Dancing King! Longford dancer has the world at his feet

Longford dancer James Fox was this year crowned the North American Irish dancing champion. Mary McFadden caught up with the talented 19-year-old to discuss his journey to the top. 

James Fox was just four years old when he decided to follow in his sister’s footsteps and take up Irish dancing in Thomas Ash Hall in Longford. 

Now, 15 years and 4500 miles later, he has earned the title of U20s North American Champion after beating competitors in Texas this past July. 

‘The competition was tough,’ James says, ‘I didn’t go in thinking I was going to win, but it’s just great to get it. It feels great, unbelievable.’ 

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The champion dancer, who has been training with O’Reilly Bransfield Dance School for over a decade, has amassed a huge collection of trophies from his earliest days dancing. 

But such achievements aren’t earned without sacrifice and a rigorous training regime. ‘It doesn’t come without hard work,’ he says, ‘You always have to put in the work. Me and my brother are lucky enough to have a studio out the back of the house so we do a lot of practice because we have the space.’ 

He continues, ‘I go to college up in Maynooth and I commute up and down, because if I was to stay there it kind of means dancing’s over. There’d be no point paying all the money for the accommodation to have to come down most evenings to do the practice.

‘So I kind of sacrificed college life and going out and stuff just for dancing. But it’s worth it in the end.’ 

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According to James, Irish dancing is ‘huge’ in the United States, and is growing in popularity thanks to social media. 

‘There’s massive numbers over there, and there’s lots in England as well,’ he explains. 

‘There’s an app called Feis and they supply a load of music. During Christmas and Halloween they do theme songs, which could be a traditional reel but you’ll hear jingle bells in the background, and loads of people make up their own steps to it. You see loads of videos going around.’ 

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Irish dancing’s renaissance shows no signs of slowing down, and neither does James, who says he’s ‘always focused on what’s next’. 

Looking to the future, he says he hopes to eventually win a World Championship title. ‘It’s definitely a goal.’