

And this weekend is a very big weekend for us,

because we are going to hold our second annual Taipei Feis.

We have 70 students in our classes.

Yi-Han runs the classes here from Monday to Saturday every week.

SHE SPEAKS TAIWANESE

I try to come out as often as I can, so it might be every

second month or every third month, up to two weeks at a time.

OK, let's try it again, everybody.

I'm quite strict because it's expected, it's in their culture.

They are very respectful towards teachers.

They know that I'm here to try and improve their level

and give them a different voice to Yi-Han.

Sometimes they might listen to me more

because I'm the visiting teacher, more so than the regular teacher.

Up! Up!

Daniel, you've got one minute minus 50 seconds to get ready. Go, go, go!

Daniel is a big fan of Lord Of The Dance.

Being a male dancer and an ex-member of Lord Of The Dance,

I think that was a big factor in him coming to join the school.

I remember him having a programme that he wanted me

to sign on the first day.

I want to hear this click! CLICK That's it.

'I wouldn't be surprised

'if his dream is to someday perform on stage with Lord Of The Dance.'

Hank and Sabrina started with us when they were very young.

We had that period with them where we

were kind of fighting to get their eyes up and their chins up.

And that's tough for them, because they might be heads-down children

since the time they were born.

Sabrina is a very sweet child who in the last year has started to smile.

It's really wonderful to see

that she's starting to come out of her shell.

I don't know if it's thanks to Irish dancing, but I would imagine

it has something to do with the change in her confidence.

This is our second Taipei Feis.

You've got more competition this year.

This time you're going to have lots of new faces and strange faces,

and they've come to compete against you,

so you're going to have to bring up your level, OK?

SHE SPEAKS TAIWANESE

I've gotten very used to life here in Taiwan.

Over the last seven years I've spent quite a lot of time here.

It's a really busy place, but it's also a very safe place to be.

I don't think there's any way to compare life in Ireland

to life in Taiwan, but at the same time

there's something about the place

that allows you to slip into the way of life very easily as an Irishman.

I don't know whether it's the fact that we are islanders

or anything like that.

I don't seem to be able to put my finger on it.

You can't compare anywhere else with Taipei,

because of the smells, I think.

You can smell absolutely everything cooking all in one street.

The Taiwanese are fanatical about food. Food is their thing.

They don't have time to cook when they go home -

most people would spend 12 hours a day at work.

So they cater for this by providing all foods for all tastes,

which are available on nearly all streets.

These are our medals we win in Taipei or Hong Kong or Shanghai.

On Sunday, we might get more.

The steps I dance, the sound is strong and make me...

make me feel strong, too.

Make me stand tall and gives me more confidence.

What about the late entries? Did we get them all fixed?

-YI-HAN:

-Yeah, we received some late entries

-and they will all be included in the programme.

-OK.

-Has that programme gone to print already?

-Yes, yesterday.

-Grand, all right.

-So it should be ready by Friday.

'Yi-Han is a typical Taiwanese person in the sense that she

'puts in a long day.

'She works very hard and she's a perfectionist.'

Born in Taipei, Yi-Han started to dance at the age of five,

learning traditional Chinese dance and ballet.

Following her dream of a professional ballet career,

she and her family eventually moved to Budapest

and it was there that she discovered Irish dance.

Seven, toe.

In 2000, Lord Of The Dance, Feet Of Flames, Riverdance,

were huge and we heard there was this school opening up in Budapest

and that's where we met Ronan.

I auditioned for Gaelforce and I was informed that I'd got in.

We toured in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.

After that we travelled to Taiwan

and toured with Gaelforce here in Taiwan in different towns

and I got the opportunity to perform for my parents, my family

and for my people here in Taipei.

And you know what they're like with the slow into fast -

they get them mixed up.

And so, after returning back to Europe,

we were talking about it with Ronan that maybe it would be

a good opportunity to start teaching Irish dancing in Taiwan.

It may seem bizarre to somebody who is coming from Ireland

and wondering why would you even dream of opening an Irish dance school in Taiwan?

But we sometimes forget that thanks to the shows, we've covered

every corner of the world with Irish dance and with our culture.

I was really impressed with what they did the other day.

They've really come on in the last couple of months.

Yeah, it'll be great if they can do the same...

Yeah, if they can dance on that large stage with the confidence

they danced in front of me the other day in that open reel,

I'll be really, really happy.

Irish dancing is something that I would have hidden from everyone

at school, whereas here in Taiwan the children find it cool.

They maybe know the shows and are amused by the fact that

someone in their class can do this form of dance.

