Brady Academy Teachers
The Brady Academy teachers have a combined experience of 130 years of teaching competitive irish dancing around the world.
Academy Directors
Gloria Brady, Director & TCRG
Gloria Brady, TCRG, started dancing at the age of 11. She achieved titles such as First Western Canadian girl to recall and place at the World Dance Championships in Ireland. She continued to place consecutively in the top ten over the next seven years. Gloria retired from competitive dancing at the age of 18.
Gloria started teaching in 1983 after receiving a T.C.R.G. qualification certificates from Ireland with high honors. This qualification gave her students the opportunity to compete in the North American Championships and the World Irish Dance Competitions.
Over the years Gloria and The Brady Academy of Irish Dance have produced many dance champions from Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, to North American and World Championships in both solo and team Ceili dancing.
Philip Brady, Director & TCRG
Philip Brady TCRG, certified Irish dance teacher, World class Irish dancer and performer, leads the Brady Academy of Irish Dance in Winnipeg. His accomplishments and credentials as a true professional have been instrumental in showcasing the beauty and excitement of Irish Dance to audiences around the world.
Philip began dancing at 10 years of age in Dublin, Ireland. During his competitive years Philip achieved champion status, winning 10 consecutive Canadian Irish Dance, 3 North American and 5 overseas World Champion titles.
As a performer, Philip shone in his own production of "Dream of Ireland" for Walt Disney World Productions, and thrilled audiences during his extensive tour with the international production, "Lord of the Dance". Philip's unique style, boundless energy and loose yet mechanically precise footwork permit him to stretch the versatility of Irish Dance to it's very limit.
John Brady, Director & TCRG
John Brady TCRG, certified Irish dance teacher, John started dancing at the age of 6 with encouragement from his big sister gloria. John competed at the national and international level over a 20 year dancing career. John has competed in the world championships 5 times over his dancing career always placing well.
John has been involved in irish dancing for over 40 years and after moving back from Ireland in 2006 he now leads and runs the new Calgary location.
Assistant Teachers
Devlin Brady
Devlin Brady began dancing at the age of 10 under the instruction of her Dad, Philip Brady. Devlin quickly moved her way through the grade levels and into Open Championships. Devlin competed at multiple Western Canadian Oireachtas' qualifying for the North American and World Championships.
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While also playing competitive soccer, Devlin stepped away from dance only to return in 2019 to compete at the Western Canadian Oireachtas in Saskatoon where she finished in the Top 5 and qualified for the World Championships in Dublin.
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Due to COVID-19, Devlin wouldn't get back on stage until 2022 when the World Championships returned to Belfast for its 50th Anniversary. This completed Devlin's competitive career and saw all three Brady cousins compete at the World Championships together for the first time. Since then Devlin has received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Winnipeg and is working towards a Bachelor of Education.
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Devlin is proud to be a part of the Brady team and is enjoying teaching alongside her Dad and other teachers in the school as she works to obtain her TCRG.
Shelby Dechief
Shelby Dechief fell in love with Irish Dancing long before she ever stepped into a studio when she watched a St. Patrick’s Day performance in her Kindergarten class. At 8 years old she was able to take her first class and never looked back.
Shelby quickly moved through the grade levels to become a championship level dancer, competing at multiple Western Canadian Oireachtas' and North American Championships for both solo and ceili dancing.
Despite finding success in her competitive career, Shelby discovered her true passion within Irish dancing was with teaching. Shelby assisted in teaching classes in Fort McMurray from 2015 to 2019. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from Vancouver Island University, Shelby moved back home to Fort McMurray where she teaches with Gloria Brady and works as a Registered Kinesiologist.
Shelby is incredibly excited to be part of the team of teachers at the Brady Academy who taught and supported her throughout her competitive career and is working toward obtaining her TCRG in the near future.
Meghan Kavanagh
Meghan Kavanagh Fabian's love for Irish dancing and the Irish culture started from birth. She started watching family friends dance and knew she wanted to be a part of the Irish Dance life. At age 6, she started taking lessons. She then went on to compete - solo and as a part of teams -winning numerous awards.
After Meghan retired from competing, she was invited to tour with Philip Brady in two professional Irish Dance shows - travelling Western Canada and the United States. Now, Meghans joy is in teaching Irish Dancing with the Brady Academy, watching the dancers progress and love for Irish dance.