A Round of Applause for Three-time Irish Dance Champion Ashley Smith

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December 11, 2021 • 10 mins

When Ashley Smith takes the stage, it’s tough to take your eyes off of her. As the lead female dancer in dozens of productions, including the recent 60-city tour of Rockin’ Road to Dublin (RR2D.com), the spotlight is bright when this dynamic dancer is center stage with her co-lead Scott Doherty, who is the co-creator of the show with Celtic rocker Chris Smith. Those who know Ashley realize she’s as lovely a person as she is a remarkable talent.

A dancer since she was 3 — her parents are dance teachers Michael and Noreen Smith — Ashley has been a shining star just waiting to be in the spotlight.

Her biography is impressive, indeed. At 16, she’d become the youngest woman to be crowned the World Irish Step Dancing Champion in Belfast, in 2004, and was also named one of the Top Irish American that year. She went on to win two more world championship titles in 2005 and 2009, and also has won All Ireland Championships, and numerous North American and regional titles.

Ashley graduated from Manhattanville College in 2010 with a BA in dance and theater. While Irish dancing remains one of her favorite forms of dance, it’s not her only claim to fame.

She was one of the top 30 female finalists on the hit TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance?” She was also a featured dancer in the Oscar-nominated film, “Silver Linings Playbook,” starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro.

Ashley has also starred in several musical theater productions — as Kristine in the Tibbits Opera House production of “A Chorus Line;” as Anybody’s in the Fireside Theater production of “West Side Story;” and as Brooke Wyndham in the Hoboken Theater Company’s production of “Legally Blond.”