FEIS App's Dancer Of The Month - Patrick Grant
Everybody is unique, a singular version, a one-off. This is one of the many reasons that life is so interesting, so colorful and so varied. Of the many lessons learned from 2020, one is that when a large part of human interaction is taken away, when we can no longer meet new individuals, interact with new characters and reflect our own uniqueness in our connections with others, life becomes much less somehow. The people we meet shape our lives tremendously. It might be the pleasant greeting from the person we see on the commute every day, or the getting to know a competitor in our age group. It might be finding out that you have a lot in common with someone you have always known of, but never known personally. Connecting with others is an essential human experience.
When learning about dancers from around the world, either through our social media or the emails we receive (or indeed before 2020, whilst meeting people at feiseanna), one of the magical things about our community is the common ground we all share, the common interests and culture. And underneath that culture there are values — values that are good for us all. And it’s these values that we either connect with or not. It’s these values that make up part of our uniqueness, and thus our connectedness.
Patrick Grant is a young man who we’re thrilled to call our first Dancer of the Month for 2020. Patrick is someone who many of us have seen at feiseanna around the world — someone we certainly know of, but many of us do not actually know. When learning about Patrick it became instantly clear that this young man has strong values (instilled from an early age by the people around him; people who have strong values themselves). Ever heard someone say about someone: “whatever they choose to do with their life, they’ll go far….. they’ve got IT”. That ‘it’ is a quality that can be applied to virtually any area of life and result in success. That ‘it’ is what we recognize in others and is what leaves us with an impression of that person; it’s part of what draws us into friendships and the reason we all have idols – that person has ‘it’!
Patrick Grant has ‘it’. He has an incredible set of values that will carry him far in whatever he chooses to do in life, and we’re seeing this unfold in his journey within Irish dancing!
Born on the 5th June 2001, Patrick lives in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Dancing for the Butler Fearon O’Connor School, Patrick has had many successes in his dancing career so far. Like many, Patrick has had to work exceptionally hard for every single success that has come his way. Patrick is typical of many dancers around the world who have been on the edge of pinnacle victories for a long time. If we look back at Patrick’s results at the All Ireland Championships and World Championships over the last 5 years, we’ll see a young man who has ‘earned his stripes’. In 2015 and 2016 Patrick came 3rd in the world. Then in 2017 he placed 8th. In 2018 he placed 3rd again and in 2019 he came 2nd in the world. These are the results of a resilient, passionate young dancer with a healthy heap of determination.
Patrick getting his hands on a globe yet again!
His results from the All Ireland’s tell a similar story. In the last 5 years Patrick hasn’t placed outside the top four, always on the box and always in the mix. However, in 2020, after the years of hard work, Patrick was crowned All Ireland Champion (in a rare tie for first with Gareth O’Connor from the Mona Roddy School).
In 2018 and again in 2019 Patrick won the North American National Championships. He also won the British National Championships in 2018 too.
It’s not just Patrick’s titles that we want to highlight however, it’s Patrick’s outlook that blows us away. It’s his values and that ‘it’ we mentioned earlier.
Patrick has tremendous respect for the people who have helped him and encouraged him and set his course in the right direction. His earliest memories of Irish dancing are hazy, being that his first classes would have been with his nanny at the Grant School of Irish dance when he was as young as 5 or 6. He remembers the feeling of walking into the Butler Fearon School of Irish dance and the ‘immeasurable passion of the teachers — the determination to get the best out of every dancer.’
Patrick’s father, the renowned musician, dancer and adjudicator Brian Grant, ensured that Patrick was exposed to Irish dancing growing up. The father-and-son pair have an exceptional relationship and their passion for Irish dancing is clear for all to see. Brian’s passion for his son is clear for all to see too. Patrick recognizes, appreciates, and celebrates the support, help, effort, and time his father and his teacher – Rose – have put in for him, and he credits his successes largely to them.
We asked Patrick the following questions:
Q - Who would you say is your biggest supporter? How do they show their support?
A - My Dad. For my whole life he has been the most invested person in my combined well being, success, and happiness.
Q - Who would you say has had the biggest impact on your Irish dancing and why? If you could put your success down to one person, who would it be?
A - My teacher Rose. She has never been unavailable in the sense that whenever I’m giving my all to train for majors she is right beside me — always thoroughly supporting me. My success is proof of the amount of training she has done with me.
