By Tiffany Liao

Justine Goode ’12 dances across the stage, her feet a blur, moving so quickly that only the pitter patter of her steps are heard.

Goode gets in touch with her Irish roots weekly by attending Irish dance classes and dancing competitively.

She has been Irish dancing since first grade when a teacher at her school began offering classes for students. Under her instruction, Goode learned traditional dances that she would try to perfect over the years.

Irish dancing traces its roots back to Ireland around the 16th century. This complex form of dancing calls for precise, repetitive leg movements while maintaining a stiff rigid upper body.

"It is difficult to maneuver," Goode said, "because it includes jumping and skipping motions that require balance."

There are about seven dances in all, and during the course of a dancer’s career, different and increasingly advanced versions of these dances are introduced.

They include the slip jig, reel, the single jig, and light jig, and treble jig, hornpipe and the St. Patrick’s Day jig.

Most jigs are updated and altered every few months, so Goode and her fellow dancers are constantly learning new steps.

Goode entered her first feis, pronounced "fesh", an Irish dancing competition, when she was in first grade and did a "really good job."

Although Goode likes performing onstage, she dislikes the atmosphere of these competitions because they’re "hot, crowded and stressful." The competitive nature of these contests is also very extreme, she said.

"Whenever I go, I always see these stage moms doing things like feeding their daughters Red Bull before they dance," said Goode. "I’ve never enjoyed going to feises, but I know other girls who live for them."

Goode is currently at the Prizewinner level in her dances. The levels include Beginner One, Beginner Two, Novice, Prizewinner, and 3 levels of Champion: Preliminary, Open, and World. She competes as part of the O’Farrell school, which her teacher started only a few years ago.

"We’re much, much smaller than any of the other schools, but that also means we’re closer and more laid-back," Goode said.

During performances, dancers are expected to wear uniform school dresses or more elaborately decorated solo dresses, depending on their level.

As for shoes, there are two different pairs used in different dances: soft shoes, known as ghillies and hard shoes. These are worn with "poodle socks", which are knee high and have ridges knitted into them. Traditional wigs are also donned, and their fake curls bounce as the dancers jump and skip around the stage.

"The wigs are disgusting and bite into your head, but they look really good," Goode said.

Of all the competitions Goode attends, the largest and most important is the Oiracheatus, an annual international Irish dancing competition.

At Oiracheatus, points are given for creativity, execution and even the costume one is wearing.

Goode competed at this contest with her team since only dancers of the Champion rank can compete individually.

In preparation for this competition, Goode devoted two hours of practice three days a week while only in the third grade.

"It was brutal," she recalled.

Now that Goode is a sophomore, she has been spending more time on school work and less time Irish dancing and competes only occasionally.

However, she continues to learn new and more advanced steps whenever she does attend class.

"It’s actually a lot of fun because it involves a lot of movement and big jumps. Moves are really precise and I don’t know how to explain it, but they’re really satisfying. Once you get a hang of a hard step, it feels so good," Goode said.