LANSING - “I love the kids and I just love being part of their lives,” this is the reason Betsy Banghart, the co-director and instructor at the Irish Dance Company of Lansing, opened the studio 24 years ago. “I was one of the founding members of this group in 1992, and I danced with the group for a long time and then I came back to it kind of recently to help teach new generations.”

The Irish Dance Company of Lansing is a troupe for children that promotes Irish music and dancing in the mid-michigan area. According to Banghart, in the last 24 years the company has seen over 80 children grow up. “In the beginning it was just a couple of moms, getting together and saying we wanna, we like that our kids are doing this let’s keep doing it and have them perform at places and it just grew and grew from there,” says Banghart.

Ryan Abbott has been apart of the group for 14 years now, he started taking lessons after his mother took his sister to see a river-dance company and she started taking lessons with a group. Over the past 14 years, Abbott says watching the company change has been something he has really enjoyed, “It’s been pretty good and it’s really matured over the course of time too,” says Abbott. Dancers from age five to 18 learn traditional steps and dances and are encouraged to help select the music and create choreography for the group.

Irish dancing has evolved over the years not just the dancing itself but it’s popularity as well. “Tap and square-dancing came from Irish dancing originally. So when the Irish immigrants came over they took it and they kind of morphed it,” says Abbott.

“The history behind it I think is really cool and how it can mix traditional with more modern styles,” says Sarah Bonnelle-Roberts, a dancer in the company. Irish step dancing is characterized by a stiff upper body and quick-precise movements of the feet. “It’s a lot more focused on footwork and I think something that’s really key to it is little use of arms.”

Being one of the only Irish dance companies in the Mid-Michigan area the Irish Dance Company of Lansing hasn’t always been as big as it currently is. “For a while there, it was kind of, the numbers were kind of dwindling down in the group and then Peggy one of the other Directors asked my sister Megan and I to come back and kind of help reinvigorate the group and now we are the largest we have ever been, we have 30 dancers,” says Banghart.


Bonelle-Roberts has been dancing with the company on and off for the past six years now. “It’s awesome, I love it. I absolutely love it I mean the people here are so kind and stuff and so accepting. It’s family based,” she says.

The older dancers help the younger ones improve their ability and confidence, and lead by example. Although the dancers learn a few dances and perform them throughout the year it is still hard to get it perfect practicing only once a week. “It takes a lot of discipline and willingness to practice and we kind of try and encourage both sides of it. Have fun and be really proficient,” says Banghart.

With the support from their parents, the children in the Irish Dance Company of Lansing are able to perform shows all around mid-michigan. They perform at various venues such as schools, nursing homes, parades and restaurants. Since St. Patrick’s Day is a big Irish holiday, the company is especially busy come March. “We have a lot of shows, March is really booked with shows,” says Banghart.