Dancing queen jigs and reels her way to success

With shoulders back and chin held high, sophomore Tess Minnick bends one leg so that her pointed toes touch her knee, then hops to the other leg. She makes a circle, moving in quick, sharp steps, then bounces to the left before doubling back to the right. "Everything's symmetrical," she explains.

Minnick is demonstrating a reel, one of two types of Irish dances. Minnick, who is more than half Irish, has been practicing the traditional art of Irish dancing since she was six. She has won first place in one competition and placed in numerous others. Her passion comes from more than her family heritage or her fervor for competition. It comes from the feeling of freedom that she experiences whenever and wherever she dances.

Minnick began dancing as a "family thing," and found many reasons to stick with it. "It's incredibly unique—not a lot of people do it—and incredibly healthy because it gives you a good workout," she says. After deciding to pursue the art, she enrolled in the Drake School of Irish Dance before transferring to the Colkin School in Bethesda, which many of her friends attended.

Students in Irish dance schools move through a system of levels, beginning with level one. "It was just a bunch of six-year-olds dancing," Minnick says. Starting with beginner's reels, Minnick practiced three hours a day at school, at home and with the help of her aunt. She explains, "You didn't have to go every day, but you did if you were really passionate."

Minnick began learning hard shoe dances, which are more like clogging, when she was ten, and also started doing advanced reels and jigs. "It's more upbeat and takes a lot of practice," she says. She started going to feises, or competitions, where she gradually began placing. At one competition, Minnick danced as a level four in a group representing her school before doing a routine by herself. For her performance, she was awarded first place out of 42 contestants.

Though she is taking a break from the competitive side of Irish dancing, Minnick still practices every day. She was invited to the Championship Worlds in Ireland this year, an annual competition that is attended primarily by teenagers, and though she decided not to go, she remains dedicated. She explains, "Being up there takes you away from everything. You definitely feel like you're in touch with your culture, and you definitely feel free."