Mairead Lowry is currently a junior at Regina Dominican High School. For the past 13 years, Mairead has been Irish Dancing.

She started Irish Dancing because everyone in her family did it from a young age. Eventually, her mother and her aunt opened up an Irish Dance studio. Even though her mom and aunt opened their own studio, Mairead danced at another studio. Mairead started dancing at the age of three years old.

When she was a solo performer, Mairead practiced every day for two hours and even when she wasn’t at practice, she was practicing at home. As of now, she is on a competition team where they practice on Fridays and Saturdays. When a competition is coming up, the team practices much more.

Mairead’s costume consists of a navy blue dress with celtic designes, orange and white accents, with a cape on the back.

To prepare for a competition, Mairead said, “Just practice…a lot of practice, and day of, try to eat a healthy breakfast.” She eats a low carb diet with a lot of meats and proteins. She does not eat until she is done performing because she is bouncing up and down on stage for the routine. As for competition day, she gets up early because she has to put on her wig and makeup. Her makeup could take up to 30 minutes.

At her most recent competitions, her team got second place.

For managing academics and dance, Mairead stays on top of her school work and practices time managment skills.

For Mairead, the hardest part about dance is the nutrition surrounding it. She consistently has to stay flexible and practice endurance. Mental health is also a huge part of the training. She has to remind herself that she loves dancing; therefore, the hardships are worth it because she is doing something she truly loves.

Her favorite part of dance is the competitions because she loves being on stage, as well as the adrenaline rush when dancing in front of people.