Photo by Veronica Novotny
Veronica Novotny
Assistant Editor
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Irish Dancing Club danced at the crowded Bennigan’s Wednesday at 9 p.m., the third of four acts as part of the restaurant’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The dance club was preceded by musical performances from Abbots Cross and Daniel Welsh and followed by Gallow Glass.
Eight members of the club rolled out a dance mat in front of the bar and performed several songs over the course of half an hour. The club choreographed both their group numbers and their solos, and danced to songs including “Hornpipe 2” and the encore “Tell Me Ma.”
After dancing to three songs with soft shoes, the dancers changed into hard shoes for the second half of their performance.
Steubenville locals and students clapped along and cheered throughout every song.
Freshman Sarah Clare Kelty wore her costume and dance shoes in solidarity with her fellow dancers despite being unable to dance due to an injury.
The Revs. Dave Pivonka, TOR, Dennis Gang, TOR, and Vincent Yeager, TOR, were in attendance and the performance made an appearance on Pivonka’s Instagram story Wednesday night.
Junior Mary Beth Hayes, who has been dancing with the club since her first semester, said she enjoyed getting to perform. “And they invited us back next year!” she said.
Senior Claire Ruane said, “It was really fun. Growing up, we would always watch Irish dancers on St. Patrick’s Day — actually the entire month of March — so I thought, ‘I need to see something.’ So (my friend) and I came in. It was really good and just reminded me of childhood.”