Belfast bound: Local Irish dancer headed to world championships

Claire Denham, a local fifth-grader from Georgetown, is headed to the World Irish Dance Championships, the most prestigious Irish dance competition.

Claire will be lacing up her ghillies in April, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, when the 50th anniversary of the Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne begins.

Claire is among the very small percentage of Irish dancers who qualify to compete at the world level. Claire will not only be representing her dance school, the McAleer-Paulson School of Irish Dance, but also Sussex County, the Mid-Atlantic Region, the U.S., and North America.

Claire has qualified three times, but due to the pandemic, the world championships were canceled in 2020 and 2021. She is so excited to finally take the world stage.

Claire’s qualifications most recently came at the United States Irish Dance Championships held in Phoenix, Ariz., in July 2021 where she placed 10th, and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Oireachtas held in Philadelphia in November 2021, where she placed third out of 86 champion-level dancers in her age group.

From Sunday, April 10, to Sunday, April 17, dancers from around the globe will gather in Belfast, and Claire will be one of them. “Making it to worlds has been my dream since I was a beginner and I’m so happy to reach that goal,” Claire said. “It’s really special that it’s in Belfast this year, since that’s where Ms. Veronica is from,” she said. One of Claire’s teachers, Veronica McAleer, emigrated from Ireland at a young age and has been teaching in Delaware for more than 55 years.

Claire dances for the McAleer-Paulson School of Irish Dance, which holds classes in Lewes, Claymont and Newark in Delaware, as well as in Baltimore, with teachers Veronica McAleer-McCrea, ADCRG; Eileen Paulson, TCRG; Dr. Erin Raughley Fletcher, assistant teacher; and Nick Paulson, assistant teacher and choreographer. She began taking classes in Lewes when she was 4 years old after seeing an Irish dance show on a trip to Busch Gardens. “She watched the show and asked me if she could be an Irish dancer,” said Claire’s mom, Amy Denham. “We had no idea what we were getting into, but she has learned so much since then. We are incredibly grateful for her teachers and the families we have met through Irish dance.”

Preparation for competition at the highest level requires an impressive amount of time and effort. Claire takes classes four nights a week and puts in hours of training at home. But to her, it’s worth it. “I love the opportunities I’ve had to travel and meet new people,” she said. “And I really love to dance. On the stage, everything else is gone, and it’s just me and the music.”

“Claire is a beautiful, natural dancer who loves everything about Irish dance. Claire loves to learn harder skills and new dances, and her excitement about dance is tangible. If we give Claire a new step or rhythm to learn, Claire will go home and work on it and comes back to the next class with it perfected and so excited to show you. That’s what it takes to get to the world level,” said her teacher Eileen Paulson. “At McAleer-Paulson, we pride ourselves in allowing all kids to have their individual dance journey. No two dancers are the same, and we support each one on their own dance journey.”

McAleer-Paulson dancers also believe in using their feet to give back to their communities in dancing for charities and nursing homes when able, and doing performances up and down Delaware during the St. Patrick’s Day season. For more information about the school, go to mcaleeririshdance.weebly.com.