Established in 1992 by qualified Irish Dance teacher Sheryl Watkins TCRG, the Watkins Academy of Irish Dance has grown to become one of Queensland & Australia’s premier Irish dance schools. As well as winning numerous State and National titles, dancers from the Watkins Academy have ranked in the Top 10 in the world.

On the professional stage, Watkins Academy dancers have performed and toured at home and overseas in top Irish dance productions including “Lord Of the Dance”, “To Dance On The Moon”, “Dance Of Desire”, “Magic of the Dance”, "A Taste of Ireland", "A Celtic Christmas", "Tara", and Michael Flatley’s “Celtic Tiger”.

​At home, its dancers compete at local, state & national level and performed regularly alongside the Queensland Pops Orchestra, at Gilhooleys Irish Bar & Restaurant in Brisbane's CBD and at the Woodford Folk Festival, to name just a few.

Our philosophy is to create a class environment which is highly-productive and constructive whilst also being enjoyable and social. A friendly team spirit is extremely important and we are very proud of the sportsmanship shown by all members of the Academy.

From   the   Beginning

Where   We   Are   Now

When I started the school in 1992, I could only dream of what I wanted to achieve and the sort of school I wanted to create. I can say with a heart full of pride that, together, we have ticked off that bucket list. We’ve won State & National titles; we’ve brought home World medals; our dancers have been in the spotlight and even danced with Michael Flatley; they have gone on to become qualified teachers and adjudicators in their own right and some even married one another! ​.

I am so very proud of this school and all that we’ve done during the past 30 years. Not just our successes on stage but the camaraderie off stage as well. Nothing rings out louder in my head than 2004 when we had three Figure Dance teams compete at State and Nationals. It was tough but that’s when I saw our team spirit come to the forefront and we went on to not only win the U13 Figure at Nationals but our Senior Figure placed 2nd and our U16 Figure was Top 5. Watching the excitement and emotion as our Watkins family of dancers, parents and teachers rallied around each other was something special and none of us will ever forget it.

And to have our dancers take out the coveted and prestigious Senior Mens and Senior Ladies Titles at the 2022 Queensland State Championships was a special moment. Our very own Samuel Barnes and Tyler Watkins dancing together in the "Dance of Champions" is something we will never forget.

In 2025, we celebrated a record year on the competitive stage.
Our dancers won an incredible 17 Queensland State Titles and had 22 dancers qualify to represent Queensland and Australia at the 2026 World Championships. At the 2025 National Titles, we won an incredible four (4) Australian Championship Titles; two (2) Runner-Up Titles; eight (8) Top 5 places and had 15 dancers and teams in the Top 10.

At the 2025 World Championships in Dublin, our dancers shone. 
We brought home four (4) medals from the prestigious event having Joshua Hendriks recall and finish 12th at his first World Championships and our three (3) Ceili teams ALL recalled and brought home medals. This was the first time our school was represented in team events and to have all teams make the recall was an outstanding accomplishment.

Our Senior Mixed 4-Hand Ceili team placed 5th and were WORLD MEDAL HOLDERS. Our 13-16Yrs Mixed 4-Hand Ceili finished 8th and our Senior Girls 8-Hand Ceili finished 11th bringing home WORLD RECALL MEDALS. An amazing reward for the hard work and commitment and to have it recognised at the highest level.

Championship Highlights

We are beyond proud of all our dancers.
Everyone is a winner in our eyes.
#wallies #teamwatkins #oneteamonedream