Rince Nua dancers to compete at the North American Irish Dance Championships

Rince Nua sending sixteen soloists and two teams to the North American Irish Dance Championships in Orlando, Florida next weekend.

The 2017 CRN North American Irish Dance Championships is being held in Orlando, FL next weekend. This three-day competition from February 18-20 is one of the three major events hosted by CRN (Cumann Rince Naisiunta). Other major events for CRN this year are the Irish Open Championships (April 28th – May 1st) in Dublin, Ireland and the World Irish Dance Championships (June 22nd-25th) in Killarney, Ireland.

Dancers who placed in the top third at Regionals, held in West Virginia last October, have qualified to compete in the Award Competition next weekend. The top dancers in each Award competition (Bun Grad, Ullmhuchan, and Mean Grad) will advance to the next grade, and the winners of the Ard Grad Award will become New Champions. Winners of the Solo Championship competition will receive the title of North American Champion. Team competitions at the event include Figure, Ceili, Dance Drama and Freestyle.

This years event has dancers registered from 26 different Irish dance schools from around the globe:
  • 15 schools from Ireland
  • 9 schools from the USA
  • 1 school from Canada
  • 1 school from the Netherlands

Rince Nua’s 2017 Competitor’s list includes:

  • Emaliah Danner – Bun Grad/Ullmhuchan
  • Sophia Novitskiy – Ullmhuchan/Mean Grad
  • Sidney Borland – Ullmhuchan/Mean Grad/Ard Grad
  • Ruby Miller – Ullmhuchan/Mean Grad/Ard Grad
  • Kori McKibben – Mean Grad
  • Grace Scott – Mean Grad/Ard Grad
  • Annie Libbey – Mean Grad/Ard Grad
  • Taylor Johnsrud – Mean Grad/Ard Grad *Ceili Team
  • Megan Smith – Mean Grad/Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team
  • Lindsey Pavlish – Mean Grad/Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team
  • Nicole Sinnen – Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team
  • Ayva Pankake – Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team **Freestyle Team
  • Lola Pankake – Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team **Freestyle Team
  • Genevieve Simpson – Ard Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team **Freestyle Team
  • Elizabeth Simpson – Craobh Grad/Solo Championship *Ceili Team **Freestyle Team
  • Irelandrose Langer – Craobh Grad/Solo Championship **Freestyle Team

We will post dancer photos and results from the event directly to our instagram and facebook pages.  Follow us to stay informed!