Ladies of the dance get busy

St. Patrick's Day prep sends Irish steppers flying into rehearsals

larry cruikshank/viewTop, Kylie Sutherland, wearing a gray T-shirt, and Brittney Leavitt execute a high step, while, bottom, from left, Meagan Walters, Sammy Bulgatz, Victoria Leavitt, Brooke Johnason, Brittney Leavitt, Kylie Sutherland and Kylie Johnson practice holding a line formation at the Stars Dance Studio. larry cruikshank/viewSammy Bulgatz, 14, steps her way across the floor as fellow dancer Sierra Lee follows during rehearsals at the Stars Dance Studio, 2595 S. Cimarron Ave., Suite 106. Advertisement

What would St. Patrick's Day be without good food, good fun and an old-fashioned Irish jig?

Plenty of people can supply the food and fun, but not everyone can do the dance. Members of the Martin Percival School of Irish Dance spend weeks getting ready to show off their skills.

The school, based at the Summerlin Stars Studio, 2595 S. Cimarron Road, Suite 106, will be performing at 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday at the JW Marriott's JC Wooloughan's Irish Pub, 221 N. Rampart Blvd.

"We're ridiculously busy, but it's a good thing," said Percival. "St. Patrick's Day is the Super Bowl of Irish dance."

Last year for St. Patrick's Day, the school was booked at various venues, from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Besides JC Wooloughan's, some of the places they performed were Three Angry Wives, 8820 W. Charleston Blvd. in Boca Park, Sean Patrick's, 8255 W. Flamingo Road, Lake Las Vegas, 1600 Lake Las Vegas Parkway, and Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Dancer Sammy Bulgatz, 14, said she liked the Mandalay Bay performance best because "our faces get to be up on the big screen outside."

Fellow dancer Meagan Walters, 14, said it's fun to look out and see audience members having a good time.

"And I love it when families are there," she said. "The little kids will get up from their parents' laps and try to do the dance. They're so cute."

While the school has about 30 students, the performance team totals 10 girls, ages 13 to 17. The team performs at various venues each year, but most bookings come around St. Patrick's Day.

Learning the kicks, double trebles and bicycle jumps takes a lot of practice, dancers said. The team puts in hours of training, a schedule that is stepped up as the Irish holiday gets closer.

It's not just time that's an investment. Costumes run $300 to $3,000, with soft shoes costing about $40 a pair and hard shoes -- the ones that make the stomping sounds -- costing about $140.

Parents have begun a program so that when a child outgrows shoes, the footwear is made available to a younger dancers who have grown into that particular size.

The Martin Percival School of Irish Dance was established last year. Percival was a dancer with "Lord of the Dance." He has been dancing 30 years and is a teacher and an adjudicator who can judge contests.

Once a week, Percival flies into Las Vegas from Denver. The other days, fellow instructors Tara Reid and Shelley Locklier conduct classes. Reid appears at New York New York at its pub, Nine Fine Irishmen, and Locklier danced with Percival in "Lord of the Dance."

One of the school's students is Donna Flanigan, a realtor. She took Irish dance lessons starting at age 5, but quit when she was 15. Now an adult, she took it up again.

"There have been a lot of changes since I took it as a kid," she said. "It's very athletic now -- almost like a sport."

Another adult enrolled is Deneen Walters, a pharmaceutical representative who lives in Summerlin. She began taking Irish dance lessons two years ago because her daughters were involved.

"It's very demanding -- extremely precise," she said. "You really need to have core strength."

Katelynn Arndt, 14, has been taking dance lessons for nearly seven years and is on the performance team.

"People don't realize all the detail (work) involved," said Lia Arndt, her mother. "What she gains from being in this class is the confidence and discipline every parent wants their child to have."

For more information, visit www.learnirishdance.com.