Jeanette Mollenhauer
In 2020, I wrote an article about two Irish dance teachers who had been awarded the Order of Australia medal (https://tintean.org.au/2020/03/07/honours-for-australian-irish-dance-teachers/). One of those teachers is Geraldine Ryan, and this year marks the 70th anniversary of her formal qualification as an Irish dance teacher. She had already been teaching Irish dance; she began classes in Bendigo in around 1947 (https://www.sandpiper.org.au/item/2409-st-patrick-s-day-celebration-of-irish-culture), and in Melbourne by 1949 (Advocate, 31 March 1949, p. 18) but had not yet attained official teacher status. The former Geraldine O’Shea was born in Melbourne in 1930 and at the age of five, commenced Irish dance classes at St Patrick’s Hall, Melbourne, under the tutelage of Duncan Conroy Jnr. There are several hundred references to O’Shea (later, Geraldine Ryan) and her illustrious dance career in archived newspapers in Trove, the online database of the National Library of Australia. By the age of 19, she was working during the day in a legal office, teaching Irish dance two nights a week and at weekends, and attending a dressmaking course at Emily McPherson College to enhance her skill in making dance costumes (The Herald, 4/10/49, p. 14). In addition, Geraldine was adept at playing the Highland bagpipes, because the Irish uillean pipes were not available in Australia at the time (The Argus, 13/3/53, p. 20).
During the 1930s and 1940s, Irish dance in Melbourne was greatly influenced by the Irish Pipers Association, and Ryan was a member of that Association’s Dancing Committee (Advocate, 5/3/53, p. 18). In 1953, Ryan achieved a remarkable milestone. Accompanied by her sister Margaret, she sailed to Dublin so that she could be examined for the Irish dance teacher’s qualification, Teagascóir Choimisiúin le Rinci Gaelacha (TCRG), awarded to her by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha, the Irish Dancing Commission (IDC). Unfortunately, some céilí (group) dances in the exam syllabus were as yet unknown in Australia, so Geraldine made use of the long sea voyage to learn new material as well as to practise and perfect her existing knowledge. In passing the exam, she became the first person from outside of the British Isles to become a qualified Irish dance teacher. That visit was also significant because Ryan observed a new trend in Ireland: the use of “soft shoes” (or pumps) for reels, slip jigs and single jigs, whereas those dances were still being performed in hard (or heavy) shoes. She was able to introduce this development in Australia, thus aligning diasporic and homeland practices. Soon after her return, Ryan obtained permission from the IDC to organise the inaugural ‘Official Irish Dancing Open Championships’ of Australia, held in LaVerna Gardens, Kew (Melbourne) in 1954.
Many aspects of Ryan’s career are documented by Cork-based dancer, adjudicator and dance historian, Dr. John Cullinane, in his book Aspects of 170 Years of Irish Dancing in Australia (Cork, 2006). He describes Ryan’s subsequent visits to Ireland to keep abreast of choreographic trends, observing the meticulous details that she recorded in her notebooks. He also relates how Ryan would travel around Victoria, from Port Fairy to Bendigo, from Warrnambool to Warragul, to bring the pleasure and skill of Irish dance to those living in regional parts of the state. In Melbourne, she has taught from Kew to Eltham and from Mitcham to Port Melbourne. Ryan later achieved her Ard Diploma Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (ADCRG) or adjudicator’s certificate, and once held the office of Vice-President of the IDC. One of Ryan’s most successful pupils was Melbourne teacher Cathy Cosgriff, who in turn taught Australia’s first male World Champion Irish Dancer, Conor Hayes (1996).
Geraldine Ryan also has a remarkable outlook on traditional dance styles in general. English dance scholar, Dr Linda Dankworth (personal correspondence 3 August 2023), relates that as an organiser of the Mundial de Danses Folklorique on Mallorca for many years, she engaged Ryan as a festival adjudicator on several occasions because she knew that Ryan had toured overseas extensively with her Irish dancers and had acquired detailed knowledge of other genres during those tours. Ryan’s career has spanned many changes in Irish dance practice and her teaching record is unlikely to ever be surpassed within that genre; remarkably, 2023 has seen her continuing to teach a new generation of dancers. I also stake a claim that Ryan has had the longest teaching career of any dance teacher in Australia, based on discussions with dance historians and archival investigation. That, too, is a record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon. She is truly a remarkable woman, dedicated dance teacher and prominent member of the Irish community in Melbourne.
Jeanette Mollenhauer
Honorary Fellow (Dance), Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne. Jeanette is the author of one book, Dancing at the Southern Crossroads (Anchor Books Australia, 2020), three book chapters and seven academic journal articles on Irish dance in Australia. She also researches other culturally specific dance genres in Australia.
Tinteán 