Dad Plays the Fiddle, Baby Proves She’s a Natural ‘Irish Dancer’

A professional fiddle player was astounded to realize his baby daughter has inherited his passion for traditional music.

Michael Audette, 31, is the proud father of seven-month-old Adelyn Rae, and a love for music runs in his family. “My grandfather, Alex Carriere, is a very well-known old-time Metis fiddler in Canada. He just turned 96 in August and is still doing very well,” Audette told Newsweek.

Now Audette’s daughter, Carriere’s great-granddaughter, has shown off her natural talent for traditional music, as she was recorded dancing in time to her father’s tune.

“She’s loved the guitar since she was first born and it helped her fall asleep,” he said. “We noticed she liked fiddle music as well but it wasn’t until about a month ago when she was in the bouncer and I started fiddling that she began bouncing right on beat.”

A video of Adelyn dancing along to traditional Metis tune Caribou Reel has racked up over 2.6 million views on Audette’s TikTok account, @michaelaudette_fiddle.

As Audette counts down and begins playing, Adelyn almost immediately takes off, bouncing in time to the music, smiling and kicking her legs up in an impressive recreation of an Irish dance.

TikTok users were in awe, with thousands commenting on the clip, and one noting Adelyn is “literally on beat.”

“Baby is like: ‘hold my bottle, it’s my song,'” another laughed, as one said Adelyn’s “footwork is so on point.”

Many commenters said Adelyn was performing an Irish “River Dance,” one calling her the “lord of the dance” and another saying “her little legs are naturally Irish dancing.”

And as one put it: “Her future is definitely in Ireland…a little Irish dancer, just love it!”

The fiddle player told Newsweek he “didn’t realize that when she was lifting her leg that it resembled highland or Irish dancing but I totally see it now!”

The Metis fiddle is a style of fiddle-playing developed by the Metis people of North America, after the instrument was introduced by Scottish and French-Canadian traders in the 1800s, according to a publication in the Canadian Journal of Native Studies.

It originated in the Red River Region, with Audette’s first video playing with his daughter showing them performing the Red River Jig, which Audette describe as “the anthem for the Red River Metis people here in Canada”.

And, he added, he performed for his daughter with his grandfather’s fiddle, which Carriere bought in 1955.

“We never imagined It would get the response that it did,” Audette said of his daughter’s video.

As for whether they expect Adelyn to follow in her father’s footsteps as a musician, Audette said: “We’ll keep surrounding her with music and dance, and if that’s something she continues to show interest in we will certainly support her in any way we can.”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some extra details, and they could appear on our website.