We were lucky to catch up with Katie Stephens Spangler recently and have shared our conversation below.
Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
My Irish dance school does not participate in Irish dance competitions, which is pretty rare in the Irish dance world. We are focused on teamwork and on exciting, innovative performances that bring joy to our audiences.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Katie Stephens Spangler began dancing in Milwaukee in 1987 with the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance. She performed and competed all over the world for 11 years with Trinity and also assisted with teaching classes. She had the opportunity to perform in places like Belgium, Nashville and New York, and she finished her competitive career at the Championship level in 1998. Katie moved to St. Paul that year, and continued to perform for the next several years.
Katie taught for four years with the St. Paul Irish Dancers while attending the University of St. Thomas. She graduated from UST in May of 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to open Rince na Chroi in February of 2003. Under Katie’s direction over the last two decades, Rince na Chroi has grown tremendously.
In addition to managing the curriculum and progress of all of Rince na Chroi’s students, Katie manages the teaching staff and oversees all communications, bookings and enrollment.
Katie served on the Board of Directors for the Irish Music and Dance Association from 2005-2006. She served on the Board of Directors for the Irish Fair of Minnesota from 2010-2017, including holding the position of Board Secretary and Marketing Committee Chair. Katie lives in Lake Elmo with her husband Jason, their two children, Alice and Robbie, and their dog, Sweeney.
The St. Paul St. Pat’s Association named Katie their “Distinguished Irish Woman” of the year in 2022.
At Rince na Chroi, our purpose is to provide a positive, fun learning atmosphere for all of our students.
Our dancers are friends, both in and out of the classroom.
We strive to instill a sense of belonging, school spirit and confidence in each and every Rince na Chroi student.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When COVID hit in March 2020 and the world shut down, we really were at a loss as to how to keep things going. March is St. Patrick’s season, and for Irish dancers, that is normally one of our busiest times of the year. Day by day, hour by hour, all of our performances were cancelling as everything went into lockdown. We had no idea how long any of this was going to last.
That summer, we ended up having to move our classes all online. We had to continue to think of ways to keep our current students and families engaged with us even though they weren’t seeing us in person. We also had to get creative about ways to recruit new students without being able to promote ourselves at festivals and events like we normally do.
That fall, we did return to in-person classes, with masks and all new rules about how to conduct class, keep dancers distanced from each other, lots of sanitizing, etc. There were a lot of challenges along the way.
In February 2021, we took our annual “From the Stage to your Heart” performance and moved it online- “From the Screen to your Couch.” It was a new undertaking for us, and we’re grateful to everyone who supported us while we tried to keep things going best we could!!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
The fact that our dancers don’t participate in competitions makes us unique in our market, and I think that appeals to families for a number of different reasons.
I have always worked hard at communication, and I think that is one of the things our families like best about our organization. I send weekly emails. I share dates and deadlines as early and as often as possible. I try to make things as easy as possible for busy families.
I try to be open to feedback as much as possible. I always want us to get better at what we do and who we are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rincenachroi.com
- Instagram: rincenachroi
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rincenachroi
- Twitter: rincenachroi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rincenachroi
Image Credits
Jules Hawkins Photography