By: Kevin Gole
Each year, St. Patrick's Day brings a rich offering of Irish culture and tradition. Musical parades of Irish-Americans fill the streets celebrating the culture. Young girls and women dancers adorned in extravagant plaid costumes are among the most recognizable features on the feast day of Ireland's patron saint.
Local interest in Irish dance has flourished in Long Beach for years, particularly among its large Irish-American population. These dancers emphatically practice posture, timing and physical endurance for performances most people witness only once a year.
Although St. Patrick's Day comes only once annually, many Long Beach residents have chosen to take an active role in more frequently participating in Irish heritage. The Hagen School of Irish Dance, on East Park Avenue, teaches myriad Irish step-dancing techniques throughout the year.
The school's founder and instructor, Jean Hagen, 27, began studying Irish dance some 22 years ago. Encouraged to participate in Irish culture by her parents, she has competed on national and international levels since the age of 5. Hagen, a licensed elementary-school teacher and a Long Beach native, says her love for "teaching, children and dancing" made opening a dance school a natural endeavor.
She stresses posture as the most important aspect of skilled dancing, followed by accurate timing. Furthermore, she emphasizes dancing's health benefits, which build muscular legs and strong aerobic fitness.
"It's great exercise," Hagen said. "I've been asked to open more classes for adults when they see the kids' muscles."
Beginning students practice for just one hour per week, but later receive more frequent training as they advance.
Hagen teaches dance in both hard and soft shoes, and she teaches each of the five types of Irish dance: jigs, reels, hornpipes, slip jigs and treble jigs. These five types of Irish dance developed from folk ceili dancing, which is a traditional type of group dance. As Irish dancing progressed, the simple style of group dancing developed into the more complex forms of solo dancing.
"Irish dancing originated as a group activity," Hagen said. "Later, solo dancing developed with more intricate steps."
Having just opened in September 2000, the Hagen School of Irish Dance has 225 students ranging in age from 4 to over 50. The school's popularity boomed in its six months, with enrollment more than doubling from its original 100. Hagen attributes the rapid growth of her business and the sudden rise in Irish dance's popularity to several factors. Prominent shows, such as "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance," have given Irish dancing a boost in popularity in recent years. This exposure coupled with Long Beach's large and diverse mix of athletic children has led to a developing interest in Irish dancing, Hagen believes. Her classes, though, feature children of many ethnic backgrounds.
"It's not just the Irish anymore," Hagen said of the dance students. However, a long desire within Long Beach's Irish-American community for a local Irish dance school certainly played a big role in the business' initial success.
Hagen's school is an accredited institution, certified to compete on regional, national and international levels. The dancers finance travel expenses through their many paid performances and fundraisers. Hagen's top students will give three performances on Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, at a convention at Aqueduct Racetrack, at Paddy McGee's in Island Park, and at the Knights of Columbus in Oceanside.
