Irish culture was celebrated in honor of St. Patrick’s Day in Marine Park last week.
Organized by the Marine Park Community Association (MPCA), the O’Malley Irish Dancers provided residents with traditional Irish dancing and music at the Carmine Carro Community Center on Tuesday evening, March 21st.
“We’ve been performing at the MPCA every March for probably the past 20 years at least,” said Lisa Murphy, former student and current O’Malley Irish Dancer academy teacher. “It’s a very classic show for us, and we love performing here every year, spreading Irish culture to our community in Marine Park.”
Founded in 1994 by Maureen O’Malley-Byrnes, the O’Malley Irish Dancers have performed throughout the country and in New York City in locations such as Ellis Island and City Hall. They have even performed for the New York Mets, the Nets, the New York Liberty and the Brooklyn Cyclones, among many others. The school’s primary goals are to promote Irish culture and instill a sense of self-worth in its dancers, of which over 150 students are enrolled from Brooklyn and Queens.
Several traditional Irish dances were performed throughout the event, including step dancing (in hard and soft shoes) of reels and slip jigs, sean nós and céilí dancing.
The O’Malley Irish Dancers have already performed over 30 shows so far this month and will continue to do so until the end of March. As Murphy said, “For the Irish Dancers, it’s not St. Patrick’s Day but St. Patrick’s Month.”
“We love this and we’re seeing more people at our meetings and things like this,” said MPCA President Rob Mazzuchin. “It brings the community out. You see how many people have their phones out for people they don’t even know and enjoy a good evening out of dancing.”
