Instructors
Nora Pickett - TCRG, Director and Choreographer
Nora started Irish dancing at age 7 with the highly acclaimed Violet Moore School of Irish Dance in Vancouver, BC, Canada. With a strong creative, competitive and adventurous spirit Nora has developed a true passion for Irish dance over the years. She began competing at the highest competitive level of Open Championship at 12 years of age. She qualified for the World Championships 10 times, placing between 1st and 5th in the qualifying rounds in Western Canada and London, England.
In 1992-1993 Nora lived in London, England and studied with the prestigious Maguire-O’Shea Academy of Irish Dance. Irish dance has taken her all over the world during her 18 year career of competitive dance. She has danced against the likes of Jean Butler, Colin Dunne and countless other Riverdance and Lord of the Dance cast members. Her last World Championship competition was in 1993 when she placed in the top 30 in the solo dance section and 5th in her team ceili competition. Nora has won innumerable championships and open competitions in the United States (New York, Seattle, Oregon), Canada (Vancouver, Victoria) the United Kingdom (Great Britain, London, Ireland) and in other parts of the world.
Nora retired from competitions in 1993 then returned to compete one last time at 29 years of age at the 2000 North American Nationals in San Francisco. She placed in the top 10 in two dances and 18th overall.
Nora also actively performed locally, nationally and internationally throughout her Irish dance career. Performing in front of packed and enthusiastic audiences from all over the world was always her favourite part of her Irish dancing experiences. Nora feels that “performing butterflies” were always more enjoyable and exciting than “competing butterflies” although she believes both are important feelings to work with and overcome in the world of Irish dance.
Some of Nora’s most cherished and loved memories during her 18 years of competitive dance remain with the Irish dance friends she met along the way. Many of these childhood friends remain life-long friends that she still honours today! Nora declares “there is nothing like having a great laugh with your friends that have known you through the thick and thin adventures in your life!”
Nora’s love for Irish dance took her to the next level in 1994 – coaching students to reach their personal, competitive, performance and recreational goals. Hard work, dedication, patience, practice, stamina, balance, conditioning and endless amount of positive energy are the secrets to her success. Nora finds teaching to be a constant challenge integrated with great fun! Nora now thoroughly enjoys training and mentoring some of her most experienced and talented students during their journey to become TCRG’s. This will no doubt keep Nora’s passion for Irish dance alive and well for many years to come!
Courtney Rose – Senior Assistant Instructor
Courtney Rose started dancing at age 3 with ballet, jazz, tap, Highland and Irish in her repertoire of dance experience. She tried on her first Irish dance shoes and joined Nora on the dance floor as a pre-beginner at the age of 14. This is when a new passion became “Eire Born” for Courtney! She danced her way to the top in just 8 years. After 3 years under Nora’a instruction, Courtney entered the Open Championship level and won competitions in the United States and Canada.
As a six-time World Championship competitor since April 2010, she knows first-hand that consistent hard work and practice have provided her with a competitive edge and have added a special flair to her dance performance. In 2009 Courtney received her third 1st place finish at the Western Canadian Oireachtas, plus previous 3rd and 4th place achievements. This makes her the current Western Canadian Senior Ladies Champion! In 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 she received a “recall” to the final round at the North American Championships placing 26th, 14th, 13th and 23rd. She also received a “recall” at the 2007 World Championships where she placed 34th.
Courtney broadened her Irish dance experience in 2003 by beginning her long journey as an Irish dance instructor. She enjoys instructing all levels of Irish dance and she has a unique ability to connect with each dancer. She strives to bring out the best in every dancer through positive encouragement while integrating a “fun” element into classes. Courtney practices her creative choreography coming up to the Ceili and NPIDA Year End Show each year by adding some fantastic modern steps and ideas to the stage along with funky costumes. Courtney plans to take her TCRG exam in 2010 to become a registered Irish dance teacher with the Irish Dance Commission in Ireland. Courtney retired from competitive Irish dancing in July, 2010. She will no doubt continue to let her serious passion for Irish dance live on through her teaching and performances!
Rachel Samuel – Assistant Instructor
Rachel is 19 years old, and she has been dancing for the past 8 years with NPIDA. As soon as she began, she was hooked on Irish: the upbeat music, the beautiful dresses, and the exciting performances at the Ceili and Eire Born shows. Rachel worked hard to get to Preliminary championships, and she continues to compete, perform, and teach today despite the fact that she is following her dream to become a nurse as of September 2010. She loves Irish dancing for so many reasons. It constantly challenges her to work harder and do her best, as well as keeping fit and feeling good about herself. Rachel especially loves St. Patrick’s Day and performing in Eire Born shows. She feels that one of the best parts about Irish Dance is our sense of community and the many amazing friendships that she has made.
Rachel has been teaching for the last 4 years, and she finds this to be one of the most fulfilling parts of dance. She loves watching the progress of the kids, from learning to do a 1,2,3 to finally getting the sought-after red dress! Seeing the kids having fun together and seeing their smiles of accomplishment when they do well or perfect a new step makes teaching incredibly rewarding. Irish Dance has brought Rachel many of the best experiences in her life, and she hopes that many others will find the same passion and enjoyment from Irish dancing that she has!
