Worth the sacrifice for Montreal-bound Irish dance pair

Two young aspiring Irish dancers will represent Hong Kong at next month's World Irish Dancing Championships in Montreal after overcoming the hardship of practicing via Zoom during the three-year pandemic.

The long wait for travel restrictions to ease finally paid off for Emma Eadon, 11, and Sofia Brantingham, 18, who have qualified for the championships. They will fly to Toronto on Thursday to train with the Canadian branch of the Goggin-Carroll School of Irish Dance Hong Kong before the competition starts on April 2.

The two will compete in the final round that will feature at least 150 dancers in 22 age categories.

Coach Katherine Toong said Eadon and Brantingham overcame many setbacks during the pandemic, especially as dance studios were closed.

Eadon and Brantingham have had four and eight years of Irish dancing experience, respectively, and topped their age groups in a qualifying competition in France last November. They average eight hours of practice and three hours of strength training per week.

The two had two-hour lessons on Zoom for three days each week, despite also being busy with academics.

They practiced on the rooftop of a village house and sometimes took their laptops to the park for a more spacious dancing area.

Toong, the principal teacher of the school, said practicing at home is difficult as jumping creates an impact on concrete, causing disturbances to neighbors. "It definitely affected the endurance to move well ...we took all the movements down and just focused on strengthening our posture," Toong said, adding that having to teach the dance virtually was also a huge challenge.

The girls worked on muscle-building and their balance at home apart from improving their physical conditioning.

Irish dancers keep their arms straight and steady by the sides of their hips, while using their legs to perform major dance movements. Each dance is comparable to a 400-meter sprint, as the performers have to maintain rapid leg movements that last for 1 1/5 minutes, Toong said.

"Emma is very talented Sofia is really focused and strong," Toong said, adding that Brantingham has prepared three dances for the championships.

For Toong, representing Hong Kong is an honor, especially since most Irish dancers are from western countries like Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom. The school qualified for the championships for the first time in 2017.