Mary Kate Lachut-Conrad, ADCRG
Kathleen Cunningham, TCRG
Jennifer DiPasquale, TCRG
Erin Holzerland, TCRG
Katie McCall, TCRG
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. She is the 3rd generation in her family to dance, starting with her grandmother, Susan, from Northern Ireland and her mother Bridget and 3 aunts who all danced for Pat Butler in the 60's & 70's. Jennifer fell in love with Irish dance right away.
She began competing at age 6 and reached the Open-Championship level by age 9 after winning many local competitions throughout the US and Canada. At the Mid-Atlantic Regional Oireachtas she was consistently ranked in the top-3 for solos including a 1st place title in 1997 at age 13, as well as many 1st place team titles. Jennifer also competed and placed among the top at North American Nationals. Having qualified for the World Championships every year she went on to compete in Ireland and Scotland several times ranking among the top-5 North Americans overseas. Over the years she has performed for the Prime Minister of Ireland, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton, The Buffalo Philharmonic, Chieftans, and Natalie MacMaster.
As a teenager Jennifer often assisted with dance classes and worked with younger students in private lessons. Through this experience she realized a love for teaching. Jennifer co-founded Clann Na Cara in 2006 and earned her TCRG certification in 2007. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Education from SUNY Fredonia and works with at-risk youth at the TRY Program of Buffalo.
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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.
Erin successfully earned her TCRG certification in 2009. In addition to being a co-founder of the school she 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.