Like mother, like daughter, and like daughter again.
This phrase can be applied to the Connolly family of Marion. Barbara Connolly was born in Ireland and was a competitive Irish stepdancer from the age of three. Her daughter Katie followed her footsteps, and now her daughter Emersyn is doing the same.
In fact, the latter two compete in the world Irish stepdancing competition — and both at the age of 10.
Emersyn, 10, competed in her first solo New England Regional Oireachtas in November 2023 when she placed among the top five and qualified to dance in the World Irish Dance Championship being held in Glasgow, Scotland, at the end of March.
This comes after six years of dancing and daily training at the Keane O’Brien Academy of Irish Dance in Braintree.
Barbara, the first-generation stepdancer, said this world competition is the Olympics of Irish Stepdancing.
Emersyn will meet dancers from all over the world, some coming from as far as Australia, New Zealand and Africa.
Barbara, noting the high level of competition, is not sure how well Emersyn will do but says the experience alone is a chance of a lifetime for her 10-year-old granddaughter.
“It will be very hard, but she will do her best and that’s all we can ask of her,” Barbara Connolly said. “Just to be able to qualify to dance is an honor in itself.”
Emersyn appears to agree, and takes pride in how she is the third-generation Connolly daughter to embrace stepdancing.
“It feels good and it is really fun to know my grandma and my mom did this. I am following after them,” Emersyn said.
A student of St. Joseph’s School in Fairhaven, Emersyn says her classmates support her hobby, but Emersyn has very little free time these days to spend with friends. When she does have free time between dancing and school, she likes to draw and play outside, she says.
Emersyn says she has visited Ireland, but this will be her first visit to Scotland.
Like every competition, she gets a bit of stage fright at the start, but it quickly fades once she pounds those first steps into the dance floor.
“Once I do my first steps, I get used to it and it makes me feel more confident,” Emersyn said.
Barbara, 70, said the world competition did not exist when she was younger. But Barbara still competed and even had her own dance studio in Jamaica Plain before she got married.
Katie Connolly was involved from the age of six to 19. Katie says her daughter is more talented.
Like Barbara, Katie feels the experience of competing represents a victory in itself.
“It’s definitely an experience,” Katie said. “I want her to take it all in and learn that the hard work will pay off even if she doesn’t get the results.”
By Jeffrey D. Wagner