Lord of the Dance: 25 Years of Standing Ovations -- Celtic Dream 4K 2022 (featuring Lauren Clarke)

Introducing Lauren Clarke as Saoirse!

Lauren Clarke, from Newtownards, has been dancing since she was four years old. As a competitive dancer, she trained at Scoil Rince Realta, winning three Ulster titles, two Irish National titles, and ranking in the top ten dancers at the World Championships for three years running.

Lauren joined Lord of the Dance in 2019 at the age of 18. If you've followed Team Lord social media over the last few years, then you've seen her many times over the years in various videos -- but now, for LOTD's 25th anniversary show, we can for the first time show you a video of her performing a lead role.

The lead roles in Lord of the Dance are archetypes, and the role of Saoirse -- the "good girl" -- is a very difficult role to perform. Anyone performing Saoirse has to endear themselves to the audience, and it has to be genuine; the audience has to really care about the character for the drama to work. Lauren, fortunately, is an incredible show dancer as well as competitive dancer.

Speaking of incredible show dancing, this video also includes a new look at the haunting wind-up doll sequence, featuring Cassidy Ludwig as the Little Spirit. Cassidy holds the record for the most-viewed Irish dance video of all time, and in addition to being a top-shelf Irish dancer, she's also jaw-droppingly brilliant as the Little Spirit.

Planet Ireland arises! Tickets on sale now to LOTD's 25th anniversary show, 25 YEARS OF STANDING OVATIONS. See the classic magic -- with a new generation.

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