Riverdance - Countess Cathleen

I feel like posting this video is going to diminish my limited street cred, but who cares. I also was thinking that this technically isn't a song, but then I also remembered fuck you it says beat not song in my blog title. Brace yourself for story time!

Anyway, when I was seven my parents must have got the Riverdance tape like half of the population, and I turned out to be one of those kids who were obsessed with it. I remember watching it most days, and I knew the songs in Irish too (idk what they meant though). I was so obsessed with Jean Butler, she was basically my hero, I even remember saying so on a class project and thinking I was so special and obscure. I lived in a relatively small town and no one had opened a dance school there so I couldn't do Irish dancing myself. Fortunately my obsession lasted another three years, when we moved to a larger city which had what I think was the oldest company in NZ for Irish dancing? Anyway, I finally could do the auld Irish dancing. Though it's not as modern, or wasn't then, I didn't mind and did regional and national comps with the awesome curls and shady looking dresses. I also only moved my arms when I was in four, six, or eight hands, damnit! One year I was also coerced into doing Spanish dancing (idk the name... salsa?) like a Riverdance style interval for our Christmas performance. Yeah. Bad times. I found this recent video from local news of one of the other schools in my town who were a lot better than us. I always remember though at competitions the amount of seven year olds sobbing after being shouted at, and this mum at our school who moved her kid to our school because she was so traumatised. Lolz, flashback and intrigue.

I eventually gave up since I had hockey and entered my teen years, plus my teachers sort of hated their lives I think so weren't as excited to teach. Then we actually moved to Ireland, though I never actually danced there - I did see Riverdance in Dublin though! We had to do work experience at secondary school and since I had no career aspirations (apart from being a Child Psychologist HAHAHAHAHA JESUS NO) I got a job in a shop. Anyway, one day I was working the tillz when this lady came up to buy some stuff and I was like "huh, she looks like Jean Butler" then she handed me her card, which I had to get her to sign since it was ye olden days before chip and pin.When I checked her card... yep, yeah it was her and I literally lost the power of speech. My boss asked me if I was ok, because I stopped functioning for a few seconds. I was chill though and didn't make too much of a tit of myself or betray any recognition. These days I totally would make a shameless twat of myself. The upside is that my sister actually met her at her work and told her that I was a huge fan so... she knows, at least.

Omg fan girl rant. But this video came up on my suggested videos on youtube and it all came back to me. I also realised then that I've actually met all of my childhood heroes - Peter Andre, Jean Butler, and Hanson. I manage to suppress the self loathing most days.