A 20-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student has earned an invite from the Irish prime minister after showing off her dance moves.
According to NBC12, Morgan Bullock has been dancing for a while, but she had been taking a break recently because of injuries. She decided to start dancing again during the pandemic after seeing TikTok videos of the "Savage Remix" challenge, where people dance to the "Savage Remix" by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé.
“Everyone was doing the 'Savage Remix' challenge on Tik-Tok and I was like well I don’t do all these other kinds of dance, I do Irish dance so I want to participate so I’m going to do it the way I know how," Bullock told NBC12. “I heard the 'Savage Remix' and I liked it and I felt like I could maybe make some of those beats with my feet.”
The VCU student's video went viral instantly.
“I didn’t expect it to blow up the way it did, but it’s really cool how far it’s gone and how many people have seen it,” she said. “I can’t even keep track of how many people have shared it.”
One of the millions of people who saw the video was Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who invited the dancer to perform in Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day next year.
"Some brilliant moves there," the prime minister wrote on Twitter. "Hope you can dance in Ireland for St Patrick’s Day 2021. We’d love to have you over."
Maith thú @Morrghan! Some brilliant moves there. Hope you can dance in Ireland for St Patrick’s Day 2021. We’d love to have you over. https://t.co/5Psqz6s9CG
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 5, 2020
Bullock said the best part of going viral is that other people of color are now looking up to her.
“I’ve gotten messages from other people of color who like Irish dancing who never thought they could so that alone has been amazing; my videos have shown them that they could if they wanted to,” she said.
According to NBC12, the 20-year-old has competed in the Irish step dance world championships four times.
"It’s been a great thing to experience just traveling all over the world and being able to compete at the top level after putting in so many years of hard work and training under some of the best teachers in the area,” the dancer said.
Bullock said many people don't know about competitive Irish dancing.
“I’m a competitive Irish dancer, it’s not something a lot of people don’t know too much about unless they have a direct connection to it, but it’s a whole, huge, widespread world. and there are Irish dancers all over the world and I think it’s such a cool sport to be apart of,” she said. "The competitive side of it is very intense, athletic, and takes a lot of determination and drive to get to the top level of competing."
The VCU student also got an endorsement from Tina Knowles, who posted the video on Instagram and said "I love a tapper. I remember Solange with her tap shoes. We finally had to hide them just for a day!!!!"
Bullock was shocked when she saw the post.
“Beyoncé's mom reposted the video on her Instagram which was insane like I almost dropped my phone when I saw that,” she said.
With the video taking off so quickly and the responses coming from unexpected sources, Bullock said the experience has been surreal.
"It’s like in the past three or four days so much has happened and it hasn’t fully sunk in because it’s just something I’ve done for all these years and that I love doing and I never thought it could inspire other people,” the dancer said.
According to Irish Central, Bullock also received negative comments from people who saw her dancing as cultural appropriation. The dancer, however, is trying to educate her critics.
“If you think that a Black girl Irish dancing is some form of cultural appropriation, then you clearly don’t know much about Irish dance and what it became over the years," she said. "There are Irish dance schools all over the world, including Mexico, China, and Africa."
