How Well Did West County Irish Dance Students Do on the World Stage?

West St. Louis County Irish dance students scored high among the 6,000 dancer from around the world who participated in the World Irish Dance Championships in Boston just before Easter.

A group of students from the Clarkson School of Irish Dance participated in the eight-day event. Two individual dancers drew honors: Merissa Billhartz, 28th in the under 20 women’s competition; and Abby Llewellyn, 40th in the under 11 girl’s competition.

One dance team—the junior girls figure team—received a "World Globe" award for placing in the top three, a first for St. Louis Irish dancers, according to the school's news release. The team placed third.

Clarkson dancers combined for 74 medals from individual and team competitions.

The school, founded in 1989, has approximately 150 dancers from the metropolitan St. Louis area.