PITTSTON, Pa. — Warming up the ankles is one of the most important things you can do before taking to the hardwood for the dancers at the Joyce School of Irish Dance on North Main Street in Pittston.
"You need to make sure that your ankles, your calves, your feet are all stretched really well to keep your balance in place so you're not flopping around like a fish," Shannon Joyce said.
Joyce recently moved the school from Jessup to Pittston. It might look small, but the dancers say it's perfect.
"I love it. It's the perfect size for the little ones. It teaches them how to dance in smaller spaces, which is always necessary for certain performances, especially in March," said Brigid King, the assistant director of the Joyce school.
King has been dancing her entire life.
"My mom was teaching Irish step dancing before I was born. So it's funny when the kids ask me how long I've been dancing. I said I basically learned my two-threes when I learned how to walk."
Two-threes are the first step anyone new to Irish step dancing will learn first.
These ladies were patient and helped break it down.
The next move is taking seven steps in one direction.
The final introductory move has a funny story behind it at this studio.
"Ms. Shannon's brother is named Patrick, so to make it fun, so we remember, we all pretend to kick Patrick every time we kick out," Kalyn Carrighan explained.
These are moves that every beginner learns and are the foundation of any performance you might see these dancers in this summer.
"Festivals locally, we can do picnics like next week, and we're going to be doing the NEPA Day downtown in Duryea, the Moscow parade next Friday. So we get to do a lot of fun stuff," Joyce said.