So there is no element of girlishness or cissiness

attached to Irish dancing, certainly for the boys.

-WOMAN:

-Ever since he learned Irish dancing

he made a big improvement

on relationship with friends and teachers...

Especially, he became more confident.

He has more confidence.

In class, he used to have a little problem with focusing.

OK, number two - Snoopy, be a good dog.

ALL: Snoopy, be a good dog.

We are lucky we found something he really loves and...

I think it's kind of his love of his life.

When Danny was three years old I got Feet on DVD and I watched it

and I thought it was amazing.

Daniel watched with me all the time almost every day.

Oh!

That's my teacher Yi-Han.

She's very cool because she can dance Feet Of Flames.

She's dancing with Michael Flatley.

And I want to dance with Michael Flatley, too.

I think he is very cool and tough and strong.

Daniel has two lessons per week, which is Tuesday and Wednesday.

He takes bus to the Academy and the bus ride takes about an hour.

It's hard because he has a lot of school homework,

so sometimes he has to bring homework and do it on the bus.

ALL: Goodbye!

With less than a week to go before the second annual Taipei Feis,

the dancers attends their last class.

Emily was the first child from that family who joined the school

and she was soon followed by Albert because he got tired of being dragged

around to Feises without actually winning a medal, like his big sister.

There may be more pressure on Emily and Albert to succeed.

It's just the nature of the way things are, possibly,

in their family that they are expected to achieve

high levels of success in everything they do, including Irish dancing.

Emily and Albert's parents are very committed to their Irish dancing.

Their dad even built a studio for them in their own house.

-ALBERT:

-I really like Irish dancing.

At first it was only for fun and when I show it to my friends

they say that I'm very cool and I really like it.

And then I started competing

and I found out that

going to competitions can actually make a lot of friends.

I said it's not realistic to ask them to work so hard all the time.

So we still need something to watch them

and to give them some gentle reminder sometimes.

So that's how it comes.

As gentle as possible.

Sometimes, like, during light dances I feel like I'm flying like a bird.

And during heavy dances I feel like my feet are moving

so fast that sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing!

I started Irish dancing

because my dad was interested in Scottish culture.

And I'm really interested in Irish culture, too,

but not as interested as Albert is!

I also like the Irish music too

because it's very different from other kind of music.

I've been learning the accordion for four months

and I really like it.

I told my teacher about me doing Irish dancing,

so he found many Irish music and, well, we played it a lot.

HE PLAYS TUNE

So before the Feis, we have to prepare our dresses, our wigs

and, like, make-up things, and of course the fake tans.

OK, OK.

For the fake tan it's a really big challenge for us

because we can't buy it in Taiwan.

I can't put it on myself and my mum has to help me,

but my mum is a perfectionist

so she spends a lot of time doing it,

and sometimes when there's like mistakes or it doesn't look good,

we have to wash it off and do it all again.

I'm really, really nervous, a lot more nervous than Albert is,

because for the past few years,

Albert has won most of the dances, and a lot of people, it would

be really hard for them to believe that Albert,

who is younger than me and who started later than I did,

could dance better than I am, but it's true sometimes.

This one's my biggest trophy.

I got it last year in the Taipei Feis, and, erm, that's

the intermediate trophy, I wanted the open one but he won it, so...

-Yeah, it's mine, not yours.

-No, it's mine.

-No, no, it's mine.

It should be mine, but someone gave it to Albert, so...

-It originally was mine.

-No, you're lying.

-I'm not.

We just qualified for the World Championship two weeks ago,

that is our qualifying medal.

-Yeah, but...

-I got fifth place and...

-I got second place.

-Yeah. So it's, erm,

so next year we're going to London for the World Championships.

Mostly we travel to Europe for competitions.

We've been to Ireland, UK, erm, Germany, Austria

and Poland for competitions.

Since Emily became serious about the competition,

we have no more family holidays. We went overseas only for Feis.

As a mum, sometimes I do think, er,

"Can you do it as a hobby?

"Just, it's very competitive, and you already have very,

"very competitive school life."

But they never want to give up.

Next Sunday we're having our Feis.

This is what we've been building up to, really, all year.

The students are all very excited, the phone is hopping with

a million questions from parents and, er, organisers.

We have, er, these are the leftovers from last year...

-OK.

-So we have to replace the new stickers.

OK, so you reckon if we heat them with the hair dryer then

-we can peel it off?

-Oh, yeah, apparently.

-All right.

If that's what the man says, we'll give it a go.

-And then the new stickers are arriving when? Tomorrow?

-Today.

