At 6 p.m. on a Tuesday, the second floor of the old Holden Lakes Hardware building rattles with the synchronized thunder of hard shoes. Fifty dancers at Celtic Spirit Dance Academy drill treble jigs in unison, the sound carrying down Maple Street and through the pedestrian arcade below. This is the audible heartbeat of Holden Lakes City—a mid-sized Great Lakes port where Irish dance has flourished for three generations, ever since the McElligott and O'Sullivan families opened the first feis here in 1951.
Today, an estimated 400 students train weekly across the city's four main Irish dance schools. Whether you're a parent enrolling a four-year-old in their first soft-shoe class, an adult looking for a novel workout, or a competitive dancer chasing an Oireachtas medal, Holden Lakes offers a program that fits. Below is a detailed breakdown of each studio, including what they teach, who they serve, and what you'll pay.
Celtic Spirit Dance Academy
The draw: Competitive excellence and intensive feis preparation.
Celtic Spirit counts three Oireachtas medalists and one World Championships qualifier among its alumni from the past five years alone. The academy runs a 12-week pre-competition intensive each fall, with dancers training four evenings per week in hard shoe, soft shoe, and set dances. Head instructor Fiona Brennan, a former All-Ireland champion from County Cork, has directed the program since 2008.
The facility itself occupies the renovated second floor of the 1912 Holden Lakes Hardware building at the corner of Maple Street and the pedestrian arcade. The studio features sprung maple floors, full-length mirrors, and a dedicated strength-conditioning room.
Quick facts:
- Ages: 4 to adult
- Class types: Beginner recreational, competitive team, adult ceili, private coaching
- Trial policy: One free trial class; placement assessment required for competitive track
- Starting cost: $85/month for one weekly recreational class; competitive fees scale by level
- Transit: Ten-minute walk from the Lakeside Metro stop; street parking on Maple
Emerald Isle Dance Studio
The draw: Small classes, traditional focus, and a tight-knit community.
Emerald Isle operates out of a converted 1890s mill on the banks of the Holden River, in the quieter Riverbend neighborhood northeast of downtown. Class sizes are capped at twelve students, and the curriculum emphasizes old-style step dancing and sean-nós footwork alongside the more common Irish Dance Commission (CLRG) syllabus. Many students here are second- or third-generation Irish Americans whose families have trained at the studio since it opened in 1976.
The atmosphere is deliberately non-competitive. There is no feis team, though students perform at the annual Holden Lakes Irish Heritage Festival and at nursing homes throughout the county.
Quick facts:
- Ages: 5 to senior adult
- Class types: Beginner soft shoe, mixed-level ceili, sean-nós, adult beginner, summer heritage intensives
- Trial policy: $15 drop-in; first month prorated if you enroll after trial
- Starting cost: $70/month for one weekly class
- Transit: Free lot behind the mill; no direct bus, but the Riverbend bike trail passes nearby
Riverdance Repertory Center
The draw: Stage performance and contemporary Irish dance fusion.
Note: The center is not affiliated with the "Riverdance" stage production. It was named by its founder, a former touring dancer, in tribute to the show that inspired her career.
This is the studio for dancers who want to perform. The center mounts two full-scale productions annually—one in March for St. Patrick's Day and a summer review at the Holden Lakes Playhouse—in addition to quarterly studio showcases. Choreography blends traditional Irish technique with modern stage movement, theatrical lighting, and ensemble storytelling.
The facility includes a 120-seat black-box theater, making it one of the few Irish dance schools in the region where students rehearse and perform in the same space. Guest workshops with touring professionals are offered two to three times per year; recent visitors included a former "Lord of the Dance" principal and a Dublin-based contemporary Irish choreographer.
Quick facts:
- Ages: 7 to adult (younger students accepted by audition)
- Class types: Recreational performance track, pre-professional ensemble, adult cabaret, summer stage intensive
- Trial policy: $20 trial class; applied toward first month's tuition if you register
- Starting cost: $95/month for performance track; costume rental fees apply for productions
- Transit: Two blocks from the Grand Avenue bus line; pay lot adjacent to the Playhouse
Shamrock Steps School of Dance
The draw: Flexible scheduling and a dual recreational-competitive
