Orlando residents kickstart Irish dance academy

WINDERMERE  Windermere residents now can step dance or jig their way into a piece of Ireland with the new Finnegan Fitzpatrick Academy of Irish Dance.

After much hard work and with a little luck of the Irish, Orlando residents Amanda Finnegan and Danielle Fitzpatrick opened the academy earlier this year. 

Although the Irish natives don’t have their own dance studio yet, they teach classes on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings at various locations in the town of Windermere. 

Finnegan, who grew up in Galway in West Ireland, has been dancing since she was 4 years old. From then until she was 15, she danced under instructor An Comhdhail na Rince Gaeilge and competed both nationally and internationally before deciding to become an Irish dance instructor.

Fitzpatrick is from Dublin and danced under the same instructor from the time she was 3 years old. During her competitive dance career, she won the Dublin, Leinster and All-Ireland & International Championships titles before going on to dance professionally at age 19. She toured Europe and America as a professional dancer before moving to Orlando in 2006 to dance at Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant in Disney Springs.

“I started (dancing) when I was 3; it’s kind of embedded in me,” Fitzpatrick said. “When I was growing up, it was pretty much my life. I feel like, over here, everybody loves the Irish, and they connect with Irish culture so well. For us to bring this here, I love it, it’s brilliant. People appreciate it.”

While Fitzpatrick danced for Raglan Road, Finnegan was still in Ireland, where she founded the company Damhsa Fit, which taught Irish dance classes for children and adults and offered workshops and summer camps. She also danced professionally before moving recently to Orlando to dance for Raglan Road, as well.

“Windermere reminds us so much of the towns in Ireland,” Finnegan said. “We both moved to Orlando at different stages and we were both drawn to Windermere. It has that sense of community and culture that’s so much like home. We were just delighted to find the perfect place to begin this journey.”

Now, Fitzpatrick and Finnegan are both TCRG-certified (An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaeilge) Irish dance teachers. Their new academy, dubbed the Finnegan Fitzpatrick Academy of Irish Dance, was born in March and is affiliated with An Comhdhail USA, which allows students the opportunity to compete nationally and internationally.

The academy name is simple enough: It comes from putting their Irish last names together.

“We wanted our dance academy name to represent us, so we used our family names,” Finnegan said. “It’s very important to us to represent our pride in our Irish culture, where we came from and our wonderful families who supported us throughout our dancing achievements and careers in Ireland.”

Having grown up immersed in the world of Irish dance, the two women’s lives revolved around it. Dance class was where the two first learned about rhythm, Irish music, teamwork, friendships and their communities. For them, using their passion for it to have a positive impact on the community was a no-brainer. 

“Our involvement in Irish dance developed our pride of being Irish and of our Irish culture at a very early age,” Finnegan said. “As children, it was always our dream to one day become Irish dance teachers with our own academy so we could share the joy Irish dance gave us growing up.”

The two teach Irish dance classes not only for children, but also for adults. They cater to both beginners and to those who already dance and want to compete or refine their skills. Finnegan and Fitzpatrick also said it makes for a good, high-energy workout that is fun to do.

Aside from teaching classes, the pair can also be hired to perform Irish dancing shows at children’s birthday parties, weddings, corporate events and bachelorette parties.

“We love watching our students progress and fall in love with Irish dance, like we did when we were young,” Fitzpatrick said. “We like spreading our culture and getting them in touch with their roots, because there are so many Irish connections in America.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].