-Today?

-Today, yeah.

-So we can get this sorted out.

I'm actually quite nervous about the Feis.

This year we're expecting dancers from Hong Kong, Japan and, erm,

with our dancers together we'll have about 68, 70 competitors in total.

Xie xie. Bye-bye.

-Obviously the stickers.

-Awesome.

-Grand, OK.

It is our biggest event, the Taipei Feis,

and everybody is really excited because, er, for students, dancers

who didn't have the opportunity to travel abroad for competitions,

it's the only chance for them to compete against other dancers.

-Is it working?

-Yeah, it's fine.

-Ah, yeah, that's it.

-Great.

-Let me just try and see if, er...

..if they work OK. Yeah, it's pretty good.

It's important I think to make sure that we motivate people,

so we decided at the start that we would give everybody a prize.

At the end of the Feis every year,

the children just have six or seven medals around their necks,

and they're lucky maybe if they have a cup also,

and you can see the excitement in them.

And it's a small price to pay to create that much joy

and make an occasion from it, I think.

Having finished the preparation for the Feis,

Ronan finally takes a breather.

The day-to-day living here is very easy to manage,

it's very comfortable.

I keep in touch with my family every day.

We talk on Skype, I chat with my son every day as well on Skype,

we read at night-time, even though it's quite late for me here,

it's about three or four in the morning, but I need to stay up late

in order to make that contact and keep that contact strong.

So I can't believe we're actually here at the day of the Feis.

I think everybody is a little bit apprehensive.

I can just imagine what it's been like in the homes this morning,

in the houses, with everybody getting ready.

I hope that they're going to give their all today, that the

nerves won't get the better of them, and that they can show their parents

and their families what it is that they do so well

and what they work so hard for.

Wait, wait, wait, let me see.

OK.

As I can recall, Michael Flatley's motto is "Follow your dream."

I think my son's following his dream.

I just give him as much as possible support

and maybe he will soon make the dream come true.

There are so many people there on stage,

so I'm a little bit nervous.

Me and my wife didn't know what happened. We thought he was perfect.

But when Daniel came down, he was crying.

I, I'm not sure if he's OK now, but I need him to focus on next dance.

Having a Feis in Taipei is very important

because there are relatives like my mother, my sister,

our friends, they will all come to support,

and they were not able

to see them dance overseas, so it's very important.

Yes, the grandmas are all here!

I think maybe Emily is a little bit more nervous than Feis overseas

because her friends are here, her relatives are here,

so she really wants a good result.

I do put a lot of pressure on myself.

I think that's necessary because without the pressure

I wouldn't dance to this level right now.

He's always very hard on himself, but as parents,

we don't really care about the results.

We only care about how much effort he puts in.

But himself, he really cares about what prize he will get.

In second place we have

competitor 159, Cheng-yang Lee, from the Taipei Irish Dance Academy.

I'm a little bit sad because I can't win gold medals.

Michael Flatley had good days and bad days.

If he didn't get any medals, he would try harder, work harder,

and the next Feis, he would get a lot of gold medals. And me too.

I have to, like, do it like Michael Flatley.

And in first place we have Albert Yao from the Taipei Irish Dance Academy.

I think winning the trophy is really important, because it's a shame

not to win it when our parents sacrifice so much for us.

You won again but next year it's going to be my turn.

-I won for the trophy and, yeah, I beat my sister.

-My trophy's bigger.

-No.

-It is. See, it's smaller, so, yeah.

-No, the...

-No, no!

-There must be something wrong.

At the last minute,

Hank and Sabrina's father has managed to get two hours

off work to see his children perform for the first time in nine years.

It's hard to know how Hank

and Sabrina will react to their dad turning up because they don't

show their emotions here, like we would back home.

They're not as expressive.

HE SOBS JOYFULLY

Well, it's been hectic.

It was a really, really busy day but it went really, really well.

We are hoping to host many more Feises here in Asia,

and we'll host Taipei Feis every year regardless of the numbers

participating at our Feis from overseas.

The success of the students was just breathtaking, I think,

because you never presume that they're going to do so well.

They had tough competition from the Japanese dancers this year.

I never imagined that I'd be standing on a stage having completed a Feis.

When I started the school with Yi-Han seven years ago

we didn't see this far, we didn't imagine it would come this far.

And now people are talking about next year and

when we're going to fix the date for next year, and it's just snowballing.

Yeah, we've a lot to think about and a lot to be grateful for,

and it just is going to take me

a bit of time to let it all sink in cos it's just finished,

and, erm, I'm feeling a bit emotional about everything.