Highland dancing is hard enough on land. Having to stand straight, smile, balance on one leg, hop on the other, tippy toe left, shimmy right – there are a lot of moving parts in this intricate Scottish dance. Stamina and upper body control are crucial. Now, replace the ground with ice, and your shoes with skates and add in the extra variable of high-speed motion, while having a partner with sharp blades on their feet. This isn’t for the faint of heart!
It’s the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, and I don’t know how brother and sister duo John and Sinead Kerr managed to pull off such a challenging cultural routine, but what I do know is that they are risk takers. They saw something and had enough faith in themselves to execute the choreography flawlessly. This routine could have gone so many ways. But, they nailed it.
The Olympic-class pair is truly talented and lacks sibling rivalry. These two are in it together and depend on each other to bring one another to the top. Their performance is stunning, and filled to the brim with techniques and tricks – risky tricks like the near-death spin when John has Sinead flipped over and upside down, her face only inches away from the ice.
John and Sinead are extremely entertaining, capturing the audience and judges so effortlessly with their charm and grace on ice. From their outfits to their smiles, to their hard work and insanely complex choreography, these two are a joy to watch.
Click below to see beauty in motion as this dream team glides smoothly across the ice and into our hearts!
