Myra Watters Tcrg, teaches her class in the Sunshine State of America - Florida. Certainly, she is far away from her native home in Dublin, Ireland but her Irish Roots continue to grow as she passes on her passion for dance to her ever growing number of pupils in Orlando.

Myra, now 31, can barely remember life without Irish Dance. She was trained initially by Ann Murphy and then at the prestigious Rinceorí Naomh Padraig by Terry Gillian, Philip Owens and Elaine Kavanagh, where, as a dancer, she ranked among the top 10 in the World.

In 1999, Myra made the decision to retire from competition, but she simply swapped one dance world for another as she immediately joined "Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance". Her first tour with the show led her all the way to Disney World Florida, and there began her love of the Sunshine State.

Myra’s time spent with the illustrious "Lord of the Dance" was a whirlwind of travel, excitement and new experiences. It wasn’t long before her talents were noted and she became Dance Captain of "Feet of Flames". Her responsibilities, however, didn’t stop her from study even while touring and in 2000 she successfully attained her Tcrg.  When she left the showbiz world behind, Myra’s plans were all in place to open her own school.

"A full time career in Irish Dancing is difficult to sustain in Ireland" She explained "And I knew that this is all I wanted to do". As a result, in 2001, the Watters school, Florida was formed.

The Watters school now boosts aprox 120 pupils with 40 additional students from the Butler school, all enthusiastic and dedicated to learn from Miss Myra.

"The school continues to grow" Myra says proudly "And I have a growing number of pupils competing at Regional, National and World Level". She certainly is determined to give them the best tuition possible and keeps them working hard but the students clearly enjoy what they do. "Riverdance and Lord of The Dance exposed many people round the world to Irish Dance but pupils and parents alike still need guidance and education about the competitive community when they 1st join up" and this is exactly where Myra’s passion lies.

She has a class full of pupils eager to learn and Myra is quick to point out that the Southern region is a great place to teach.

"Our Region is a relatively new region to the dance world and it’s very interesting to be involved with its growth and development" Myra says. "In Ireland, Irish Dancing is very well established and it never occurred to me, as a dancer, that the original teachers had to build it up, running Feiseanna with limited resources and developing the organization to the point it is at today. Now, as a teacher in Florida, I get to see 1st hand the challenges of developing a region.

But what about Ireland? Does she miss it?

Well, of course she must but as she stands looking around her own studio, mirrored from wall to wall and at her dancers diligently practicing a new step, how could she feel anything other than proud! She has been amazed at the support from the other teachers in the region.

"Everyone has been so welcoming", she smiles. "We are geographically such a large region that there is room for everyone to expand their classes and it is great that everyone is proud and happy should any of our dancers gain success at world or national level"

Some of Myra's girls

"It is very different from home", she admits. "Air conditioning is a necessity and we have to cancel the odd class because of hurricanes but I find my job so rewarding and I love living in Orlando"

Myra has big plans for the Watter’s School and is determined to make an impact on the worldwide Irish Dance Community. She intends to bring her teams to Ireland to compete at the World championships and she has already choreographed a Dance Drama which her class performed at their Oireachtas last year.

"Dance Drama is very close to my heart" she explains "And it was a great experience this year putting my own one together as it combines two of my passions, Irish Dance and Musical Theatre. It was also an amazing bonding experience for those involved and really pushed the children’s boundaries as performers".

It would seem then, that it won’t be too long before we are seeing the Watter’s School featuring at the World Championships. With their teacher’s talent, dedication and expertise, it is certain that this school will go far!!