In part two of our chat with feis musician, composer, teacher, and adjudicator Francis Ward, we do a deep dive on the legacy of his composition, the Vanishing Lake. Francis gives us the background on how the piece came to be included in the CLRG set dance canon and his thought-process while composing it. We also talk about his commissioned work, Planxty Ar Sarsfield, part of the Cuimhnigh ar Sarsfield: The Wild Geese Suite, the philosophy behind World Music Pedagogy, and his thoughts on the role of competition in Irish dance.

Francis' composition, Cuimhnigh ar Sarsfield: The Wild Geese Suite, commissioned by the Limerick Bastille Day Wild Geese Festival, is available for listening on YouTube. His award-winning set dance, The Vanishing Lake, is available for listening at every single jig set round at a competition near you.

In part one of this two-part interview with Dr. Francis Ward, Julia gets far too excited to nerd out with another ethnomusicologist. We chat about Francis' early foray into traditional Irish music and dance, his experience at University of Limerick, how to inspire students to find passion and drive in pursuit of music and dance, the evolution of tradition in Irish dance, and so much more.

Francis' composition, Cuimhnigh ar Sarsfield: The Wild Geese Suite, commissioned by the Limerick Bastille Day Wild Geese Festival, is available for listening on YouTube. His award-winning set dance, The Vanishing Lake, is available for listening at every single jig set round at a competition near you.

And if you want to listen to what lawyers and law firm marketing and business development professionals can learn from Irish dance, here's the episode of The BD Catalyst that Kristo referenced in the intro.

In this episode of Planxty, we talk to the world-renowned Irish dance artist, choreographer, educator, and creative producer Ciara Sexton. Tune in hear about her myriad projects - including her children's book, My First Book of Irish Dance (available here: https://a.co/d/04VNHnyQ) and her upcoming preschool YouTube series It's Time to Dance with Ciara. We cover so much in this episode, including how she balances all the different hats she wears as a performer, teacher, and mum. Throughout the episode, Ciara's solution-oriented and optimistic outlook shine through.

This month, Julia and Kristo chat with Brian O'Sullivan, a feis musician, actor, comedian, and fellow podcaster. Tune in and hear about Brian's earliest feis memories, his take on musical storytelling and the development of his musical style, and how playing music in the immersive sphere of the feis can become a transendential experience. Be sure to check out Brian's long running podcast Putting it Together and follow him on Instagram @bridohingwy to check out his laugh-out-loud comedic shorts. You can also currently check him out in the London West End production of Cabaret and listen to his album "One Day at a Time" on the FEISApp.

Part 2 of 2: Your hosts deliver their recap of CLRG Worlds 2026 and all the amazingness it was, before rolling part 2 of their conversation with Cormac O'Se & Natalie Nugent O'Shea. In this half of the conversation, they dig deeper into teaching, team building and community and talk about the origin and future of the Celtic Junction Arts Center.

Part 1 of 2: Julia and Kristo sit down with friends, collaborators and colleagues Cormac O'Se & Natalie Nugent O'Shea to talk Irish dance teaching, the different paths that led them both to Riverdance, and the value of dance and music productions for their school. And, if you listen for it you may hear sounds of the remodel taking place at the Celtic Junction Arts Center. More on that in Part 2!

Co-founders of the FEIS app and FEIStv, Sean O'Brien and Liam O'Sullivan sit down with Julia and Kristo and share their different paths to traditional Irish music and the world of Irish dance, and do a deep dive into composing and performing as world-class feis musicians.

Recorded nearly one year ago, Scott Doherty was Julia and Kristo's first podcast guest! The episode and the podcast are finally here. Scott is a mindset coach, a World Irish Dance Champion, a professional dancer, a dance teacher and the list goes on. We were glad to have him on to share his perspective and creative approach to working with dancers and families.