No, she is not a world champion, not even a North American Champion, but she is a young girl who loves to dance and dedicates much time and energy to her passion.

Natalie dances with the Burke School in Ohio and, like many others before her, since taking up Irish Dancing, it’s now in her blood.

Natalie has her mother to thank for this life of dance. Her mum saw other kids performing Irish Dancing in a local talent competition and thought it would be a cool thing for her daughter to try. At the age of 4, Natalie took her first steps in Irish Dance. Her fate was sealed when she saw “Lord of the Dance” at the Epcot Centre in Disney World, Florida and from then on she was hooked.

Natalie admits that Irish Dancing is “Hard work” sometimes. She has been competing at the North American Championships since she was 8 and she says, rather shyly, that she “Has to practise very hard all the time” to get her steps the way her teacher wants them.

Her mum laughs when she thinks about how far Natalie has come in dancing. Costumes and wigs were something that she knew nothing about and now Natalie is kitted out and looking stunning in her costume, wig and tiara.

When Natalie dances it is a family affair. The whole family, mum, dad and big brother are there to watch her dance, encourage and support her. They travel the length and breadth of the country for her competitions and everyone is excited to think that Natalie’s dancing, may one day, take them overseas.

Irish Dancing is one of the most important things in Natalie’s life. She goes to class at least twice a week and her dad has pitched in to make sure that she has the practice facilities at home by building her a stage. Lucky Girl!!!

When asked why she dances, Natalie sums it up perfectly, “It makes me feel good” she says. In fact, she has a list of reasons why dancing is great,

 “I’ve made great friends in dancing and I get to go to some cool places for the dance competitions”.Natalie enjoys competing at the Feiseanna but she does admit to feeling nervous sometimes (Doesn’t everyone!!!!) and the worst thing to deal with, for her, is disappointment.

We all know how that feels and it’s always tough. Hours and weeks of practise and then, no recall or a disappointing result. Natalie isn’t the only dancer who has to cope with this. It happens to every dancer out there at some stage. But does she ever get so disheartened that she thinks about giving up?

“ABSOLUTELY NOT,” she says. Natalie loves Irish Dancing too much to even think about life without it and, at the end of the day, results aren’t everything.

Natalie’s life is hectic. She is a great student at school, plays the piano, is learning to play the clarinet and she dances! Finding the time for all of this requires great commitment and dedication and Natalie seems to have all of this. Her greatest ambition in Irish Dancing is to one day dance in Ireland at the World Irish Dancing Championships. She knows it will take really hard work but she is prepared for that and how can dancing be really hard work when you love it so much?

A star in the making? I think so! With a determined attitude like Natalie’s, surely, she is an Irish Dancing Star already.