About Us

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Melissa has been dancing since she was three years old. She can’t remember a time when she was not dancing. She started out with Ballet and tap and then branched out to jazz, tumbling, hip-hop, cheer and modern dance.

She was a cheerleader in Junior High which took the state championship, a choreographer for the pep squad as a sophomore. She then cheered her junior year in high school where they also took the state Champions and was on the drill team her senior year which also took state and national titles. She then made the cheer team at Ricks College in Rexburg Idaho. 

Melissa graduated from Utah State University in Family and Human Development and at the same time became an ACE certified aerobics instructor. She taught aerobics and worked at Early Head Start until she had her first child. She continued to stay active with her small children.

When her first two daughters, Mckenna and Danielle were old enough to dance, they took a ballet and an Irish dance class at Excel Dance studios. The studio they went to welcomed adults and so they all took classes together. After that first year of dancing they fell in love of Irish dance and started looking for a certified Irish dance studio.  

They found a certified Irish dance studio called Crawford school of Irish dance, which offered competitive dance.  They loved getting deeper into the Irish dance culture and Jill Crawford just the person to feed their new passion.  She was a certified teacher who had a rich background on Irish dance and took them to a whole new level.  Jill taught them for several years and then she sold her school to Kieran Hardiman and Alan Scariff, two dancers who came from Ireland who danced competitively when they were younger and then danced in the popular show Riverdance.  

Melissa caught on very quickly with all of her years of dance training. Melissa competed as an adult and won several competitions. She also participated in an adult Ceili dance team at local Feisianna (local dance competition) and at a regional competition they call the Oireachtas in the Western Region under the An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG)

Melissa has a passion for Irish dance and has many ancestors that come from Celtic descent, so it was easy for her to fall in love this form of dance. She also has spent many years teaching Irish dance. She taught and danced alongside her daughters for the next 10 years. Her daughters became extremely successful at the sport, and her four daughters continually placed in the top 5 in the Western region. This qualified them for National and World competitions under the An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha. There were thousands of competitors from all over the world. They qualified for National and World Competitions several years in a row and her oldest daughter was the first girl to place at the World Championships in London England from Utah. 

They traveled all over the world to places including Chicago, England, Montreal, Seattle and Boston, California, Idaho, Colorado etc. They were able to rub shoulders with some of the most amazing dancers in the world. They are so grateful for all of their teachers during their dance journey and the great influence they had on them over the years.  Their goal now is to give back to the community the things they have learn and the love they have for Irish dance along with other forms for dance that they have fallen in love with too.  

Melissa is also A certified High Fitness instructor and enjoys teaching group fitness 3 times a week.  

Jill Crawford started Irish dancing, performing and competing at the age of 6 (1983) until 2002 in Denver,CO with the McTeggart Irish Step Dancers. Her teacher, Maureen McTeggart Hall, was from Ireland and was also one of the first teachers to bring Irish dance to the Western United States. 

By the age of 10 Jill was in Open Championships and qualified for the Worlds competition held in Ireland. Jill's performing experience not only includes multiple St. Patrick's Day performances, schools, shows and festivals, but also dancing with the Micheal Collins Pipes and Drums Band, performing with Natalie McMaster, Cherish the Ladies ,Suicra, and other traveling Irish music groups. 

She has attended many dance camps over the years in which she was taught by top teachers from Ireland and England.  When Jill was 18 she started teaching for Mrs. Hall and soon decided she wanted to become a certified teacher (TCRG). So after studying for and passing a rigorous certification exam through the An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha  (Irish Commission of Irish dance) in 2002, she moved to UT to teach for the McTeggart school located in SLC.  

In 2005 she started the Crawford School of Irish Dance reaching up to 200 students, and was the director and teacher for that school until 2012. Her students performed all over the state and also competed throughout the western region qualifying and competing for Nationals and World levels. Jill co-taught/directed the Rhythm of Ireland Dance Company and Celtic Journey Irish Dance Company which performed for such companies as O.C. Tanner and Melaluca's large company events. She also hosted and ran the Utah State Championships and Feis competitions for 6 years in SLC.

Jill sold the school so she could spend more time raising her 4 young children.  Now that her children are a little older she is ready and excited to be returning to the Irish dance world.   Her love for Irish dance never left her and she wanted to be involved with teaching again. She's taught different community classes over the past few years and now has the opportunity to teach at Rise Academy of Dance. 

