Katrina Perkins has been putting her best foot forward for some time now.

And some foot it is too because the 15-year-old Chipping Campden School pupil is very good at Irish dancing, the energetic pursuit made famous by Michael Flatley in the 1990s.

So good in fact that she is a world champion having been part of an Irish dancing figure team that took the title in Killarney in Ireland earlier this year in the World Irish Dance Association (WIDA) World Championships.

She was part of a 16-strong team that also included older sisters Stephanie, 21, and 19-year-old Leah.

They were representing their dance school – McCarthy-Felton School of Irish Dance – and amazingly it was the fourth time that they have won the title.

That’s not the only success that Katrina has enjoyed in the past few months because she was crowned British under-15 solo champion for the second year running in Edinburgh and then went on to win the German Open crown in Dusseldorf.

Winning titles is nothing new to Katrina who has been involved with Irish dancing for more than a decade. In 2016 she also won the under-14 All Ireland Solo Championship in Cork.

“She first started doing it when she was four or five,” said proud dad Nick, who like Katrina’s mum Tracey, is no dancer himself. “She followed her two older sisters into it and it all took off from there.”

So what makes a good Irish dancer?

“You need to be very dedicated,” said Nick. “It’s incredibly energetic and the fitness levels needed are astounding.

“You need so much stamina and your core strength has to be very good because you have to do so many jumps and kicks.

“Katrina does a lot of fitness and core work – Stephanie leads the other two through the fitness regime. It’s pretty punishing.”

And all the hard work has paid off from a very early age for Katrina.

“I remember her first European competition,” said her dad. “It was in Malaga and she came third in the under-8 category.”

That was just the start of course and Katrina certainly hasn’t looked back.


“It seems to come very naturally to Katrina,” said Nick. “Stephanie and Leah have to work very hard. Stephanie came ninth in the over-21 British Championship and Leah was fifth in the under-19 category so they’re all good.”

And there’s plenty of talent with a capital ‘T’ in the Perkins family because Nick’s son Gavin, now 24, was very good at motorcycle road racing when he was younger, winning the EMRA 80cc and 125cc championships at Mallory Park when he was 15 and 17 respectively.

“I’m very proud of all of them,” said Nick.

So is there any sibling rivalry?

“A little,” laughed Nick, “but it’s good-natured. They do help each other and Stephanie went to Germany with Katrina recently when she won the title there.

“We’re very lucky because all the people at the dance school are a great bunch and Katrina’s school have been very supportive in giving her time off so she can compete in the competitions.”

McCarthy-Felton School of Irish Dance is based at Salford Priors, a small village not far from Chipping Campden.

It was established by Mary Felton and she now runs it with her daughter Meabh. And they clearly know what they’re doing because it’s not just the Perkins family who are benefitting from all their good work – a number of other champions are taught at the school including two current solo world champions, Chloe English and Madeleine Dale.

Katrina is a regular at the school of, course, and trains on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

That’s pretty full on and her dad added: “She doesn’t do any other kind of dancing, the skills she has are quite specific to Irish dancing.”

So does she watch Strictly on a Saturday night?

“No laughed,” her dad. “Her mum and I do. She’s your standard teenager, she’s always got her head in a phone!”

That may be true, but Katrina is certainly calling all the right numbers when it comes to Irish dancing!