Meagan Urbanek choreographed and performed a minute-and-a-half routine for a freestyle Irish Dance in Glasgow, Scotland where she was crowned the World Champion. PROVIDED

A North Fort Myers resident has been crowned the World Champion for freestyle Irish Dance in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Oh, my goodness,” said Meagan Urbanek. “It was so surreal. Being World Champion is something every dancer dreams of. To win that title was so amazing. All the work — so hard day in and day out — to get that was a dream.”

The World Championship, which features dancers from around the globe, is organized by a recognized governing body of competitive Irish Dancing. It was founded in 1903. The freestyle category was introduced in 2023 by Michael Flatley.

For about two months leading up to the worlds, Urbanek lived in Dublin, which she said was “super cool” as the Irish dance community is so vast overseas, compared to what it is in the states.

Urbanek said there are four majors yearly that she competes in in Florida, compared to weekly competitions in Ireland.

Meagan Urbanek, who was crowned the World Champion for freestyle Irish Dance, with Michael Flatley, who introduced the competitive category in 2023. PROVIDED

The ability to compete all the time was helpful in preparation for the competition, she added,

This was her second time staying in Dublin in preparation for the Worlds.

The freestyle category provides a way for dancers to stimulate creativity and expression in Irish dance, without restrictions to arm or head movements. She said freestyle allows for more creativity and expression of dancers in a more modern way.

“To compete in that I had to be World qualified,” Urbanek said.

She qualified for the World Championship by earning the title of the World Medal holder in the Ladies and Girls Solo Championship last year by placing ninth.

The training was a little bit different for freestyle as it is geared a bit more towards a performance style of dancing. Urbanek said it ties in the fitness, intensity, and techniques.

“It allows to express emotion, performance and cater to the audience in a different way,” she said.

The performance, a hard shoe Irish dance routine choreographed by Urbanek, was a minute and a half at a very fast tempo.

“I am used to traditional competitions, which I love so much. This was a really cool, different way to express Irish dancing. I love to tap into the performance aspect. It gave me a different love for Irish dancing.”

Of Irish heritage, she and her family took part in many cultural activities, often attending festivals when she was young.

Her grandparents told her she had to do Irish dancing.

“I started when I was 5 and haven’t stopped,” the Florida Gulf Coast University senior said.

Urbanek is studying health science and will graduate in the fall. She said her dream is to tour with shows — “Lord of the Dance,” or “River Dance.”

“I would love to be a dance teacher and open up a studio here in town and teach other kids to Irish dance and show my love of Irish dance,” she said.

Urbanek dances for Aisling Scoil Rince and her teacher is Geraldine French, in Estero.

Her winning performance can be found HERE.