SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Early Thursday morning, the sun wasn't even up. But Isabella Balzano, Addison Miller, and Madeleine Walsh were wide awake at O'Reilly's Cure Restaurant and Bar in Scarborough. Today will be a busy day for these Irish step dancers. After all, it is St. Patrick's Day, and life feels somewhat back-to-normal after two years of a crippling pandemic.
These three girls are students at the Stillson School of Irish Dance.
For the first time since the pandemic began, Stillson dancers will be performing at O'Reilly's Cure for the Irish holiday, once around 8:30 a.m. and again around 4 p.m.
"I remember everyone just having a really good time and being really excited that we were here," Balzano said of the last time this event happened.
Balzano is 19 years old and has been Irish dancing for more than a decade.
"I just remember coming home from school, and my mom was telling me about some dance class we were going to start going to," she said, laughing.
Since then, Irish dancing has taken up a lot of her life.
Balzano said during the show team season and regional, national, and world competitions, dancers often spend four or five days a week in the studio for hours at a time – but it has all been worth it.
"My favorite thing is definitely the friendships I've made here and the lessons I've learned," Balzano said.
Addison Miller, 12, has been doing the sport for about four years.
"I like all the inspiring people and girls. It's really fun," Miller said. "[It's] just amazing to be up on stage and practice."
Madeleine Walsh, 18, is an example of how that practice can pay off.
She will be competing in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Ireland, during Easter week.
"It's definitely not for the faint-hearted," Walsh said of the sport. "It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of dedication and a lot of time."
She said she's a little bit nervous for worlds, but she's mostly excited to be back after the competition was canceled the past couple of years because of COVID-19.
"The atmosphere is like nothing else at the worlds," Walsh said.