Two world championship-winning Irish dancers have come full circle, coaching their daughters to gold medals at the recent Irish Dancing World Championships in Glasgow.
Trinity Academy of Irish Dance alumni and instructors Michaela Donohue and Deirdre Vrbancic were part of the school's historic team that won gold at the 1998 World Championships.
Donohue's daughter, Izzy, and Vrbancic's daughter, Sophia, have now followed in their mother's footsteps, winning gold at the recent championships in Glasgow - using almost exactly the same routine.
Speaking to WGN9, Izzy Donohue described winning gold as the "most incredible moment ever".
"We were so excited and thrilled we had done it," Izzy told WGN9.
Sophia Vrbancic, meanwhile, spoke of the excitement of being announced World Championship Winners.
"We were all screaming and jumping, so excited 'cause we knew all the work we had put in was totally worth it," she told WGN9.
Deirdre Vrbancic, who acts as Province Programme Manager at Trinity, told the outlet that she "tweaked and changed" the original dance that saw her win gold 26 years ago.
"The music is the same. Hard to top that," Deirdre said.
Deirdre, whose mother is from County Mayo, said Irish dancing was a way of life growing up in the United States.
"I’m the youngest of five, Irish family. That the way it was. Every spring I’d go to Ireland with my mom. We had this Irish dancing thing to bond us together and got to travel with it."
Michaela Donohue, meanwhile said Irish dancing was something her legs were "meant to do".
The pair met when they were 10 years old and won gold at the 1998 World Championships in Ireland.
Trinity Academy, representing Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago, has now won 14 gold medals at Irish Dancing World Championships.
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