We're so excited to have a special feature this week. This week's blog is from Amy Hokanson, a dancer with the Mooncon Ceili Dancers. Thank you Amy!
Hello to all Festival blog readers! My name is Amy Hokanson and I am a dancer
with the Mooncoin Ceili Dancers. I will
be performing on Saturday night of the Festival this year!
My first Festival of Nations performance was in sometime in
the early 1980s. At the time, I was
studying Irish step dancing at the Crossroads School of Irish Dance under the
direction of Jenny Bach. I, along with the other dancers, were taught a ceili
dance called the Bonfire. Ceili dancing
is done typically in social settings and is a dance for a group rather than a
solo performer. I remember practicing
for hours in the old church on Prior Avenue in Saint Paul. The circle had to be perfect, the arms held
just so. There was also a rehearsal for
a large group dance with many of the other ethnic dancers. How exciting it was to be in the Roy Wilkins
Auditorium with all those other people working towards a common purpose.
The day of the performance was so special. This was in the days before the auditorium
was renovated and was twice the length
it is now. One side would be dark while
performers at the other end performed under the lights. In the darkness we walked out to the center
of the performance space and waited in anticipation. Then the lights went up on our end and the
music started and off we danced.
This is me, in 1981 at age 10
I performed in many Festival of Nations as a young person,
but although I kept dancing, the Festival performance eventually was done by
others in the Irish community. Today, I
am 42 years old and preparing for another Festival of Nations. I have participated twice in the last few years. Last year, our organizer included the Bonfire
as part of our performance. As many
times as I have danced this particular dance over the years, it was especially
fun working on perfecting it for a performance again. It will be a part of this year's performance
as well.
Large group performance in 1981 at the Festival.
What I truly love about the Festival of Nations, is the
coming together of all of the different cultures for a common purpose. This is being played out on a small scale in
the adult Irish dance community as we rehearse for this performance. There are many adults involved with Irish
dance in the Twin Cities in many different groups. It is rare for so many to perform together as
we do for the Festival of Nations. Dancers
from the Mooncoin Ceili Dancers, Knocknagow Irish Dancers, Loma mor Irish Dance
Club, and adults of the O'Shea Irish Dancers are all busy right now in joint
rehearsals perfecting our performance.
This aspect - this opportunity to gather and celebrate each other as one
community is really the essence of the Festival of Nations and my most
cherished part of this experience.
So please, come see us dance this year! We are performing Saturday night, May 4th in
the 8pm hour.
Amy Hokanson
Mooncoin
Ceili Dancers
