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EMERALD ISLE — Welcome to a special Irish throwback edition of Have You Seen This? in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
We decided on this auspicious day to revisit an old favorite viral video to really get back to the Internet’s “Irish roots.” Well, at least we’re revisiting perhaps the most widely seen Internet video that involves Irish dance.
In 2010, the duo Up & Over It went viral with an Irish dance video. But it’s not what the two performers did with their feet that was so exciting, but what they did with their hands. In fact, their feet don’t even make a cameo appearance in the video.
The group is made up of professional Irish dancers Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding and videographer Johnny Reed. Both Cleary and Harding danced with the famous “Riverdance” and “Magic of the Dance” and have several prestigious dance titles between them.
Up & Over It made their mark by taking traditional Irish dance steps and performing them with their hands in rhythmic bliss on tabletops. Cleary and Harding self-describe their purpose on their website as “Stretching the concept of Irish dance to its limits. We mix it up with electro-pop, nouveau folk, alternative percussion, experimental video, contemporary dance and cabaret.”
And they’re doing something right with their mix of modern and traditional. The pair's “We No Speak Americano” video is creeping toward 10 million hits, they were finalists in “Britain’s Got Talent” and they’ve toured with their own theater and cabaret shows.
Basically, if you kiss someone Irish, wear some green, eat some corned beef and cabbage and watch this video, your St. Patrick’s Day will be complete.
Erin go bragh!
