Siobhan McPhail’s busy schedule keeps her on her toes. From balancing a career in Irish Dance to being a full time Eugene Lang student, McPhail also qualified for the 2020 World Irish Dancing Championships.
At 20 years old, McPhail is a graduating junior pursuing a degree in Contemporary Dance, and about to celebrate 15 years in the Irish dance world. The Milwaukee native has been smitten with these jigs since she was five and has competed in more shows than she can count.
“Once I started I couldn’t stop, I haven’t been able to stop since—I can’t think about my life without it,” she said. The “Worlds” — the term for the World Irish Dancing Championships — have been McPhail’s goal throughout her entire competitive career. “I’ve been trying to do that since I was 8 when I started competing,so a long while. I’ve been within 10 [places] of qualifying since my senior year of high school, every year I would keep moving up.”
“I’ve been trying to qualify for so long, it was so exciting,” she said. “I got on stage they’re all hugging me, they know I’ve been trying for this for a while so they’re congratulating me, I started crying.”
Freshman year, balancing college and her career was tough. She moved to New York, leaving her local dance studio—Kinsella Academy of Irish Dance— in Milwaukee, while recovering from a sprained ankle. “I’m really close with my dance teachers. It was really hard being away from them, having to practice on my own,” she said.
“I’m not sure I do the best job balancing school and dance. I’ve always prioritized dance over school. There are some instances where they go hand in hand so it’s okay,” said McPhail. This semester she registered for online courses, giving her more time to dance outside of school.
McPhail struggled to find her footing. She would practice in her dorm in Loeb Hall or wait until 1 a.m. for the gym and mirrors to free up in the building’s basement. Now she uses the fitness studio in the University Centre, and practices at Brooklyn’s Donny Golden School of Irish Dance, where she’s found a community of fellow Irish dancers.
“Golden’s this really big guy in Irish dance. My teachers remember doing workshops with him when they were younger, so they were like, “He’s in New York. You should look him up and see if you can practice with him. He’s been so great ever since I moved here. I go to his class at least once a week and he gives me corrections,” she said.
In February, McPhail placed second at her first competition of the year—2020 Feis na Nollag— in Kingsborough Community College.
She dances in the under 21 category, where the allocated set is called “reel hornpipe.” “My first round is about a minute and a half, my second round is like 50 seconds, my third round is also about a minute and a half,” said McPhail.
McPhail dedicates hours of work towards perfecting her short sets.
“I practice anywhere from 7 hours to 14 hours a week.” said McPhail, “Sometimes I’ll get to class and I won’t get called up for the first half an hour so I’ll spend that time stretching and warming up. Other times I get there and I’ll get called up onstage right away so I have to warm up after dancing first. When I practice on my own I like to take anywhere from 15-30 minutes to warm up depending on how my body is feeling that day. On competition days I’ll start warming up about 2 hours before I dance,” she said.
On a Thursday morning in February, while she stretched in the UC’s fitness centre, McPhail shared her rehearsal Spotify playlist entitled “Treble Gigs” and an App called Feis, created for the Irish dance community and featuring Irish Dancing Music “from the best and most popular artists on the scene today.”
She rehearsed in regular gym wear, and the respective footwear—hardshoe or softshoe. But once she hits the stage, she adorns a one-of-a-kind solo costume. “When I got my first one I was eight, and I think I’m on my ninth one. Nine dresses in 13 years,” she said.
Stage fright is foreign to McPhail. “I don’t get nervous. I always wake up about four hours before my round is supposed to start because it always takes an hour and a half to do my hair and makeup which I do listening to Beyonce. Then I’ll go to the competition warm- up, stretch out. That’s it really,” she said.
The next time McPhail takes to the stage will be April 10th and 11th to compete at the Worlds in Dublin, Ireland. In the meantime, she documents her journey as an Irish Dancer online via instagram.
This article appears in our March print issue. You can pick up a copy on newsstands around campus, or at our newsroom in room 520 in the University Center.
