BeachStreet USA
Virginia Beach Oceanfront
August 25, 2008















Down near 20th Street at the Oceanfront the elite Performing Company of the Rhythm of Ireland School of Irish Dance performed as a part of the city of Virginia Beach's Beach Street USA for the fortunate citizens and tourists passing along Atlantic Ave . They were joined by Celtica, a local minstral group, that affects a medieval air.


I recognized John Ickes right away (since he once earned the grand title of "Best Customer Ever" one Christmas season at my workplace for his unending patience and cheerfulness during the peak of the season) yet was somewhat taken aback that he was performing along side our Irish gals since the last time I saw him he was sporting a kilt and playin' the bagpipes. He piped Diana Gabaldon (one of my favorite writers) into the lecture hall at the Virginia Beach Library Week in April 2007. Members of Celtica were also present at the book signing following her presentation and accompanied John's lovely singing voice with a hammered dulcimer and concert harp.

I recognized both of these ladies, but alas, do not know their names and for that I am sorry. I hope to catch up with John sometime soon and will update this blog once I have the info to give credit where it is due. The ladies were without their lovely instruments due to the limitations of the venue, but provided their melodious voices instead and were accompanied by 3 other individuals I have not seen before. They opened the performance with a beautifully harmonious song about nothing in particular. One of those tunes that allows you to enjoy the sound of the voices without really caring about what is being said. The troupe was dressed in period clothing and they had to be very warm because it was in the high 80s with high humidity at 7:30pm. None of them seem to mind, though.

Here's a clip I took with my digital camera while at the performance. My memory card ran out about 5 seconds before the end of the reel - but this shows the best of the best that night.


You might notice that the girls are wearing less-than-traditional Irish Dancing garb. If you've never worn an Irish Dancing costume, you might be surprised to discover they weigh 5 to 10 pounds and that's not counting the wig! All that interfacing and embroidery adds up to some serious weight, doncha know. The school director, Mrs. Debbie Bristol, also mentioned that the costumes were more appropriate to an informal setup that Beach Street USA allows.

The dancers and singers took turns entertaining the crowd. The older girls displayed their hardshoe prowess and the younger girls demonstrated a soft-shoe reel. The challenges of dancing outdoors are compounded when the stage is unlevel, yet the the girls were fleet of foot and and looked as good as any show you could catch at Busch Gardens!



There was a hobby-horse joust complete with swimming pool noodle lances and even a maypole dance. The little ones needed a little help in manning the ribbons, but the pole had a fine weave by the end of the night.

The performance lasted about 30 minutes and was well worth the effort of coming from Larkspur down to the Oceanfront. Since we parked at the municipal parking lot, we had several blocks to traverse to get back to the car.

We passed a middle-aged blond playing a fierce steel drum tune and then a Filipino couple singing "Cheeseburger in Paradise" while headed for the ice cream stand. Now that's not something you see everyday.

A large crowd had gathered around another street performer and my son and I were making a wide path around him when a large plume of flame shot into the air. That got my kids' attention so we stopped and took a look. This guy juggled with stuff on fire - while balancing a board on a 4 inch pipe; balanced a burning baseball bat thing on this chin and spit fire. While he was doing all his pyro tricks he was cracking insult jokes at himself and the crowd. He was good.

At this point we were "in for a penny, in for a pound" and decided to stay for the magic show being held at the 24th Street stage. Poor guy, his first trick and his prop breaks. The magic cabinet broke a wheel and he did a good job of covering it up by sticking his foot underneath. My children enjoyed the show, but it was pretty high-school talent show quality for me. He did a good job of including a kid from the crowd and did the obligatory levitation trick and I was ready to head home at the conclusion of the show.

All and all - it was a great deal since I paid $0 for all that entertainment. The total evening was less than $10 - $1 for parking and $8 for ice cream. I have got to remember to check out the Beach Street USA offerings more closely next year.