The Irish dance world has been taken by storm after Dan Crooks, a native of Jamaica who now lives in California, affectionately referred to Irish dancing as "whimsical skedaddling" in a now-viral Instagram post.
On February 26, Crooks - aka @mystacrooks - reacted to a clip of five-time World Champion Liam Costello competing at the 2024 Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann (All-Ireland Irish Dance Championships) in Killarney, Co Kerry.
"You know, and some of you say white people don't have any culture," @mystacrooks says over the clip of Costello Irish dancing on stage.
"Then what is this?
"I don't think you understand the heritage and athleticism it takes to be a professional, whimsical, skedaddler."
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Since being posted, the clip has racked up more than 2.1 million likes and drawn tens of thousands of overwhelmingly positive comments.
"A Professional Whimsical Skidaddler is a title that only brings joy to the weathered table of the human experience," one person wrote.
"I was a competitive Irish dancer 15 years of my life and I'm never gonna let anyone call me anything other than a whimsical skeddadler ever again," another commented.
The Utah-based Harp Irish Dance Company wrote: "I don’t think you understand how you have let the Irish dance community on fire the past couple days!!!"
Indeed, Irish dancers are now warmly calling for Crooks to be a special guest at upcoming major competitions, and merch bearing the phrase "whimsical skedaddler" has begun to pop up online.
As his "whimsical skedaddling" trend took off, Crooks posted more clips reacting to different Irish dancers.
"Just know that this is what your upstairs neighbor is doing," Crooks said over a clip of Lochlan 'Lucky' Howard, another World Champion Irish dancer, practicing.
"Right now, I'm fully locked in with the skedaddle nation!," Crooks proclaimed, adding, "This is a serious skedaddler!"
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In another clip of Howard practicing, Crooks said: "Fun and joking aside, we need to take the skedaddler serious, because this is the face of a stone-cold killer.
"That's how he dances on the graves of his enemies, you understand?"
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On Wednesday, a week since his clip went viral, Crooks told IrishCentral that the response to his Irish dancing reaction videos has been "overwhelmingly positive and fantastic.
"I didn't expect this much of a response, to be fair," he said.
Crooks explained that he had some knowledge of Irish dance as a friend of his was involved in Riverdance, and he had been interested in it since then. He also added that there are significant ties between Jamaica and the Irish.
Crooks said that he was "just fascinated by the movements" when he stumbled upon the clip of Costello at the All-Irelands.
"I feel as though a lot of people see the movement and see Irish dance and may think - they may have whatever thoughts they think, they may think it looks silly or whatever," Crooks said.
"But when I analyze the amount of strength and talent and skill that goes into something like that, I know that I couldn't do it."
Crooks added: "The reaction has been amazing. I feel like an honorary Irish dancer. The response has been fantastic.
"The community seems to be absolutely enamored with me, as I am with them, and I appreciate it."
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