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Gray School of Irish Dance Turns in Exceptional Showing at New England Regionals

Several local students from the Gray School of Irish Dance competed at the New England Regional Irish Dance Championships—also known as the New England Oireachtas—at the Hartford Convention Center from Nov. 16-18. The Gray School, which is located in Old Saybrook, had 24 dancers of various ages who hail from Connecticut and Rhode Island compete in both solo and team competitions alongside fellow participants from throughout the Northeast.

A few of the Gray School’s elite dancers placed within the top percentages of their age groups and earned qualifying spots to represent New England at the 2019 World Irish Dance Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina from April 14 to 21, as well as the 2019 North American Irish Dance Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia from July 1 to 5.

Kaela Gray Milewski and Gillian Gray Milewski from Lyme finished in fourth and 11th place, respectively, which were both world qualifying positions. Addison Kosiewcz from Madison, Bridget Souriyamath of Old Saybrook, Ronan Curran from Brooklyn, Connecticut; Isabella Giles of Westerly, Rhode Island; and Molly Yourell of Waterford earned North American qualifying positions.

Additionally, several Gray School dancers took part in traditional set competitions. The following dancers earned top positions: Margaret Rommel (1st) from Lyme in the U-14 Division, Erin Nygard (2nd) from Old Saybrook in the U-12 Division, along with Madelynn Katz (4th) of Westbrook in the U-11, Nathan Belknap (8th) from Old Saybrook in the U-7, Tiernan Curran (9th) from Brooklyn in the U-11, Sarah Colangelo (15th) of Old Lyme in the U-12, Hannah Belknap (15th) from Old Saybrook in the U-9 Division, and Grace Conlan (18th) from Essex in the U-8 Division

In the Céilí team competitions, Gray School Dancers won the following awards: the mixed-four hand U-12 team of Samantha Fiske, Addison Kosiewicz, Ronan Curran, and Tiernan Curran finished ninth; the girls’ four hand U-12 squad of Colangelo, Fiske, Katz, and Nygard placed 12th, the girls’ four hand O-15 team of Cassie McKiernan, Kellie Sablone, Souriyamath, and Yourell finished 20th, and the girls’ four hand O-15 of Hanna Babek, Giles, Kaela Gray Milewski, and Rommel came in 22nd place.

The Gray School of Irish Dance, located at 881 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook, and has taught students for 40 years under the tutelage of owner Iris Gray Sharnick and director Maura Gray. For info, visit www.grayschool.com or contact 203-270-7001.