Dancers bring Irish tradition to seniors

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

At the age of seven, owner of the Ulmer School of Irish Dancing, Jan Ulmer, would share part of her Irish culture by visiting senior homes and performing traditional Irish dances.
Now as an adult, the custom continues as her students will be visiting AgeCare Sagewood and Wheatland Lodge on March 16 to showcase their talent and Irish tradition in time for Saint Patrick’s Day.
While the school has performed at the senior facilities for the past several years, this year seniors are in for a treat as the group will be showing off some of their youngest dancers to date, ranging from age four to 13 years old.
“I pursue it because I grew up dancing in senior homes and I know how much they love it and it’s important for us to give back to the community,” said Ulmer.
“It’s an exciting time for them. It’s getting them away from the competition aspect and allowing them to have fun and be free and show off their skills and everything they’ve learned. One of our favourite places to go is a senior home. I know how much the seniors love it, it’s an important day for them and we’ve been there before; I know they really look forward to having the dancers back.”
The Ulmer School of Irish Dancing was established in 2006 in Okotoks and opened a facility in Langdon in 2014. Since then the non-profit dance school has grown to 29 dancers from an original six participants, offering recreational as well as competitive classes. It recently turned out its very first championship dancer from the Langdon branch.
The students, who come from Langdon, Strathmore, Chestermere and the surrounding area, have been practicing their Ceili, soft shoe and hard shoe dances in preparation for upcoming performances.
Strathmore’s 13-year-old Alysha Young saw an ad for the Ulmer School of Irish Dancing on social media years ago and attended a meet-and-greet. She fell in love with the dance and performed for Strathmore’s seniors with the school previously.
“I like seeing their reactions at the end, they really like it when we come and do these things,” Young said. “It’s mostly Christmas time that they get performances so for Saint Patrick’s Day it’s really special for them. “
The Ulmer School of Irish Dance will be performing at AgeCare Sagewood and Wheatland Lodge on March 16. The senior dancers, aged 13 to 17, will also be participating on Saint Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17, at Murdoch’s Bar and Grill in Calgary with performances at 6:30 and 8 p.m.