By Catherine Duplisea
Competitive Irish step dancing is a beautiful art form that ties together the traditional Irish cultural dance with extreme athleticism, performed to traditional Irish tunes of reels, jigs, hornpipes, and set dances. The music the dancers dance to is equally as intricate, traditional, and vital to the highly competitive sports of Irish dance. We are lucky to have some amazing veteran Feis (pron. Fesh) musicians in Ohio that play at local competitions and are mentoring and encouraging the next generation of talented Feis musicians to keep the Irish culture thriving locally.
Talented Irish Musicians in Ohio
One of Lakewood’s own, Cian Wolff, is a budding feis musician, he plays the accordion. He also plays the tenor drums in the Lakewood High School Marching Band, and the bass guitar in the pep band.
Cian was recently given the accolade of “most outstanding musician” by his percussion advisor in the marching band. His musical talent and passion are now blessing the Irish dance community.
Irish Music in Canada
Cian was officially hired to play his very first feis this past spring by the Wilson Bryson Dennis School in Canada. This was an incredible milestone in Cian’s career at the ripe age of fifteen! He is thankful for all his mother has done for him on his journey as well as his mentors and teachers along the way.
“I am very lucky to be surrounded by all these musicians and inspirations, including my mother. It was always just her and me throughout anything that had to do with Irish dance or music. She has tried her best to get me involved in all the things about music and dance through local sessions all the way to driving me countless hours to see my friends and other musicians.
I also won’t have gotten here without my teachers, who I am very thankful for as well. I try and play my accordion almost every day and it has just become something that is really fun! I want to keep playing to spread what I love doing the most, which is just being in the Irish community.”- Cian
For those of you who are local to Cleveland, Cian, along with many other local musicians, can be found playing in sessiúns on Thursday nights at the Plank Road Tavern in Lakewood with the legendary Al O’Leary, and on select Sundays at Gormley’s Pub in Rocky River. Come on out, enjoy traditional Irish music, and … you may even catch someone do an Irish dance step or two.
Read more of Catherine’s Dance, Dance columns HERE
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Catherine Duplisea
*Catherine Duplisea was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She danced for and now assistant teaches for the Burke School of Irish Dance. Catherine attained her Bachelors degree at John Carroll University, Ohio and earned a Masters of Education: Applied Digital Learning degree from Lamar University, Texas. She taught elementary education for ten years, served as a curriculum STEM coach for teachers for five years, and currently supports principals in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
