In the lobby of the Kimmel Center, dancer Charaina Kelly, her hair a mass of blond curls, was panting, a light sweat shining on her forehead.
Dressed in a turquoise and black dress, her face sparkling with turquoise eye shadow and fuschia lipstick, Kelly had just finished a heavy jig in the senior girls competition of the World Irish Dance Championships.
"I'm happy with it," Kelly, 24, with an accent by way of Belfast, said of her performance. "I love the competition, just the buzz of having done well."
For most of her life, Kelly has been dancing. Last year, she placed 10th in the world. Then, three weeks later, she ruptured an Achilles tendon, leaving her "in plaster" for five months.
This year's competition marks her comeback. She's hoping to make the top 25.
For the first time in 39 years, the World Irish Dancing Championships are being held outside Ireland or the United Kingdom.
During the weeklong competition, which began Sunday, more than 6,000 dancers, from as far away as Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Germany and South Africa, have attended the event, along with about 15,000 mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, dance teachers and fans.
"For the people who compete, it's the pinnacle of a year's work," said Seamus O'Se, a spokesman for the championship competition. "They're preparing all year to go to the world championship. For the Irish, and second and third generations, it's a symbol of their connection with Ireland. But nowadays, it's competed as an international sport in its own right."
Throughout the week, teams competed at the Center City Marriott. Soloists danced at the Kimmel Center.
Dance teacher Linda Ball Hoban of the Fleming Ball School in Munster, Ireland, has been shuttling back and forth.
One performance she didn't miss was that of her first-time student Marie-Clare Tuohey. Tuohey, 13, finished competing yesterday morning, and her team of eight girls won the world championship for their age category.
"She hasn't stopped smiling," Hoban said, pointing to Tuohey, standing next to her mother, smiling, with a gold medal hanging around her neck.
"Just like Americans learn cheerleading in school, this is what we learned," Hoban said. "And you either love it or you don't. We love it."
In the Kimmel Center lobby, girls milled about in curly wigs and ornate costumes with Celtic designs, with white socks and black step shoes, waiting to perform, waiting for their results.
In one performance, Gemma Scicluna, 21, of London, dressed in bright red, stood with her arms poker straight. She stomped her feet and flicked her legs, tanned and strong, then saluted passersby with a high kick.
Scicluna hopes - her coach moreso, she says - to finish in the top 10.
"I will sit with my nerves," she said with a wide grin. "With my fingers and toes crossed."
At an awards gala, the Championship Torch will be passed to the mayor of Glasgow, Scotland, the site of next year's competition.
As for Kelly, she moves on to the light dance round. Then, she hopes she will be recalled to perform in the final set piece of the competition, which ends tomorrow.
"It took a while to get back and get fit again," she said. "I had a bad year, but I'm back on track."