Maple Grove’s Rince Nua Has Young Irish Dancing Champion
There’s something about the cadence of Irish dance that stays in your head long after the dance routine is over.
Morgan Wright, from New Hope, can attest to that. She’s only 10 years old and the youngest champion to qualify for world competition at Rince Nua Irish Dance in Maple Grove.
“I practice a lot,” said Wright. “Not just in my basement on my dance stage, but in the hallway I find myself dancing.”
She finds herself dancing at school too.
The dancing and hard work came to fruition recently when Wright brought home top prize at a national contest.
“We’re just so thrilled to have a dancer who started with us at age 4 and became a champion at age 10 and qualified for worlds,” said Erin Cooney, owner and instructor at Rince Nua.
Cooney says Wright isn’t alone in her dedication. More dancers are wanting to focus on competition, so she added and additional team in the fall.
“A lot of our dancers want to become a champion or qualify to compete at worlds,” said Cooney. “With how competitive it is these days, the dancers who wanted to do that needed extra attention.”
Margot Wittich and Emaliah Danner are two of the dancers who are driven to compete in both hard and soft shoe.
“I like both of them,” said Wittich. “Hard shoe has different techniques and is challenging. I like the hard shoe better.
Danner says she enjoys being with her friends at the studio. The dancing is a perk.
“Start it and you’ll never look back from there,” advises Danner. “You’ll have so much fun, you’ll never want to go back to not dancing.”
Changing up St. Patrick’s Day Performances due to Coronavirus
Rince Nua Irish Dance in Maple Grove is usually swamped with dances and engagements around St. Patrick’s Day. But this year, coronavirus has put a damper on the celebrations. Most private performances at nursing homes and senior centers have been cancelled due to new protocols and restrictions. And that’s not all.
“Some families are indicating that grandma and grandpa won’t be coming to our performances as they had originally planned,” said Cooney.
So the studio decided to livestream a performance from their studio as a way seniors and grandparents could see the show. The studio also plans to teach classes virtually if the schools close.
“It will be a bit of a learning curve for everyone since we haven’t done it before, but I’m sure we can pull it off,” said Cooney. “It will be a new adventure for the students.”
The studio is waiting to see if the world championships in Ireland will still occur in June because of coronavirus.
