World Irish dancing contest takes big step to US

The Irish Times, April 11, 2009

A special chapter in the history of Irish dancing was written this week when thousands of Irish dancers from all around the globe descended on Philadelphia to compete in the World Irish Dancing Championships.

This is the first year in its 39-year history that the world championships have been held outside of Ireland or the United Kingdom.

The championships are hosted by An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha, the commission established in the 1920s for the purpose of maintaining traditional Irish dancing. It began in a small theatre in Dublin and grew over time. As more dancers qualified at regional and national competitions, the commission sought larger facilities to host the world championships. Belfast and Glasgow have hosted them in recent years.

Sean McDonagh, chairman for the commission, said the decision to move the competition to Philadelphia was based on the availability of facilities, including accommodation options, but also because Americans make up 75 per cent of competitors registered for this year’s championships.

Selecting the location for the annual event begins with a bidding process. Dance teachers and commission representatives submit the suggested cities, and then a small commission subcommittee votes.

Mr McDonagh said Philadelphia and Boston were top choices for an American venue, and that local commission representatives had been pushing for the event to come to the US for years.

While American dancers and teachers are generally excited to have the competition come to the US, others are not as happy with the momentous move.

“It’s Irish dance. It should stay in Ireland,” says Dearbhla Lennon, a teacher at Scoil Rince Mona Ní Rodaigh in Dundalk, Co Louth. Ms Lennon says moving the championships to the US is “huge”. “This is the Olympics of what we do,” she says.

Ms Lennon, who has danced in principal roles for both Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, said that her personal opinion does not reflect her view of Americans or the competition so far.

“It’s been amazing,” she says. “But I’ll go wherever. We’ll always travel wherever it is.”

While the location of the competition may change and “trends move with the seasons”, Ms Lennon says Irish dance has stayed “very much the same”... (Read full text here)

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Atheists put their faith in Twitter

P.Z. Myers’ Twitter bio reads, “godless liberal biologist.”

The avid atheist is far from alone in the cyber world. He has more than 7,700 followers who subscribe to his atheism- and evolution-themed Internet updates.

When Myers led about 300 like-minded evolutionists to the Creation Museum, thousands more followed along via the Internet, avidly anticipating each 140-character “tweet” about the Kentucky center, which renounces evolution in favor of a Bible-based view of natural history.

“It’s a very peculiar medium,” Myers said of Twitter. “I can also see that it is quite useful.”

Social networking sites and microblog hosts like Twitter are drawing atheists and agnostics out of seclusion and giving them a platform on which they can discuss and debate their religious beliefs—or lack thereof—with the world... (Read full text here)

Centro plans fare hike, service cuts

Centro is proposing to raise bus fares and cut some services in an effort to make up a projected $5 million shortfall in the coming budget year, Centro officials said Tuesday.

Centro wants to increase the Syracuse base fare from $1 to at least $1.25 and possibly to $1.50, officials said. Almost all other fares would also be increased under the proposal, they said.

Frank Kobliski, executive director of Centro, said the changes are needed to make up for a loss in state aid and mortgage tax revenues and rising costs that create the projected deficit.

"The economy is such that we simply cannot put operators in seats and be able to come remotely close to keeping fares at a dollar," he said... (Read full text here)