NEW BERLIN — Glencastle Irish Dance has become more than just a studio for Keira Block who has been with the group for 10 years, it feels like family.
"I love Irish dance. I've been dancing here for 10 years. I started when I was 8 after seeing them at Irishfest, and now it's just my second home," she said.
That second home has taken some members all the way to Ireland to compete in the All Ireland Championships.
"So we have the All Ireland Championships, which is like the nationals for Ireland, but people from America can go overseas and compete, so Shannon just came back and then me as well as Catherine came back and Shannon placed in the hard shoe and soft shoe round and got two medals that she brought home," Keira said.
Competing on Irish soil comes with its own unique challenges, according to Shannon Reynolds.
"All the Irish girls are really good at Irish dance, so just showing up in their territory and being an American dancer was definitely different from American nationals, but it was a good experience," Shannon said.
Now the group has its sights set on an even bigger stage — the World Championship.
"The worlds is like the Irish dance equivalent to the Olympics. So just how the Olympics happened, if Irish dance was in the Olympics, that would be the World Championship," Keira said.
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