Dance Ireland Member, Oran Leong, talks to us about his inspirations and influences; traditional Irish dance and first experiences with contemporary dance and all that has unfolded as a result. Oran gives thoughtful and considerate advice to young dancers on their own professional dance journey.

Oran is a Dublin-born dance artist of mixed Chinese and Irish heritage.
At 6 years of age he began Irish dance training and competed locally and internationally for nearly 18 years. Having won the World Championships in 2016 for a third year in a row, the only dancer to have achieved this in his organisation, he hung up his feis (competition) shoes and completed his exams for TCRG (Irish dance teacher qualification). While no longer a competitor, he remains a part of the feis world by assisting at competitions and offering workshops to dancers of all ages and levels.

Oran began to study contemporary dance under the mentorship of artistic director Mariam Ribón in the Dublin Youth Dance Company. He then applied and was accepted into the MA in Contemporary Dance Performance at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick.

An Irish, Contemporary and Aerial dancer, Oran has danced with Kristyn Fontanella, Catherine Young, Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre, Justine Doswell, Iseli-Chiodi, IMDT, Monica Munoz Marin, Muirne Bloomer, Cie Marie Lenfant and has been Assistant Artistic Director of Laois Youth Dance Ensemble.

Find out about Oran here

Dance Ireland is the national development and representative organisation for professional dance in Ireland.
We support the development of all forms of dance in Ireland through professional artistic development opportunities, training and advocacy.
Our vision is for dance to be valued and vibrantly, actively, and confidently part of people’s lives. danceireland.ie