Eventually, some of those same youths may one day dethrone him. Two local examples are 18-year-old Sean Collins and 8-year-old Joe Bitter, students of Patricia Kennelly, who teaches Irish dance classes through the Los Gatos­Saratoga Community Education & Recreation Department.

Collins, a San José State University freshman, took top honors in the North American Irish Dance Championships held this summer in Boston, Mass. Along with winning a trophy, Collins won the right to wear a commemorative Celtic leather belt for a year.

Bitter earned first place just this October at the Great Britain Irish Dance Championships, for which he and his family traveled to Bristol, England. He, too, earned a trophy.

"With both of these boys, I could spot that they had some serious talent right from the beginning. They just had something extra," says Kennelly, who runs the Kennelly School of Irish Dancing in San Francisco and has won many competitions herself. She has been commuting to the West Valley twice weekly for several years now to instruct children, teenagers and adults from Los Gatos, Saratoga and beyond in traditional Irish dancing.

"It's always exciting for a teacher to have someone so skilled to work with. Sean and Joe are also both very self-motivated," adds Kennelly, whose Irish immigrant father and Irish dance-loving mother encouraged her own interest in the art form from an early age.

Bitter, who particularly enjoys dancing fast-paced reels, signed up for Kennelly's classes about a year ago because, he says, "my sister Caroline did it and I wanted to do it, too." He says the music as well as the chances to compete are his favorite aspects of Irish dancing, and he might keep them up "forever!"

"Anything to do with speed, he loves!" his mother Nicole Bitter adds with a knowing grin. In fact, she says, her son also excels in running and in triathlons.

Collins says his inspiration came after seeing "Lord of the Dance" and becoming enchanted by the music and the sight of everyone stomping out the same steps in unison. "I thought, 'I want to do that!' " he recalls. A friend put him in touch with Kennelly, and he's been hooked ever since.

"I never really had any problems learning it," says Collins, whose parents are both of Irish ancestry. "Some people don't realize how much time it takes to practice. But it's good fun at the same time, and a way to meet interesting people."

Collins' life will fill with much more practice, people and fun if a recent Los Angeles audition turns out as well as he hopes. That audition was to join the traveling cast of Michael Flatley's latest incarnation of "Lord of the Dance." Collins says he won't know for the results of the audition for several months, however.

In the meantime, he's keeping busy pursuing his bachelor's degree in history—he wants to be a teacher someday—and helping Kennelly instruct the younger students.

For more information about Kennelly's ongoing classes, visit www.kennellyschool.com on the Internet.