Oona Harrigan, Boston College

We caught up with Oona Harrigan, Boston College Class of 2018. Oona is known for her popular Irish Dance Instagram account, @wmh_x_0, but is also an alum of a the BC Irish Dance Team!

1. What drew you to join a collegiate Irish dance team?

Irish dance was pretty much my entire life when I was in high school. It was all I knew. My days were wake up, go to school, do homework, go to dance, sleep, repeat. Weekends were spent at feises. I had a lot of anxiety about college especially the social aspect of it given I was a very shy kid. I was never much involved in any of the typical high school experiences such as high school sports, homecoming, or prom. I already knew a few dancers who were at Boston College that were at my dance school. At first, I actually thought it would be helpful to go to a school where there would be other dancers around and a place to practice as I was sure I would continue competing. Irish dance was something familiar I could fall back on during a major life change. 

2. What is your best memory of your collegiate Irish dance team?

This is a hard question simply because there are so many! I’d say our performance at Boston College’s showdown competition my sophomore year when we won was incredible. Showdown is an annual competition among many of the dance teams at BC (BC has A LOT of dance teams - hip hop, lyrical, tap, modern, swing, etc). We did a Hunger games themed dance. It was so exciting to get up and perform on a big stage in front of a huge crowd and then win the whole thing. We had a big party afterwards. I also loved “show week” It was the week leading up to our annual show when we went all out with rehearsals. It was always chaotic and exhausting especially because it tended to happen during midterm exams! We did a lot of events and fun team activities, put on a show, and then had a party afterwards. 

3. How do you think College Irish Dance shaped your college (and/or post-grad experience)?

Absolutely! It was a safe environment that allowed me to find my love for dance again. Before college I was feeling burnt out, exhausted and like there was something wrong with me as I had seemed to have lost my love for dance. I had been under so much (self-induced) pressure for so long I eventually just reached a breaking point. College can be stressful. It was wonderful to have those few hours in the studio to get my mind off of the stress of an upcoming exam or a big project. Having an automatic group of people around me helped ease me into having a “normal” social life. It was my first time I got to experiment with the creative side of dance. I choreographed a few dances for our shows. It was so freeing to be able to try new things, and see new ways of approaching dance. As I said before, I was a very anxious kid, very shy. I had trouble adjusting to college because of my shyness. There were a few very kind dancers on the team who went out of there way to make me feel included and to get to know me. That made a difference.  For so long, I had only focused on competing. It allowed me a safe escape from the competitive world to still enjoy the dancing just for the dancing. It was the perfect combination of helping me figure out how to have a social life and love dance at the same time. There were also a few other biology majors on the team so it was nice to be able to support eachother as we suffered through the drudgery of chemistry labs, calculus, and the dreaded “orgo” (organic chemistry. It absolutely shaped my post grad experience. The confidence I gained from my time on BCID cannot be understated. It allowed me to get out of my shell and actually show who I really am for once. It was a safe space to be creative. I also can’t help but think that it even may have shaped my career! I often sought support and advice from older dancers who were following my same major. I actually switched majors multiple times - I started as an education major and realized it was not for me. I switched to biology (pre-med track), but then left the pre-med track when I realized I had no interest anymore, I hated lab work, and felt generally stuck like I had no potential for a career I would enjoy. One of my friends introduced me to a public health elective, saying it is a more applied version of biology rather than strictly focused on the lab. I loved that class, I ended up taking a second semester of it as an elective. I sought support from my professor for that class, who gave me career advice on non lab related jobs for biology majors. I ended up in this whole world I didn’t even know existed - I’ve now been working as a regulatory specialist for oncology clinical trials for the past 5 years. I am just a few months away from getting my master’s degree in clinical research management. I get to work entirely remotely in a job that perfectly fits my skills. I’ve always been very organized and detail oriented, 2 skills that are incredibly important to the work I do. I know the support from my fellow teammates for sure played a role in my current career trajectory. I couldn’t be happier with how it all played out, and I am so grateful for those who supported me along the way. 

4. What advice would you give to an incoming student considering College Irish Dance at their college or university?

You do not have to have your whole life planned out ahead of you. No decision you make on dance is permanent - you can always come out of retirement. You can always retire even when you told yourself you would compete. I felt an immense amount of pressure to know exactly what I wanted to do, but there is a lot of unknowns. I went in as an education major, left as a biology major, now work in clinical research. Life changes, and you never know where it will take you. I did not even know this career path existed when I was in college. It is okay if your relationship with dance changes. College is a major life change, and it is okay if the experience changes your perspective on dance. You are not forever bound to the goals you set when you were younger. 

5. How do you engage with Irish dancing on your current platform and what does that mean to you?

I run an Irish dance instagram account. It is purely a hobby, a place for me to creatively express myself and experiment with dance. Irish dance was such a major part of my life for so long - it doesn’t have to end post-competition. I still love it, but with the freedom of not having competitions, not trying to make a living off of it, what do I have to lose? Nothing! I can just post whatever I feel like, which varies day to day. I love delving deep into analysis of Irish dance. It really is a beautiful art form - there are endless creative possibilities within choreography, and dress designs. I like to experiment with insanity. I’ll make intentionally ugly choreography, intentionally absurd dresses. I also am a big fan of photoshopping cute animals into Irish dancers, and making memes. I don’t know, I just get these random ideas that pop into my head and I just go with the creative flow. Besides the fooling around, I often write about my personal experiences and write out little reminders to current dancers. I have such a different perspective now that I no longer compete, now that I’ve built up my self-esteem outside dance I am finally able to enjoy it fully. There are so many things I would go back and tell my younger self. I find it so meaningful to be able to share what I’ve learned with the next generation of dancers. When we are in the bubble of Irish dance, it is so easy to make that our entire identity and sense of worth. I want to be proof to younger dancers that even if you never become a “top dancer,” that will never stop you from going on and living a fulfilling life. I hope to be able to connect dancers and help them realize that there is way more we have in common than what we don’t, regardless of dancing ability. I’ve chatted with so many dancers, heard so many unique perspectives and I can confidently say that regardless of accomplishments, we are all just people who dance. I wish there wasn’t such a social hierarchy within dance. A new prelim dancer is no less worthy than a world champion. They may be less skilled at dance, sure, but they are both people who are valuable. Us dancers can learn a whole lot from other dancers just by watching and listening. Every dancer’s experience is valuable and every dancer deserves a chance to be supported in however they chose to pursue dance. This past year I’ve been attending some competitions to watch and plan to attend more in the future. It is always an incredible experience being able to meet dancers in person. I have made new, close friendships with other dancers who I never would have met otherwise. I’ve seen a whole new side to dance and being able to share it means the world to me. Sometimes it honestly doesn’t even feel real. To think that I once felt like a worthless nobody all because I didn’t have any titles or world medals, to now having this fun platform to share with other dancers is honestly incredible to me.