Growing up in West Virginia and Hong Kong, Karen was involved in piano,chorus, tennis and enjoyed traveling the world with her family. She graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies, with a primary focus on Mandarin language, and a minor degree in music with an emphasis on piano performance. After graduation, Karen spent the next two years working for two exporting companies in Taiwan before returning to North Carolina and joining Nortel Networks. Karen stayed on with Nortel for seventeen years, working in various marketing positions, including a year in Tokyo, Japan, supporting both the international and domestic sales teams. Following her son’s footsteps, Karen began taking Irish dance lessons in 2008 and quickly became hooked on Irish dance and now thoroughly enjoys performing and competing. In September 2009, Karen began working with Danny Tighe and assumed ownership of the school in November of that same year. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience, Karen is leading and developing the school while maintaining a strong family environment. In her spare time, Karen leads the children’s choir at her church, plays on local tennis teams and continues to play piano both at church and for her own enjoyment.

Daniel Triggle began dancing at the age of seven in Bristol United Kingdom, as was tradition in his community. Daniel applied himself to Irish dancing for a total of 18 years and as a result, his accomplishments precede him. His talents have been ranked and recognized on the worldwide championship level. Within this time he has come in 1st at "The British Nationals" and taken a coveted 2nd place at "The All Irelands", "All Scotland's", "European Nationals", "American Nationals" and "The World Championships". He has also competed in Ceili teams and Choreography coming in 1st for the World Title consecutively for 2003, 2004 & 2005. In 2005 Daniel performed in "Gaelforce" and "Rhythm of the Dance" where he was cast as the male leading role. In 2006 he began touring the world for three years with Riverdance, performing around the world in such places as the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Taiwan, China and Japan. In 2009 he obtained his T.C.R.G. certification in Irish dance instruction. On downtime before his last US tour with Riverdance, he was an instructor at Camp Rince Ceol, taught workshops and toured with "Rhythms of Ireland."
Although Daniel has indeed come a long way in the world of Irish dancing, his family and friends have kept him very grounded as a person. His teaching style is best described as rigorous yet enjoyable and ultimately affective. Dancing has been Daniel's passion for several years and was only to be surpassed by his new-found love for teaching.

Bridget Madden began dancing at the age of two. She started with ballet and tap and added Irish six years later when she began training at the Leneghan Academy of Irish Dance in Cleveland. She has competed in feiseanna in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Bridget recently graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Although she has a technical background, Bridget is passionate about teaching and enjoys the fun and creativity that Irish dance offers. She enjoys helping students succeed and strives to make the class fun, yet challenging for everyone.

Doreen McVeigh started dancing with the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance in Chicago, IL at the age of six. Growing up, she actively competed in feiseanna throughout the Midwest and abroad both as a solo dancer and as a céíeam member. During her first year at Sweet Briar College, Doreen co-founded an after school Irish dance program for children in central Virginia; seven years later it continues to flourish, teaching local kids the joys of dance. After graduating with a B.S. in Biology, Doreen earned a master’s degree at Hood College in Environmental Biology studying the population genetics of stingrays in the Chesapeake Bay and Florida coast. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Marine Science at North Carolina State University, researching the population connectivity of deep-sea communities throughout the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. When not in the lab or wearing ghillies, Doreen is an equine enthusiast competing as a hunter/jumper, and frequently travels abroad to experience different cultures.

Shelby is an open champion dancer that is still very active in competition. Growing up in Texas, Shelby had a love for gymnastics but quickly switched to Irish dance at age 9. She first started with the San Antonio Irish dancers, a non-competitive dance group, but became hooked on competition when the Shandon O'Reagan School of Irish Dance opened a satellite school in her area. When Shandon closed their branch in San Antonio, Shelby began driving 5 hours to Dallas for dance class until switching to the Inishfree School of Irish Dance in 2010. While at Inishfree, Shelby qualified for North American Nationals twice and also placed 4th at the 2011 Southern Region Oireachtas, qualifying for and competing at the 2012 World Championships. Shelby has also both assisted and substituted in classes during her time at Inishfree. Shelby now lives in Aberdeen, NC with her husband Nikkholai Miller who serves us in the U.S Army and is stationed at Fort Bragg. In her spare time, Shelby is a gymnastics coach, an avid crafter, hobby photographer and an aspiring singer.