Lauren Fitzgerald
Lauren began Irish dancing with her aunts at family gatherings at age 4. After seeing Irish dancers featured on The Wiggles, she fell in love with Irish dance and kept practicing skip-two-threes around the house until she began classes at age 5. Lauren’s aunts welcomed Laura Masters into their home, where she taught them Irish dancing. This inspired her grandfather to begin the Cape Breton Irish Benevolent Society. Lauren watched her older cousin compete and tour with Irish dance, and along with her aunt opening a recreational school in Sydney to keep the culture alive for younger generations, her passion was ignited. Her grandmother handmade all the class dresses and even made Lauren’s first dress before she began lessons! Shortly after starting classes, Lauren entered her first Feis and had a clean sweep in all her dances, igniting the fiery determination to become the best dancer she could be.
Lauren adores working with children and has done so for over 5 years, including assistant teaching, leading summer camps, and working to support neurodiverse children and youth with complex care needs. She also enjoys volunteering, making cards for patients at local hospitals with her school’s club, and with Make-A-Wish Canada, where she meets with wish kids to help discover, reveal, and grant wishes.
Some of Lauren’s favourite memories have been made through Irish dance, from performing at Disney World to forming forever friendships. Lauren qualified to compete in Open Championships at age 11, and is a two-time National medalist. She placed 16th at Canadian Nationals, 8th at the Eastern Canadian Oireachtas, won the Champion of Champions at Fundy Feis at age 14. Lauren was thrilled to be selected as the lead dancer at Celtic Colours with The Chieftains and Cara Butler! She was also honoured to receive the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax’s post-secondary scholarship for her academic and dancing accomplishments. Often the youngest in her class growing up, Lauren shared a special connection with the “big kids”, and is excited to reciprocate that role to the future generations of younger dancers!