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Some of us love a good challenge, especially when it’s good for the body and mind. While Ireland is still in lockdown, Donegal man Declan Gavigan has come up with a challenge that has everybody moving.
His idea is the Social Dis-Dancing Jive Challenge; the aim of which is to get people to take a video of themselves jiving – while maintaining social distancing – and upload it onto his Get Up and Jive Facebook page.
Declan himself is a jive teacher and even he didn’t expect such a huge and positive response. “It totally took off,” enthuses Declan.
“Myself and my sister Gráinne did a video and it has hit over a million views on my Facebook page in two weeks. It’s gone absolutely crazy.”
The video that Declan took of him and his sister on their home farm in Donegal, shows them dancing while holding a shepherd’s crook on either end to maintain social distancing.
“It just happened that I had set the challenge and I received lots of videos back, so I thought that I’d better do one myself,” smiles Declan.
Music and dancing is a great therapy
The evening Declan and Gráinne took the video they were on their family farm, as their sheep were lambing, they figured that there was plenty of space to make the video. “It was just a quick snapshot really,” says Declan.
The video quickly gained international traction, with people watching the jive from as far away as Norway, Sweden and Canada. “Music and dancing is a great therapy, it’s a great medicine for if you’re feeling down or having a bad day,” says Declan.
The clip has also been shared over 10,000 times. The uniqueness of dancing in a couple while staying safe has appealed to music lovers everywhere and Declan is encouraging everybody to get involved.
There’s no criteria that must be followed and dancers have been using sticks, rope or anything else that can be found around the house to assist in the challenge.
Classes
The Donegal native is a civil engineer by day, currently working on design projects at home, however, it’s his love of music that compelled him to start jive classes eight years ago.
Declan grew up in a musical family; his sister Gráinne is a singer and has appeared in TG4’s country music competition, Glór Tíre, while his brother Brendan plays in a band Hard to Beat.
I have people coming to the classes for all sorts of reasons
“I love all types of music, not just country, but jive dancing is very popular,” says Declan. He travels the country giving lessons in six-week blocks but being from Donegal, he concentrates the majority of his classes in the west and northwest.
“I tend to do two classes in an evening, there are usually beginners classes and improvers. It’s mainly jiving, but we take in bits of line-dancing, quick-step and waltzing, it depends on what people want really.”
Declan joined Declan Nerny for a 'Hoolie in the Sun'.
He points out that the classes are usually very relaxed and he tries to keep the music upbeat and chooses popular songs that everybody knows. However, being aware that jiving can be too energetic for some, he keeps the classes versatile so that it works for all ages.
“I have people coming to the classes for all sorts of reasons,” says Declan, “you could have young couples coming who want to be able to dance at their wedding. People come for fitness reasons – lots of people have their Fitbits on and you’d be amazed at how many steps you build up during a class. Other times, people are living alone and just want to get out of the house and meet people in a social setting.”
Touring
Declan has also taken his dance classes to the continent, supporting country music royalty such as Nathan Carter and Declan Nerny. The Gavigans met Nathan when Gráinne was singing in the Glór Tíre competition and they would often meet at gigs when Nathan was just starting out. They formed a friendship, and Declan was asked to join Nathan on his Carter on the Costa holiday to Spain.
Declan teaching holiday-makers how to jive by the pool.
“About five or six years ago I was asked to go on this holiday that Nathan puts on in Spain every October. It’s a package holiday where there’s entertainment every day. So from maybe 11am until 12:30pm, there would be dance lessons outside every day by the pool, so that is great fun.”
Declan also joined Declan Nerny for a similar holiday last year. “Declan Nerny has been doing his Hoolie in the Sun for about 20 years now, so he was one of the first with the country music holidays. Paul Claffey from Midwest Radio has been doing them a long time too.
“Last year was the first year that there was dance classes at the Hoolie holiday and it went down a treat, so I’ll be going with him again this year, if we can.”
Social Dis-Dancing Challenge
If anybody likes the idea of the social dis-dancing challenge, just go to Declan’s Get Up and Jive page on Facebook and send him your own videos. Or simply watch how others are doing it and enjoy.
Some of us love a good challenge, especially when it’s good for the body and mind. While Ireland is still in lockdown, Donegal man Declan Gavigan has come up with a challenge that has everybody moving.
