The New England Regional Irish Dance Championships, also known as the "Oireachtas," was recently held in Hartford, CT the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is the area's most prestigious event bringing in top dancers from schools in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine and competitions have as many as 100 competitors.
At the event, local dancers, representing the Ashurst Academy of Irish Dance, were proud to bring home a World Championship qualifying position, 5 National Championship qualifying positions, a Traditional Set champion, as well as numerous additional podium placements and medals.
The World Irish Dance Championships, which is the Olympics of Irish dance, will be held in Belfast, Ireland next April. The Ashurst Academy is proud to have Katie Sheehan (Southbury) and Piper Normand (Canton) qualified to compete.
These two dancers also qualified for the North American Irish Dance Championships to be held in Montreal this July in addition to their teammates Caroline Morneau (Bethel), Lucy Lowman (Ridgefield), Olivia Lanza (Oxford), Madden Curran (Bethel) and Deirdre Smith (Newtown).
The Ashurst Academy of Irish Dance is directed by former Riverdance and Lord of the Dance stars Craig Ashurst and Christina Dolzall-Ashurst of Newtown. Both were highly successful competitive dancers themselves collectively holding many regional, national and international titles.
The Ashurst Academy of Irish Dance is currently enrolling a new beginner program beginning in January 2022.
For more information, click here or call (203) 928-0689.