Every so often, an Irish dancing video will do the rounds online. This has never been more true than in the current age of TikTok dance trends, where Irish dancers have captured legions of obsessed followers who are discovering their love of the dance form for the first time. But before TikTok, Kait Sardin was already going viral in the Irish dance world.
In 2014, Kait, 23, from Orlando, Florida, danced a treble reel at a class feis in which she recreated the moves from Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’, where the rest of the dancers behind her joined in for the arm pumping move from the iconic music video. “People were just enjoying it, which is great for me. I just enjoyed making them happy,” Kait says.
It was clear then that this dancer was destined to break the mould. And that’s what Kait Sardin did – does, marrying to the two polar opposite worlds of hip-hop and Irish dance and posting videos of her choreography online. Though, are the two dance forms really that different? “They are so different,” Sardin says. “But there’s always the smallest similarities that I’ve been noticing every time I’ve done something and it just blows my mind every time I find something new.” She even remembers teaching herself the robot because she could see a similarity to Irish dance. “You’re in your box and just your upper body is showing,” she says, similar to the isolated nature of the lower body in Irish dance. That’s just one trick in a whole catalogue of hip-hop dance moves that she integrates into Irish dancing. “It was really cool that I was able to put my own culture into this thing that I truly enjoy while keeping that culture as well,” she explains.
“There’s always the smallest similarities that I’ve been noticing every time I’ve done something and it just blows my mind”
Kait Sardin
And it’s not just the robot that bears some resemblance to Irish dance. “There’s a lot of footwork that’s involved that I notice,” she says. “Sometimes when I’m doing hard shoe, I try to do little things that are like footwork for hip-hop. And when I’m taking a hip-hop class, there’ll be little footwork parts, and I’m like, ‘oh, I’ve done this before in Irish dancing!’” Her first Irish and hip-hop fusion video she recorded for Instagram was to Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’. “I remember I watched the ‘Formation’ dance video, and I’m just like, ‘I want to do something with this.’” She adds: “With the rhythm of hip-hop, it was still super similar to Irish dance, like the eight counts, so I was like ‘this is easy, I can put the two together’. And now, whenever I hear a song, I can see me doing both.” You wouldn’t think that she had to self-teach herself hip-hop via YouTube because she wasn’t allowed to do lessons until she joined up at college.
Much like the robot, it’s easy to exist within a box in Irish dancing – sticking to the technical and traditional conventions that have been in place for decades. What’s more, an Irish dancer can be a great Irish dancer without being versed in other dance forms. But perhaps the best opportunity Irish dancers get to show their personality is through set dances. “Set dances are always my favourite because I feel like when you’re on stage by yourself, even though you were super restricted, you were able to tell a story,” Kait says.
“Sometimes when I’m doing hard shoe, I try to do little things that are like footwork for hip-hop”
Kait Sardin
However, her flair to create and experiment hasn’t always come easily. In August 2020, she posted on Instagram that she had struggled to continue posting dance videos because she had been “feeling uncomfortable in the space I used to love”. When I ask Kait what she meant by this, she explains how the death of George Floyd still loomed heavy during that time. “There was a bunch of racism everywhere,” she says. “And just a lot of things that happened to me competitively were coming back up…they would say, ‘Oh, she jumped so high, because she’s Black’, and all this subtle racism. And then it was just a lot, because I would see people denying that there was ever racism and Irish dancing.” She adds: “It was hard to see that, it was like I was starting to be pushed out of the community.”
But she experienced a turning point after watching ‘Black is King’, the visual album by Beyoncé. “It empowered me and I was like ‘No, I’m gonna continue doing this thing that I loved. And that’s really what reignited my spark for Irish dancing.” Kait came out stronger on the other side and her videos are better than ever. “I wanted to show them that I have this talent too,” she says. “I just wanted to show people that I can dance. It’s just not because of my colour.” But the confidence in her one-of-a-kind style and true identity is undeniable. “Where’s all my black irish dancers at?” she captioned the reposted ‘Formation’ video two years after her original share.
“I just wanted to show people that I can dance. It’s just not because of my colour”
Kait Sardin
Kait works as a pharmacist and teaches hip-hop, but three months ago, she also joined Trinity Dance Company, one of the most innovative Irish dance companies out there. A current cast member showed Kait’s videos to the company, which encouraged them to message her on Instagram inviting her for an audition. “They’re always pushing the boundaries and still keeping it super Irish and traditional,” she says. “For me, Trinity Irish Dance Company is a place that isn’t bound by anything. And they continue to transcend.”
When it comes to what Kait wants to see from other dancers, it’s more people willing to step outside their comfort zone and push their creative boundaries. “I hear so many ideas from younger people and I want them to just go for it.” She adds: “I want them to have the chance to just try it and just go for it…that’s the one thing that I enjoyed from the pandemic…people have become themselves online. And it’s just been so amazing.”
Follow Kait on Instagram.