His idea is the Social Dis-Dancing Jive Challenge; the aim of which is to get people to take a video of themselves jiving – while maintaining social distancing – and upload it onto his Get Up and Jive Facebook page.
Declan himself is a jive teacher and even he didn’t expect such a huge and positive response. “It totally took off,” enthuses Declan.
“Myself and my sister Gráinne did a video and it has hit over a million views on my Facebook page in two weeks. It’s gone absolutely crazy.”
The video that Declan took of him and his sister on their home farm in Donegal, shows them dancing while holding a shepherd’s crook on either end to maintain social distancing.
“It just happened that I had set the challenge and I received lots of videos back, so I thought that I’d better do one myself,” smiles Declan.
Music and dancing is a great therapy
The evening Declan and Gráinne took the video they were on their family farm, as their sheep were lambing, they figured that there was plenty of space to make the video. “It was just a quick snapshot really,” says Declan.
The video quickly gained international traction, with people watching the jive from as far away as Norway, Sweden and Canada. “Music and dancing is a great therapy, it’s a great medicine for if you’re feeling down or having a bad day,” says Declan.
The clip has also been shared over 10,000 times. The uniqueness of dancing in a couple while staying safe has appealed to music lovers everywhere and Declan is encouraging everybody to get involved.
There’s no criteria that must be followed and dancers have been using sticks, rope or anything else that can be found around the house to assist in the challenge.
Classes
The Donegal native is a civil engineer by day, currently working on design projects at home, however, it’s his love of music that compelled him to start jive classes eight years ago.
Declan grew up in a musical family; his sister Gráinne is a singer and has appeared in TG4’s country music competition, Glór Tíre, while his brother Brendan plays in a band Hard to Beat.
I have people coming to the classes for all sorts of reasons
“I love all types of music, not just country, but jive dancing is very popular,” says Declan. He travels the country giving lessons in six-week blocks but being from Donegal, he concentrates the majority of his classes in the west and northwest.
“I tend to do two classes in an evening, there are usually beginners classes and improvers. It’s mainly jiving, but we take in bits of line-dancing, quick-step and waltzing, it depends on what people want really.”
Declan joined Declan Nerny for a 'Hoolie in the Sun'.
He points out that the classes are usually very relaxed and he tries to keep the music upbeat and chooses popular songs that everybody knows. However, being aware that jiving can be too energetic for some, he keeps the classes versatile so that it works for all ages.
“I have people coming to the classes for all sorts of reasons,” says Declan, “you could have young couples coming who want to be able to dance at their wedding. People come for fitness reasons – lots of people have their Fitbits on and you’d be amazed at how many steps you build up during a class. Other times, people are living alone and just want to get out of the house and meet people in a social setting.”
Touring
Declan has also taken his dance classes to the continent, supporting country music royalty such as Nathan Carter and Declan Nerny. The Gavigans met Nathan when Gráinne was singing in the Glór Tíre competition and they would often meet at gigs when Nathan was just starting out. They formed a friendship, and Declan was asked to join Nathan on his Carter on the Costa holiday to Spain.
Declan teaching holiday-makers how to jive by the pool.
“About five or six years ago I was asked to go on this holiday that Nathan puts on in Spain every October. It’s a package holiday where there’s entertainment every day. So from maybe 11am until 12:30pm, there would be dance lessons outside every day by the pool, so that is great fun.”
Declan also joined Declan Nerny for a similar holiday last year. “Declan Nerny has been doing his Hoolie in the Sun for about 20 years now, so he was one of the first with the country music holidays. Paul Claffey from Midwest Radio has been doing them a long time too.
“Last year was the first year that there was dance classes at the Hoolie holiday and it went down a treat, so I’ll be going with him again this year, if we can.”
Social Dis-Dancing Challenge
If anybody likes the idea of the social dis-dancing challenge, just go to Declan’s Get Up and Jive page on Facebook and send him your own videos. Or simply watch how others are doing it and enjoy.
Have you ever found solace in cooking dinner or baking bread? Then whet your appetite, and sharpen your skills with our top 10 classes, writes Dee Laffan.
Basket maker, gardener and teacher Irene Kelly is encouraging others to learn with their hands through her in-person classes and online videos from her home in the south-east, writes Sarah McIntosh.
Access to land could be managed in a “more proactive way” and that structure and policy is needed to actually put that in place, Liam Leahy of Dairygold has said.
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