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The first time I watched Maeve O'Sullivan's students perform at the Shell Lake Summer Festival, I couldn't look away. Every foot strike landed like a drumbeat, every arm sweep caught the light—and I understood immediately why parents in this town drive their kids across county lines just to take class here.
Welcome to Shell Lake, population 4,200, home to absolutely zero chain coffee shops and two of the most celebrated Irish dance schools in the region. Yeah, I said it. A tiny town with two powerhouses.
The Emerald Academy of Dance: Twenty Years of Magic
Walking into The Emerald Academy on Maple Street feels like stepping into a different world. The walls are covered with competition photos spanning two decades—kids who started here as wide-eyed six-year-olds and now tour with professional companies. Maeve O'Sullivan founded this place in 2003, and she's never phoned it in. Not once.
What strikes you immediately: she doesn't just teach steps. She teaches performers. Her curriculum blends the hardashed technique of traditional Sean-nós with contemporary choreography that actually lands in modern competitions. Her students don't look like robots executing memorized sequences—they look like athletes having the time of their lives.
The facilities are legit, too. Sprung floors that absorb impact, full-length mirrors, a dedicated stretching area. But here's what matters: she brings in guest instructors from Dublin and Galway every few months. Last spring, a three-time World Championship qualifier flew in and spent a week working with her advanced class. These kids aren't just learning to dance better—they're learning what's possible.
Annual recitals? Mandatory. Local competitions? Encouraged. Nationals? Supported, whether they place or not. Maeve's philosophy is simple: you show up, you work, you perform. Growth happens in all three.
Celtic Steps Studio: Heart Over Everything
Now, here's the thing about Fiona McCarthy at Celtic Steps—she'd probably roll her eyes at everything I just wrote about The Emerald Academy. Her approach is different, and that's the point.
Fiona believes Irish dance is storytelling. Not gymnastics. Not competitive marching. Storytelling. Her intermediate class once performed a piece about emigration—with actual tears in their eyes, some of them, because their own grandparents made that journey. You won't find that at every studio.
What she offers: genuine inclusivity. Tiny beginners in their first leinster (that's the hard shoe, for the uninitiated) mixing with competition veterans who've medaled at regionals. Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone improves. No one's too old to begin, either—her adult beginner class fills up every semester, people in their 40s and 50s discovering something they never knew they needed.
Celtic Steps also does something smart: they perform everywhere. Retirement homes, farmers' markets, elementary school assemblies. Getting comfortable in front of audiences isn't optional—it's how you actually learn the art form.
The Real Legacy
Here's what fascinates me about Shell Lake: this town barely shows up on maps, yet two women built institutions that competitors from three states cite by name. The magic isn't the buildings or the competition trophies. It's the thread running through families—grandparents who learned steps in Kerry, teaching kids who'll teach their own children.
Both Maeve and Fiona could teach anywhere. They don't. There's something about this place that keeps them, and the students keep arriving, and the steps keep echoing through those maple street walls.
You want to learn Irish dance in Shell Lake? Pick your path: precision and performance at The Emerald Academy, or heart and expression at Celtic Steps. Either way, you're not just learning steps—you're joining a story that's been running for twenty years.
And honestly? Either choice gets my vote.
