Mary Kate Lachut-Conrad, ADCRGKathleen Cunningham, TCRG
Jennifer DiPasquale, TCRG
Erin Holzerland
Mary Kate Lachut-Conrad (Miss Mary Kate)
Mary Kate fell in love with Irish Dance at age 4 and it has been a part of her life ever since. As a dancer she dedicated countless hours to practice and performance, yet she most enjoyed attending dance competitions, and through her dedication moved up through the ranks to the Championship level. Along the way she has won various local championships and saw much success at the Regional and North American Championships. Her favorite success as a solo dancer was coming in 4th place at the Regional Championship.
During college, she travelled overseas to dance for Glasgow, Scotland's well known Setanta School. There, she danced at the World Championships on 2 teams: Girls Figure, & Mixed Figure Choreography. Each team was ranked 2nd in the World.
In 2002 she passed the TCRG exam and in 2010 the ADCRG exam to adjudicate dance competitions. She is a co-founder of Clann Na Cara, and is also a History/Special Education teacher at Kenmore West High School.
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Jennifer DiPasquale (Miss Jenn)
Jennifer began Irish Dance lessons at age 3, following her mother and grandmother who hailed from Ireland and were also dancers. She immediately fell in love with the energy and rhythm unique to Irish dance & music.
Jennifer very much enjoyed competing and reached the Championship level by age 9. At the Mid-Atlantic Regional Oireachtas she was consistently ranked in the top-3, including a 1st place title in the U14 age group. She was honored as a World Qualifier every year. Around age 10 she began competing at Nationals and at 13 attended the World Championships in Galway, Ireland. There, she danced in solo, ceili, dance drama and figure choreographies. She returned to the Worlds in Ireland and Scotland several times. In 2001 and 2005 she was ranked among the top-5 North American dancers. In addition to competitive success Jennifer has been honored to perform for the Prime Minister of Ireland, Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Chieftans, and with Natalie MacMaster during her 2003 tour.
As a teenager Jennifer began assisting in dance classes and working with younger students in private lessons. Through this experience she realized a love for teaching. Shortly after graduating from SUNY Fredonia with her degree in Education, Jennifer co-founded Clann Na Cara and earned her TCRG certification in 2007.
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Erin Holzerland (Miss Erin)
Erin began dancing at the age of six and has since dedicated countless hours to her love of the Irish culture. As a championship level dancer, she placed numerous times at the Eastern Regional Oireachtas, including a 3rd place as a solo competitor. Erin has qualified and competed several times at the World Championships, as well as the National Championships, earning placements in team and solo dancing.
Erin’s love of Irish dance and the Irish culture led her to seek a study abroad opportunity in college. She spent a semester in Galway, Ireland, where she continued to study both academics and dancing. While there, Erin competed in the All Ireland Championships and earned a 4th place ranking in an individual round of dance.
In addition to be one of the four co-founders of Clann Na Cara, Erin is also a 6th grade teacher at Orchard Park Middle School, holding her Bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education, as well as her Master's in Literacy Education.