San Marco Plaza to offer Irish Dance in Lakewood Ranch

When Deirdre Cawte told her five children she was leaving Ireland and moving to Florida, they had the same question:

You’ll stop dancing?

“I said, 'Why can't I dance in Florida?'” she said. “Well, I am."

Whether she was teaching in her kitchen, on a spring floor in her backyard or at a hall, Deirdre Cawte has taught Irish dancing for more than 40 years. 

Over the summer, she moved with her family, including daughter, Vicky Cawte, to Perico Bay Club in west Bradenton.

It didn’t take long for them to lace up their ghillies.

Deirdre and Vicky Cawte started teaching Irish dance classes at locations on Anna Maria Island over the summer.

Beginning Oct. 10, the women will bring Irish dance to East County, offering Saturday classes at Dancin on the Suncoast in San Marco Plaza to students of all ages and experience levels.

"We have some participants who are 4 years old; others are 76," Vicky said. "Irish dancing really is for everyone. It's a lot of fun and a very social type of dance."

Deirdre’s parents met when they were 16 at a ceili — a social event participants dance in groups and switch partners.

They went on to own a dance school; dancing became a part of Deirdre’s daily routine when she was just 3.

“I'd come home from school and do my homework,” Deirdre said. “But I ended up dancing most days of the week. Sometimes my dad would say, 'Let's see some of that dancing.’ And I’d stop what I was doing and show him.”

Deirdre won titles in a range of competitions. In the 1960s and 1970s, competition opportunities for dancers ended in the late teenage years.

So, she started teaching classes, beginning with four 11- and 12-year-old girls in her home kitchen.

She went on to found the Cawte Dance Academy, which has been open for more than 40 years.

"I was at the hall all the time," Deirdre said. "I had to bring my children with me classes sometimes when they were babies."

It’s no surprise that she passed the family tradition of Irish dance on to them.

"They didn't really have a choice," Deirdre said, laughing. "But they all loved it."

Vicky went on to hold a leading role in the European show, "Night of the Dance." She toured Europe for five years and has also won a range of awards for Irish dancing.

Deirdre’s daughter Linda Cawte won a gold medal in the Irish dance World Championships.

Deirdre began visiting Orlando in the 1970s but fell in love with Anna Maria Island after a visit her children booked for her in 2011.

She visited the area twice a year for four years, until she moved here over the summer.

Deirdre learned about Lakewood Ranch after meeting Francis Shea, an organizer of the Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corp.'s Irish Festival, at a local bar. 

She drove around Lakewood Ranch and visited dance studio, including Dancin on the Suncoast.

"The studio has windows that line the street," Deirdre said. "If people see you having fun and can see what you're doing, they're more likely to come in and try. I thought, 'This is a studio I'd like to work in.'"

The mix of young families and range of schools in East County also make the location ideal, she added.

Elementary-age students in Ireland also participate in Irish dance as part of their physical education classes.

"Boys and girls, they all learn Irish dancing," Vicky said. "And, they love it."

While Deirdre and Vicky teach Irish dance locally, Linda Cawte continues teaching at the family’s academy in Ireland.

But Deirdre and Vicky are confident they can continue the tradition in Lakewood Ranch.

“Irish dancing is huge in the States,” Deirdre said. “I just want numbers in my classes and to spread the art and culture of Irish dance."

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].