Categories: Education

Three Oklahoma Irish Dancers Headed to World Championships

Irish dance is a centuries-old sport and an art form that is currently exploding in popularity. You may be familiar with the dance through shows like “Riverdance” or TLC’s special, “The Big Jig.” This year, dancers from across the United States competed for the chance to represent their schools and their states at the World Irish Dance Championships in Boston in 2013. This will be only the second time the World Championships have ever been held in the United States.

Qualifying for the World Championships requires tremendous skill and dedication. This year only three Oklahomans were among those who managed to place high enough in their divisions to qualify for this amazing competition which hosts dancers from all around the world. I had the privilege of interviewing all three dancers and their instructors, and am thrilled to bring you their stories.

Betty Thompson

You may recognize Betty Thompson from the Miss America pageant. Thompson was 2011’s Miss Oklahoma, and was the first runner-up to Miss America in 2012. She performed an Irish dance for the talent portion of the pageant, but she said preparing for that was easy compared to the preparation she did coming up to the Southern Region Oireachtas, the regional qualifying round, at which she placed sixth in the 20 and over division.

Thompson began dancing at age 11, and has now qualified for Worlds seven times. This will be her sixth time to compete on the world stage, and she told me she intends to place. Thompson said, “Less than one percent of Irish dancers will dance at Worlds. It’s an honor. It’s such a prestigious sport.”

Thompson, who dances at McTeggart Irish Dancers of Oklahoma and is working on a double major at Oklahoma State University, told me she only came back to Irish dance in August after two years away. But she’s been practicing harder than ever, working every day. Some of her practice takes place in a studio her family built for her long ago in a barn on their property. “It’s amazing what Irish dance parents will do for their kids,” said Thompson.

Olivia Cavazos-Hudson

Boston will be the second World Championships for Olivia Cavazos-Hudson, who placed ninth in the Under 17 division at regionals. Although she’s qualified five times, the only other time she attended was in 2009, when Worlds were held in Philadelphia. She told me she is “beyond excited” about going back to the World Championships, having been through the experience before, but a little nervous since she, too, only recently returned to Irish dance after some time off.

Like Thompson, Cavazos-Hudson was away from the sport for about two years before returning to prepare for regionals. But although pageants may be in her future, that was not her focus during her time away. No, this remarkable young woman took a break from Irish dance in order to help her mother, who was battling breast cancer. Her mother told me the cost of Irish dance, which requires dresses that can be as much as $2,500, was just too much in addition to the family’s medical bills. But after three surgeries, her mother is now cancer free and is extremely excited to see her daughter compete at the World Championships one more time.

Cavazos-Hudson, is a senior in high school, number two in her class, and plans to attend medical school in the future. She wants to tell young dancers, “Don’t let anybody say that you can’t do something. If you want to do something, just work hard and go for it.”

She credits her teacher, Rebekah Roberts, for helping her get ready for the competition and for believing in her. Roberts, who teaches at McTeggart, the first accredited Irish dance school in Oklahoma, said she cried happy tears when her students, Thompson and Cavazos-Hudson qualified for Worlds. “People try for years and years without qualifying. It’s very prestigious.”

Brendan Crotty

At just 10 years of age, Brendan Crotty is by far the youngest Oklahoma dancer to qualify for the World Championships this year. Wearing a costume custom made by Tulsa designer, Daniel Weir, young Crotty was a standout at the regional competition in New Orleans. Although it was his very first time to compete at the Southern Region Oireachtas, and he had only competed at five feiseanna, Crotty placed fifth in the Under 10 division and secured his right to compete in Boston in the spring.

Crotty, who is homeschooled, played piano and guitar and practiced ballet before discovering Irish dance at age 8. Finding that he had a natural talent for the sport, he set aside some of his other interests to really focus on Irish dance and prepare for regional competition this year. The flexibility of his homeschool schedule allowed him to focus on his academics while simultaneously training hard for competition.

Crotty dances at The Goode Academy under the instruction of KT Goode in Tulsa. He is the first student from the school to earn a spot at the World Championships since it was founded in 2011. When asked how she felt about taking Crotty to Worlds, Goode responded, “I’m very proud. It’s nice to see hard work rewarded.” She added, “Worlds are more prestigious than regionals or even nationals.”

I asked Crotty what he thought was most exciting about going to his first World Championships. He said, “I like to compete because I can meet boys from other schools. It will be fun to meet boys from other countries.” And in that spirit of international friendship, I wish our Oklahoma dancers and all the others competing at the World Irish Dancing Championships good luck!

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