Mckenna started taking ballet and Irish dance at age 8 from Excel Dance.  She took Gymnastics at North Davis Gymnastics.  She then wanted to concentrate fully on Irish dance.  She moved to a certified Irish dance school called Crawford School of Irish Dance. She was hooked. She loved this form of dance which just made sense to her.  She quickly progressed through the levels and was competing as an open champion at age 11 in the An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha(CLRG). Mckenna placed first consistency in local feisianna and also placed in the top 5 in the Western Region Oireachtas every year. She was the first female dancer from Utah to place at the Oireachtas Rince Na Cruine (World championships) in London in 2014. She then took a break from Irish dancing in her Junior year of high school to concentrate on other art forms.  She decided to try out for the school play and sang in show choirs at her local high school.  She was the lead in the school play her senior year, sang many solos at concerts.  Mckenna  was the leads in other local plays including Kaysville Theatre and Centerpointe Theatre in Centerville.  She then expanded her dance training to tap, jazz, ballet, Acro, and ballroom through college and certifications. She taught at Bravo Arts Academy as a dance/tumbling teacher for a year.  She then got a job teaching Acrobatic Arts at Davis Dance Academy in Kaysville where she taught for 3 years. She loves teaching Acrobatic arts and is certified in all the levels. She has also received her certification in aerial and back handsprings.  She is working towards her certification in Irish dance through the CLRG.  She graduated from Weber State University in Dance/Sports Science/Public Health. She is certified as an EMT and Certified Personal Trainer. She is also certified in NSAM in Stretching and flexibility, Nutrition, Weightless, and CPT and has worked as a personal Trainer.  Mckenna has also worked at a stretch lab and is a certified stretchologist.

Danielle started dancing at the age of three at Davis Dance Academy.  She then took ballet and Irish dance from Excel Dance.  She wanted to concentrate more heavily on  Irish dancing, so we found a CLRG certified studio that taught Irish Dance exclusively.  She took Dance from a competitive Irish dance school called Crawford School of Irish Dance for several years.  Then the school was sold to Alan Scariff and Kieran Haridman which was then named Scariff School of Irish Dance.  She took from these teachers for several more years.  She caught on very quickly and became a championship-level dancer when she was only 10 years old. Danielle competed under An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) around the globe in regional, national, and world championship competitions. She consistently placed in the top five at the Western Region Oireachtas from 2012-2014. After years of Irish dance, she decided to branch out to other art forms including training in musical theatre, jazz, contemporary, tap, tumbling, and aerial arts. She also loves to create and studied visual arts as well.  She has been trained and certified in Acrobatic Arts and has taught dance to dancers from ages 3 to adult since she was 14. She is also working towards her certification in Irish dance through the CLRG. Danielle has a Bachelor's degree from Weber State University in Business and Marketing with a minor in accounting.

Aleaya took gymnastics at North Davis Gymnastics at age 3.  Then she took ballet at Clyde Adams and Irish dance at Crawford School of Irish Dance at age 4.  She took both for a year and then decided to pursue just Irish dance.  She took lessons until she turned 12.  In that time, she became an Open Champion and qualified for nationals and world competitions.  She traveled for nationals and worlds to London England and Montreal Canada.  She also danced in Seattle, California, Colorado, Arizona, and many other places.  She loved Irish dancing, but she decided she wanted to try something new.  She took some dance classes and tumbling classes at Light Box and then tumbling and cheer classes at Clay's tumbling/cheer gym. She also trained at Flipside and Rocky Mountain Tumbling. She then took tumbling at Velocity Tumbling. With this training, she tried out and made her junior high cheer teams and her high school cheer teams every year. Her junior high teems took over all first place each year she was at Legacy Junior High. She then went to Layton High School and cheered all through high school.  She became the cheer captain in her senior year.  While in high school, she worked at Velocity tumbling gym where she did a lot of her tumbling training.  She then got certified in Acrobatic arts.  She has been teaching Acro and cheer privates for 3 years.  She loves to help her students find their confidence and fall in love with cheer like she did.  She loves teaching both cheer and Acro and subs Irish dance when they need her.  She has an associate degree from Weber State University in general Studies and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business.  

Taila started Irish dancing at 2 years old. She started competing when she was 4 and was very successful. She became an open Champion and competed in Regional competitions and North American Nationals when she was 7 and 8 years old.  She then decided to take some other classes and pursue a different style of dance. She danced and tumbled at Light Box and then took a cheer class and tumbling class at Clay’s tumbling and cheer.  She then decided to try out for a competition dance team at Davis Dance Academy.  She spent the next 6 years dancing and competing in solos and team dances.  She did very well and danced on their top junior team. While there she learned Acro, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and lyrical. She then decided to try out for the Layton High Drill team.  She has been on the team since her Freshman year.  She has been on the All-State drill team 2 years in a row and competed at many conventions and solo competitions winning top scores.  She is now the Drill captain and is excited to dance her senior year.  She has had training from several conventions, clinics, and other camps.  She has been a student at Rise Academy and has taught Acro and technique privates at Rise Academy as well.  She has helped Choreograph solos and does privates with many students to help them with their dancing and tricks.  She will graduate with high honors this year and wants to pursue dancing on a college team.