Can you feel the RHYTHM? The Boston College Irish Dancers performed to a packed Robsham theater.

The Irish Dancers at Boston College performed the third annual St. Patrick’s Day Show, RHYTHM, this year to a large audience in a new performance venue, the Robsham Theater. Made up of thirty-one students, twenty-nine females and two males, Boston College Irish Dancers (BCID) performed an astonishing seventeen pieces to the amazement of the audience: seventeen pieces choreographed by a total of seven BCID members.

The group was first formed when this year’s seniors were freshmen. They practiced in the basement of Carney on Sunday afternoons with a small group of six dancers. But in four short years, the group has expanded to its current number of thirty-one, which does not even include those dancers studying abroad this semester.

Matt Mara, one of the Directors and Choreographers of the group said, “I don’t think Kyra [Shekitka], Eileen [Cobos], or I could have been any prouder of our performance… We never imagined it would be possible to sell 556 tickets or even perform on a stage that wasn’t going to collapse when all 31 of us were dancing,” referring to the portable stages that were erected the past two years when the group performed in the Lyons dining hall, commonly referred to as “The Rat.”

Mara, who also choreographed an astonishing five pieces, continued by explaining, “the founding president of Boston College Irish Dance, Jackie Hubbell, to whom our show was dedicated, flew in from JVC Atlanta for the night to watch our show.”  The performance was composed of both traditional and modern Irish Dances.

Although the last members of the founding group will be graduating later this spring, they are confident that BCID will be able to continue its success. As Mara said, “I think RHYTHM is a sign of what is to come of BCID. We have remarkably talented underclassmen and a freshman class that is so dedicated to making BCID a success.” With only six graduating seniors, the veteran members of next year’s group will guide the new members with their talent and experience on the BC stage.

Kerry Noonan, a junior who attended RHYTHM as her first BCID show said, “I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show and the talent of the dancers.” Moreover, the timing was perfectly planned because “the dancers created a fun and upbeat show that entertained the crowd and got everyone excited for St. Patrick’s Day,” she said.

According to the BCID officers, “BCID was most recently featured in ‘Irish Dancer’s Magazine’ as one of the strongest Irish Dance organizations at the collegiate level,” as the group has made incredible strides since its founding in 2007 by five students.

As Noonan said, “It’s amazing that students were able to produce this entertaining show by themselves from start to finish… I look forward to attending further shows by this group.” From the applause and electrifying atmosphere during the final bows, it seemed that the rest of the audience was in accordance with Noonan’s sentiments; the BCID St. Patrick’s Day performance was a great success and an example of the hard work and dedication of the students in the organization.