OUR STAFF

The staff and guest instructors combined have over 60 years of Irish dance experience in teaching, performing, and competing.

KRISTIN BUTKE ZAGORSKI, TCRG*, ADCRG* Director and Instructor
kb@irishdancinglife.com

Kristin Butke was born in Akron, Ohio, and began Irish dancing at age four. She trained under two-time world champion Tim O'Hare. While competing, Kristin achieved seven Midwest Regional titles, ranging from Under 8 to Over 21 and was the 2001 North American Senior Ladies Champion. Kristin placed 4th at the World Championships in 1993 and 1994 and took the bronze medal in 1997. After taking five years off to dance professionally, Kristin returned to the competitive scene in 2002 at age 25 to capture the bronze again at the World Championships and the silver at the All-Ireland Championships.

From 1997-2000, Kristin toured with Lord of the Dance as a chorus member, as a principle dancer in the role of Morrighan in Las Vegas, Nevada, and danced opposite Michael Flatley in the role of Cleopatra in Feet of Flames. In August of 2003, she performed as Grainne in the Celtic rock musical Celtic Fusion with former Riverdance star Liam Harney. Kristin has also performed with the Chieftains, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she tours and performs with the world-renowned all-female band Cherish the Ladies.

Upon passing her TCRG* in the fall of 2002, Kristin began teaching in Nashville, Tennessee. Classes are also offered in Edmond, Oklahoma. In both schools, Kristin trained two teachers who went to become TCRG's themselves. In January of 2007, Kristin passed her ADCRG* and is now the only TCRG* and ADCRG* teaching in middle Tennessee.

On February 15, 2004, Kristin married Stephen Zagorski. Steve is an active duty U.S. Naval Officer with the SEALs. They have a two year old son, Aidan Conal.

CIARA EGAN CALITRI
Instructor

Ciara Egan Calitri was born in Berlin, New Jersey and has been Irish dancing since the age of eight. She has competed and performed throughout America, Ireland, Canada, and Bermuda. Her competitive career with the DeNogla School of Irish dance spanned nine years and included numerous Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas, North American Nationals, All-Ireland Championships, and World Irish Dance Championships. Ciara's top competitive ranks were 5th at the Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas, 6th at the North American Nationals, and recalls/placements at championships in Ireland.

Ciara began as a teaching assistant with the DeNogla School when she was sixteen years old. Her passion is to coach children and she has professional experience working with the "Kids in Sports" program in New York City. She attended Fordham University in N.Y.C. and, in 2004, earned her Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and Business Administration. After graduating, she worked with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in newborn pediatric research.

Ciara married Michael Calitri on July 22, 2006 and relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. She worked in thoracic clinical trials research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Ciara currently lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and she works for the immunotherapy program at Moffitt Cancer Center. Ciara plans to take the examination for her TCRG* in the future.

AOIBHEANN O'BRIEN BARBERA
Instructor

Aoibheann O'Brien Barbera was born in Dublin Ireland and started dancing at the age of 3. She studied Irish dancing with the well know dance school Inis Ealga in Dublin and trained with Marie Duffy for 16 years. In 1994 at the young age of 16, Aoibheann performed with the original cast of Riverdance the show in which she toured the world for 5 years. Upon leaving Riverdance, she performed with Michael Flatley in 2 world tours of Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames and then moved to Las Vegas to perform in Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino and the Venetian Hotel and Casino for 4 1/2 years.

Aoibheann has performed in some of the most prestigious venues of the world: Radio City Music Hall in New York, The Royal Albert Hall in London, The Point Depot in Dublin, Madison Square Garden New York and has performed to audiences of all sizes including 110,000 people in Budapest, Hungary

Aoibheann, now a real estate agent, resides in Brentwood, TN with her husband Jason Barbera of 4 years and their two beautiful children Lochlann and Dempsey-Rose.

HEATHER MEERS
Instructor

Heather Meers was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and began singing and performing professionally at age 6. During the next 10 years, Heather performed in musical theater in Kentucky and Indiana then pursued country music doing her own shows in Nashville, TN, Branson, MO and St. Paul, MN. She earned her Bachelor's of Business degree in Music Business from Belmont University in Nashville in 1999.

Heather began Irish dancing at age 24 and competed in adult solo and ceili competitions for the first three years of dancing. She is a Regional ceili champion and National ceili bronze medalist. In 2003, she began juvenile solo competition. Her highest solo competitive ranking was 4th at the 2004 Southern Region Oireachtas, qualifying her for the 2005 World Championships which she competed in at Ennis, Ireland.

Heather works in Specialty Leasing with Opry Mills in Nashville, TN and has been with the company since 2001. Heather plans to take the TCRG* exam in the near future.

* The body, which sets the rules and guidelines for all Irish dancing is An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha (The Commission for Irish Dance). All teachers and adjudicators must qualify for their positions by passing an exam created by the Commission and must register every year. TCRG (Teasgicoir Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha) is the designation for a certified instructor. ADCRG (Ard Diploma Coimisiun le Rinci Galeacha) is the designation for a certified adjudicator for Commission Irish dancing competitions.