Janoski performing the Highland Fling Dance. This August she will be part of the first group of Americans to perform with the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland.
By Amy Macintyre
Emily Janoski remembers marveling at the high jumps, intricate footwork, and twirling tartan kilts of the Scottish highland dancers at one of her father’s bagpipe performances. At age four, she turned to her mother and said, “I want to do that!”
Now 16 and a rising senior at Hopewell High, she has spent 12 years mastering the traditional highland dances, competing across the country and passing every oral theory exams with honors.
In July, she placed fifth in the 16 and 17 age group at the United States InterRegional Highland Dance Championship in Atlanta, and she will spend all of August in Scotland to perform in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, one of the first American highland dancers in the event’s 65 year history.
Janoski is not Scottish— her father is part Irish and her mother is Armenian—but she grew up immersed in the Scottish Highland traditions.
Her father, Vincent Janoski, performs with his bagpipe band at Highland games and competitions around the country. She has many memories of her family traveling to events. “It was something I was born into,” she said.
Vincent Janoski grew up in Kearny, a north Jersey town with a large Scottish population, and joined the bagpipe program in the district’s elementary school. A book publishing editor, he worked for the Hopewell-based Echo Press, a literary publisher, when living in Philadelphia, before moving to the Borough in 1998. Janoski’s mother is an attorney who works in compliance for Johnson & Johnson.
She has taken classes in Irish step dancing, tap, and ballet. But in her eyes nothing compares to Highland dancing. At age four, her parents enrolled her in classes with Sandra Weyman Pennypacker, a former highland dance champion based in Bucks County, PA.
Weyman Pennypacker never had any doubts that Emily would succeed. “From the first time Emily walked into my class, I knew,” she said.
Highland dancing is highly athletic, and mastery requires time and dedication. The traditional dances are filled with fluttering footwork, high kicks and leaps, all while steadily hopping up and down. It takes a great deal of stamina and since the dances are standardized, each step must be executed precisely.
“Good dancing is really powerful, but at the same time it looks effortless,” Janoski said.
She attends classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights and has a private lesson every Wednesday. She practices on her own at home and spends many of her weekends at competitions and workshops around the country. Since every class and competition requires a drive, there’s a devoted parent behind the wheel.
“I’m really blessed to have amazing parents that indulged me in my passions,” she said.
For Vincent, packing the family into the car for long drives is a routine he’s used to. He’s been playing in bagpipe bands since middle school and traveling long distances to Scottish festivals and gatherings is just part of the gig. In fact, a lot of the events Emily participates in are the same ones he’s been attending for years.
Emily competes at the top level of competitive dancers, known as Premier. She has won the three Eastern United States Championships within her age group and this year represented the Eastern region at the United States InterRegional Highland Dance Championship. She danced July 24 to 26. Competing against more than 20 of the nation’s best Highland dancers in the 16 and 17 age group, she placed in fifth.
“It was a very fast paced weekend,” Vincent says. “Her group is very tough. There was a former world championship in there. Every year is the same dancers in these championships. The tension was high but everything went well.”
Emily has now represented the East in six InterRegional competitions, and she says last July’s Championship was the most hectic one yet.
At the Premier level, the competitors are judged on their mastery of four dances: Highland Fling, Sword Dance, Seann Triubhas, and Strathspey and Half Tulloch.
In addition to her overall fifth runner-up award at the InterRegional , Janoski placed 5th in the Highland Fling, 6th in Seann Triubhas, and 6th in the trathspey and Half Tulloch.
Passed down for centuries, each dance has its own origin story drawing on Scottish traditions, from the first sight of a deer to triumphant victory on the battlefield. The Sword Dance can be traced back through history to Scottish warriors and mercenaries dancing atop two crossed swords to showcase their agility and stamina for battle.
Janoski’s favorite is the Seann Triubhas, Gaelic for “old trousers.” This dance tells the story of the English suppression of Scottish culture during the 18th century in which the kilt was outlawed for 40 years.
Although the Scottish Official Highland Dance Association says the Seann Triubhas is the most difficult of all the dances, requiring years of practice, it is the most fun for her because the dance has the most movement while also emphasizing presentation.
That’s the thing about Janoski; she’s not dancing to win medals. In fact, she admits competing is not her favorite part. She enjoys the challenges, the sweating and the rigorous practice— “dance for dancing’s sake.”
“Her best days are when she just gets on the stage and remembers why she’s doing it,” said Weyman Pennypacker, “for the love of dancing.”
This August, her love of dancing will take her to Scotland for an experience any 16-year-old could only dream of. For an entire month she will be performing in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo with dancers and musicians from all over the world.
A tattoo is a military performance that showcases a military band. At the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo, regiments from all over the world perform on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. It’s energetic and exciting, with pyrotechnics and fireworks, all while drums bang and pipe blare.
The annual event draws an audience of around 220,000 in the three weeks of performances and is broadcasted internationally to about 100 million people on television. It’s a spectacle Vincent likened to the Olympic opening ceremonies.
Vincent had seen the Tattoo before on a trip to Scotland with his band before Emily was born, so he’s very excited to return and see his daughter be a part of the event.
When Weyman Pennypacker first learned the Tattoo would be open to American applicants for the first time in the event’s history, she knew Janoski was the perfect fit. A director from the Tattoo taught a workshop Janoski attended, later urging her to send an audition tape. She is one of the 66 dancers selected, 14 of which are from the U.S.
“I think she’s going to be a wonderful representative for our school and the United States,” Weyman Pennypacker said.
She will be thrust into intensive training to learn the choreography and steps for the performance. The Tattoo opens on Aug. 7, and for three weeks she will be performing weekday nights and two Saturday shows.
On top of performances, the dancers with be making press and television appearances. As if her schedule wasn’t full enough, Janoski is also planning to dance in two competitions while she’s in Scotland.
It’s not a commitment many 16 year olds could handle. Janoski has no worries, though. “I’m mentally strong, I know I can do it,” she said.
Her dad shares the same sentiment: “She’s very mature for her age. She’s got her head in the right place and she knows her limitations.”
Despite living on her own in a college dormitory near the castle, she’ll have plenty of familiar faces to cheer her on. Since her father will already be performing with his bagpipe band in Glasgow at the time, Emily’s mother and 12-year-old brother will be joining them in Scotland so the whole family can be together and share in her experience.
Weyman Pennypacker also plans to make the trip to see Emily perform.
“Beside being a great honor for Emily, it’s a great honor for me to have one of my dancers performing in this,” she said.
For Emily, the experience isn’t just the opportunity to dance in front of thousands of people every night with Edinburgh Castle as her backdrop. That’s a little nerve-wracking she said. She’s also excited to meet the other performers who love to dance
“For me, I’m going to be dancing with girls and guys from around the globe” she said.“It’s not just highland dancing, it’s highland dancing from all corners of the earth,” she said.
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