Irish Dance

I was a competitive Irish dancer for 15 years, dancing with the CLRG organization at the Shelley School of Irish Dance in Utah, USA. After competing at the World Irish Dance Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland in April 2022, I retired competitively as a 2x World Qualifier, 8x National Qualifier, 8x top 20 & 4x top 10 competitor in the Western US Region, and placing 50th in North America in 2019.

Over those years, I competed at more than 15 regional, national, and world-level competitions (known as feisanna). I also danced annually at St. Patrick's Day performances and parades, as well as holiday shows and other productions put on by BYU, BYU-Idaho, The Eccles Theater (Park City, Utah), and other performing arts centers throughout Utah.

Being surrounded by thousands of custom solo dresses -- as well as wearing 6 of my own during my competitive years -- helped me not only recognize the importance of a well-constructed costume, but feel it. As a top competitor, I can assuredly say that my best results came when I felt the most confident in the quality of my costume. The fact that the practice, sweat, and dedication that I put into my dancing was matched by the accuracy, attention to detail, time, and skill that went into my custom dress made it easy to feel at home on stage and fulfill my role as a dancer, competitor, and performer. These years also taught me what it means to be a dedicated, motivated, and consistent hard worker who doesn’t let fear stop me from trying new things.