By ARIELLA MONTI
The St. Agnes Cathedral Elementary School fourth-grader headed to Philadelphia for the Mid-Atlantic Regional for Irish Dance in November, and came home with a first place-trophy for the boys' under-9 competition.
"It makes me feel really happy that I actually accomplished it," Sean said of his win, which qualifies him for the national competition in July in Tennessee.
"We're extremely proud," said his mother, Kerry. "I think it's quite an accomplishment for these young kids to get up there and perform, not only in front of judges but in front of hundreds of people."
Sean has been a student at the Hagen School of Irish Dance in Long Beach since he was 3. "When I was a little kid I used to dance a lot, and then my mom signed me up for dancing and I just got really into it," said Sean, who used to dance with his grandmother, Fran McDonald, in his parents' kitchen.
"Jean [Hagen Duffy] had an all-boys class, and we just said, Let's see how this works, and he just took to it," said Kerry. "We say it runs through his veins."
Sean's dancing took him and his family to a competition in Scotland in October. "I felt really excited because there are all these castles and you get to meet new people," he said.
With more than 300 students taking classes at the Hagen School and five Irish dancers in Sean's fourth-grade class at St. Agnes Elementary, the Crosbys said there is quite the dancing community on the South Shore. "What I've noticed is that it's not all Irish kids," said Sean's father, Jason. "There's a lot of kids from the West Coast that are of Asian decent that are doing it."
Sean has big dreams of the stage, but said that if he doesn't turn out to be a professional Irish dancer, he'd like to be a doctor. "It's good to try something new," he said when asked if he'd like to try a different form of dance. "But I like to stick with what I'm doing."
"I'm very happy that my son has found something in life so early that he loves and he's very good at," said Sean's beaming father. "A lot of people in life search for that, so he's been blessed with a skill and a passion to perform that I hope he continues for his life."
The Crosbys' daughter, Elizabeth, also dances, but the bubbly 7-year-old said she has not won any trophies yet. "I think last year, when Sean did his recital, it was the best one I ever saw him do," she said.
Comments about this story? AMonti@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