Q - What’s your Irish dance teacher like?
A - Passionate. More than anything she is the embodiment of the passion we all feel when dancing.
Q - What was your first big win that you can remember?
A – The Eastern Canadian Oireachtas dancing a year up in U8. I have a clear memory of coming off the awards stage to hug my mom after winning.
Q - How would you describe your Irish dance journey?
A - My Irish dance journey has been a steady climb. Lately, the hurdle that I’ve had to clear has been the lack of major competitions to enjoy. It’s tough being so far away from a large part of your competition, I would have liked to compete more against global competitors.
Q - Do you have a strategy for preparing for a big competition?
A - Leading up to big competitions it should be a mental game — visualizing my dances, scrutinizing every bar of every round and planning the whole dance day like it’s a rehearsed show. It’s then essential, of course, that I put in into practice.
Q - Who is your favorite Irish dancer currently?
A - Jason O’Neill. Creative mastermind, kind person; he represents much of what I’d like to be.
Q - Give us an insight into your practice regime in the build up to a big event?
A - Dancing at least 5 days a week. Probably 2 classes of stamina while the others are making every correction/last minute change to steps.
Q - Who decides on your choreography?
A - With age, I’ve been able to learn how to choreograph. So at this point, I could choreograph part of a step and just get the “go-ahead” from my teachers. In the end, most of what hits a stage is a back and forth conversation of what will work better.
Q - What characteristics do you think a dancer needs in order to become the best?
A - Dedication to the art. An obsession to achieve your goals as a competitor and an artist.
Q - What would you say is your biggest ever achievement In Irish dancing?
A - All Ireland Championship 2020. The All Irelands is such an historic competition and winning it this year was the greatest moment of success in my Irish dance career. A close second being selected to join the Riverdance cast for 2 shows on the last day of RD camp.
Q - What would you say is your biggest weakness as an Irish dancer?
A – When it comes to dancing I’m always searching for a weakness; when I find it I do what I can to solve it and then search for the next one. The answer therefore is that it is constantly changing. If I had a ‘biggest weakness’ and never addressed it, I would not be doing everything I could to improve.
Q - Do you feel pressure in the run up to or at a big event?
A - Pressure is not always bad, I think that the excitement and adrenaline generally help, but on the other side of the spectrum it can sometimes be a negative. For that, I use self talk. Prolonged stress coming to a competition will only cause negativity. Reassuring and organizing my thoughts helps cut off the loose ends of doubt I might have.
Q - Are there any crossover skills/attributes that you have taken from Irish dancing into other aspects of your life?
A - From dance I have learned so much. I have learned a lot about relationships and life in general. Specifically, dedication. This attribute helps me spend time in a useful manner, which ultimately assists me in progressing towards my end goal.
Q - Do you have any words or a poem or quote that lifts you up?
A - My dad always says: ‘If you’re good enough long enough, then they can’t say no.’ I have said that to myself too many times to count and the meaning is that once you establish a reputation for yourself the world respects it and you might be appreciated more due to the gravity of simply who you are.
Q - How would you describe your Irish dance school?
A - A big family, all of us succeed because of the people beside or behind us.
Q - What top tips (say 4 or 5) would you give an aspiring young Irish dancer?
A
-Listen to your teachers
-Practice if you want to get better
-Find role models and learn everything you can from them, preferably a role model who comes from a different start than you so there is more to learn.
-Don’t take the fun away from dancing, if you lose the love to dance then I’d imagine it would make everything much harder.
Q - Is there anything you didn’t achieve that you really wished you had?
A - I have been disappointed by results before, but that isn’t what the big picture is about. I won’t be leaving my competitive dancing career with any regrets.
The bigger picture is what we’re often measured by. Champions are recognized for their talent on the day, how they’re remembered is determined by deeper factors. Again, it’s how we connect with them. We recognize their values in ourselves.
Patrick is a young man who has the utmost respect for his teachers and sincere gratitude for the efforts of his father Brian. He has a respect and appreciation for the formula for his successes (his ‘it’): determination; constantly working on his weakest areas; trying his best and living with no regrets; embracing competition. Patrick is currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management at McMaster University in Canada. FEIS App is incredibly proud to call Patrick our Dancer of the Month and we wish Patrick the very best with his studies and cannot wait to see him perform again in the not-too-distant future.