The Children's Gym's Irish Dancing Program

Our Positive Teaching Philosophy

The Children’s Gym is all about making children feel successful. Our motto is inspiring children for a lifetime. We believe that building a child’s confidence comes from helping them see just how great they are, not by bringing them down. Through example, we show our students how to see the good in every experience, while valuing the recognition that there is always room for improvement. We teach our students to enjoy the journey and the hard work that gets you somewhere, instead of focusing solely on outcomes. We encourage our students to be creative, to ask questions, and to be the best that they can be.

Our Passionate Instructors

Our Irish Dancing Program was founded by sisters Christina and Victoria White. They teach all of the weekly classes during the season, and other teachers join them as occasional substitute teachers and for Irish dancing camps, birthday parties, and Parent’s Night Out events. Miss Christina and Miss Victoria grew up on the competitive Irish dancing circuit, both qualifying for and competing at the World Championships multiple times. Miss Victoria won the 2015 Western US Regional Championships, and she has been ranked as high as 24th in the world. Miss Christina has been ranked as high as 7th in the Western US, and both Miss Christina and Miss Victoria have performed with many world-class musicians and groups. Irish dancing is their life – they teach each morning, practice their own performance and competition pieces in the middle of the day, teach each afternoon and evening, and fit in early morning and late night cross-training workouts of their own throughout the week. They absolutely love what they do, and it shows in their laughter and smile-filled classes.

Our Beautiful Dance Studio

Artist Benj Curtis painted a beautiful clover mural on all four walls of our dance studio. It creates a unique and wonderful learning space that makes coming to class exciting each and every day. Add to that our sprung floor, black marley flooring, mirrors, music, and unique class props, and our space is like nowhere else!

Our Small Student-Teacher Ratio

We cap our classes for 3-4 year old students at 5 students, and our classes for ages 5-14 at 6 students. This allows for each student to get plenty of one-on-one instruction from the teacher, as well as positive group interaction. It’s not usual to find dance studios that keep their classes so small, but we think it’s worth it!

Our Non-Competitive Classes

Most Irish dance studios offer mainly competitive classes, but our program is entirely non-competitive. There are no competition fees to pay, no expensive dresses or costumes to buy, and no negative interactions like you often find at competitions. There are many positive aspects to competition, but we try to incorporate those positive experiences into our program so you get all the benefits without any of the negatives! We create opportunities for our dancers to perform, we hold fun events that allow our dancers to bond, and we teach both solo and group dancing. Your dancer gets everything, in one happy place!

Our Commitment to Punctuality, Cleanliness, Organization, and Improvement

We can not stress enough how important it is to us that we are the best that we can be for our families. We always welcome positive and negative feedback, as we do our best to learn from every experience and improve whenever possible. We start and end our classes on time, striving for to-the-second punctuality. Our studio is cleaned every day, and we work hard to be organized in everything we do – whether it be in our monthly emails, keeping our dance studio props neat and tidy, creating lesson plans, etc. We love what we do, and we work hard so that you will love every minute of your Irish dancing experience.

Would you like to talk more about why Irish dancing is right for your child? Our dance director, Miss Christina, is more than happy to meet with you to talk it through!

“Teachers create the future when they shape the people they instruct, guide, and encourage. Teachers give hope and the belief that every person has something positive to offer.”

TCG’s Irish Dancing Program is run by sisters Christina and Victoria White. Christina and Victoria did gymnastics at The Children’s Gym for many years before returning as gymnastics coaches. When TCG’s previous dance director had to suddenly move away, Christina and Victoria offered to teach Irish dancing in its place. The program was born!

Now, years later, the program is flourishing, with multiple levels and over 50 students ages 3-14. We participate in a local St. Patrick’s Day parade, offer Irish birthday parties and a special Irish dancing Parent’s Night Out, and run Irish dancing day camps during Winter, Spring, and Summer Break.

The most important thing we want you to know about our program is that we believe in teaching in an encouraging way. Class is structured to instill an appreciation for discipline, but instruction is always geared towards creating a positive, pleasant, and fun-filled environment that students will look back on and remember with joy. We love Irish dancing and want your child to love it, too!

Christina White │ Dance Program Director and Instructor

Miss Christina began Irish dancing when she was 9 years old. She has trained both as a solo and team competitor and performer. She has been competitively ranked as high as 7th in the Western US Region, and she has qualified for the World Championships seven times. Irish dancing has taken her all over the Pacific Northwest as well as to New York, Tennessee, Boston, Florida, Canada, and Ireland. She has performed with The Chieftains, the Trail Blazers, and the Oregon Symphony. In addition to coaching gymnastics at The Children’s Gym, she has been teaching Irish dance for 9 years. Irish dancing is her passion, whether it be competing, performing, or teaching!

Victoria White │ Dance Instructor

Miss Victoria first Irish danced when she was 7 years old. She excelled competitively, reaching the highest level of competition in a mere year and a half. She has qualified for the World Championship five times, and she is currently ranked 1st in the Western US Region. She has also been ranked as high as 20th in North America and 24th in the world. She has traveled all the way to England and Ireland, and she has performed with many world-renowned Irish musicians. She has been teaching for six years and loves passing on her love for Irish dance!