Kerri Smith has a long and impressive history with Irish Dance. At age 8 she found her passion and 19 years later it is still going strong. Over the course of 14 years of competitive Irish Dance, Kerri represented the DeNogla School of Irish Dance under the direction of Jennifer Nagle-McGovern and Alison Nagle and earned five Oireachtas (Regional) championships, second place in the North American Irish Dance Championships, and fourth place in the World Championships in 2009. She was also featured on the cover of Irish Dance and Culture Magazine and has had the privilege of performing on Broadway and with NJPAC with renowned artists such as Eileen Ivers, Frank Patterson, and the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Kerri’s journey in Irish Dance didn’t end there. In 2012 she became an An Coimisiun Le Rince Gaelacha (World Irish Dance Commission) certified Irish Dance Instructor and the following September she opened the Kerri Smith Academy of Irish Dance. Through the academy, she has had the opportunity to perform at cultural festivals, St. Patrick’s Day parades, and competitively at local feiseanna, Regional Oireachtas, and North American Championships. In 2014, Kerri was honored with the New Jersey Irish Business Association’s Woman of the Year award for her work with the dance school. The school opened its own studio in Downtown Jersey City in September of the same year. In 2022, Kerri celebrated the milestone of 10 years in business with the Kerri Smith Academy of Irish Dance and looks forward to the school’s continued success in the years to come.