Alex Meeres – Assistant Instructor
Alex has danced for 10 years and began with her “feet turned in and arms doing a jazz number”! Luckily she eventually turned it around and now she competes in Preliminary Championships. What she enjoys most about Irish dance is the lasting friendships she has made. She also loves to perform with Eire Born, especially during St. Patrick’s Day shows. Alex also loves the overall fitness she has achieved from dancing. Though she has only started teaching recently, she enjoys the energy and candid one-liners the young dancers share with her in each class. She truly loves to see the potential each dancer has to grow as an Irish dancer. Seeing the dancers improve from week to week while building friendships reiterates how special Irish dance is to her.
Alex has extensive experience in many team sports such as basketball, volleyball and ulimate. She played basketball since grade 5 in multiple leagues including varsity in high school and on Basketball BC regional teams. She was captain on her basketball teams from grade 8-12 inclusive. She won awards like “most spirited”, “MVP” and “most competitive”. It was very important for Alex as a team captain to not only foster the most competitive team, but also to be the most sportsmen-like in every sense. Her senior basketball coach always said she was a “very natural motivator” and that she was the “glue of our team” . Alex continues to take part in competitive sports and competitive and performance-based Irish dance. She plays basketball and volleyball intramurals at the University of British Columbia and she plays with the Vancouver Ultimate League.
Alex is a fond believer in the power that Irish dancing has to shape young people into strong role models today. Alex hopes all the young dancers she teaches will have the same great experiences she has had from Irish dancing!
Samantha Leonard – Assistant Instructor
Samantha Leonard is 14 years old and she began Irish Dancing with the Nora Pickett Irish Dance Academy when she was just 5 years old! She has competed in many competitions including the Western Canadian Oireachtas and she has enjoyed every minute of it while meeting lots of new friends along the way. Samantha is a Preliminary Championship dancer.
Samantha’s first teaching experience with the Academy was during the 2009 Summer Camp. She had so much fun passing on her experience to the young beginners! It’s great to see how far they have come with their dancing in such a short period of time! Samantha declares “Irish Dancing has helped me gain more confidence in life while keeping me very fit”. She hopes to keep dancing in her life for many years to come and she would really encourage people to take up the opportunity to join in to have fun with us!
Catalina Gillies – Assistant Instructor
Catalina is an open championship dancer and she began Irish dancing at age six after watching Nora’s show group “Eire Born” perform during the Tall Ships in Steveston, Richmond, B.C. Catalina has been happily dancing ever since! She has competed in numerous competitions throughout the Lower Mainland, Alberta, Washington and Oregon. She has competed five times in the Western Canadian Oireachtas, placing three times in the top ten. Catalina has also qualified for the North American Championships four times.
Catalina equally loves competing and performing in shows. After joining Eire Born three years ago she began participating in numerous dance shows. She was awarded the first Patrick McAndless and Victor Smyth scholarship at the 2009 Ceili and Year End Show. She was awarded the scholarship based on her true passion for Irish Dance and for taking on a strong leadership role during her performances with Eire Born.
Last year Catalina began helping Nora teach the pre-beginners and as a result she has discovered a new passion! She loves teaching the little ones the 1-2-3’s and 7’s! She finds them so cute and she cannot believe that she was that small once.
Catalina’s other passions are basketball and drama. She feels that Irish Dance has definitely helped her excel at both these activities. She claims it helped develop her physical fitness and gave her the confidence to perform in front of an audience. Catalina feels that her Irish dancing also taught her that long hours of practice and hard work are required for success and excellence in everything in life. In July 2010 she competed in her first Nationals in Orlando, Florida.
Michael Yap – Assistant Instructor
In 2001, Michael joined NPIDA after watching numerous dance competitions in which his sister, Lisa, was competing. Inspired to dance, Michael quickly progressed through the levels, breaking into Preliminary Championships after only 1.5 years of dancing. Moving up to Open Championships a year later, Michael began competing at the Western Canadian Oireachtas, in which he has qualified for the North American Nationals 6 times, and the World Championships 5 times, since then. Now 19 years old, he has been awarded three Nationals medals- 13th, 14th and 17th, in the years 2007, 2008, and 2010 respectively. At his first World Championships in 2009, Michael placed 16th. It was there, in Philadelphia, where he had the privilege of meeting the world-renowned Irish dancer Michael Flatley, the creator of the highly popular, “Lord of the Dance”. In 2010 Michael competed at the World Championships once again, placing 17th in Glasgow, Scotland.
In 2009, Michael received a scholarship from the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America, for excellence in Irish dance and academics. He currently attends the University of British Columbia, where he is studying towards a degree in Environment and Sustainability.
Irish Dance has given Michael an amazing opportunity to meet great people and build life skills, as a dancer and an instructor. Hours of practice, hard work, and dedication have helped him achieve his competitive goals, and now, he hopes to help other dancers achieve their goals.