Sofia Alducin Nassar: “Being Mexican Has Never Made Me Feel Like I Don’t Belong in Irish Dance”

Passion for Irish dance and pride in her Mexican heritage is the wind beneath Sofia Alducin Nassar’s wings. Literally.

Dressed as an ancient Aztec warrior, crowned with an eagle headdress and decorated with matching feathers, Sofia made history in April as the first Mexican dancer to win the Michael Flatley Freestyle Competition at the CLRG World Championships in Schaumburg, Illinois.

In her routine, titled Believe, she glided onto the stage, exuding strength and control before exploding into a unique Mexican-Irish fusion. Beyond the eagle’s symbolic importance in Mexican history and culture, it represents something personal to Sofia: flying, reaching new places, and always moving forward without losing your values.

A dancer from a country with a relatively small but ever-growing Irish dance community, Sofia has quickly risen to the sport’s biggest stage without leaving her identity behind. “Every new land taught her to trust her steady feet, for stepping into unfamiliar places does not mean leaving yourself behind; it means learning to recognise who you are wherever you stand,” she reflected on Instagram beneath the full video of her breathtaking performance.

“Believe it or not, I have always been a shy girl,” Sofia says modestly, joining by Zoom from the UK, where she is currently training. “But somehow when I’m on stage, I forget about that. I feel like I can express a completely different side of me.”

While growing in popularity and awareness thanks to standout dancers like Sofia Dorantes, Diego Delgado, Luisa Diaz, Cesar Guiterrez, Francisco Lemus, and Sergio Téllez, Irish dance is still fairly uncommon in Mexico. Growing up in Mexico City, Sofia had few peers to train with and little access to local competitions. The gap in access and awareness between Mexico and the sport’s strongholds is real, but she says it doesn’t define the experience of being an Irish dancer.

“Despite all those differences, we all understand the same thing. We understand the hours of training, the pressure, the excitement, and doing something that we love,” Sofia emphasises.

Sofia discovered Irish dance at age four. Like many young girls, she started with ballet, tap, and jazz classes after school at Tiny Dance, a studio in her hometown. Then one day, she found out the same studio offered Irish dance classes through the Drake School of Irish Dance based in Atlanta, Georgia, and led by TCRG Karl Drake.

“I remember seeing the older girls, like Luisa Diaz, in their beautiful dresses, moving their feet at an incredible speed. And I was completely fascinated. I remember looking at them and thinking one thing: that I want to be like them one day.”

Now 19, Sofia has trained with the Drake School ever since and has developed her own signature style: power and precision, sharp footwork and strong beats, with leaps and bounds that look effortless. But she has found that Irish dance is about much more than the rhythms and costumes. She loves the personal growth that comes with the art form.

“I think the thing I love most about Irish dance is that there is always something new to learn,” Sofia says. “There is always another challenge, another goal, another version of yourself that you didn’t know existed.”

Challenge and growth have been integral to her dance journey. Despite an impressive resume of competitive accolades, one of her favourite competition memories is one in which she didn’t even make the recall list.

Sofia points to her first North American Nationals, in Orlando in 2018, as the competition that truly opened her eyes to the world of Irish dance. She remembers the intensity and high calibre of the other dancers, and she pictured that level for herself one day. “I remember thinking that I wanted to keep fighting and see how far I could go,” she says.

Since then, Sofia has climbed steadily through the ranks at Majors. She has placed in the top three at the Southern Region Oireachtas (SRO) five times since 2021. In 2023, her results spiked again: seventh at the North American Nationals (NANs) and third at the SRO. In 2024, she reached the NANs podium for the first time with a fifth-place finish, then returned to the SRO podium later that year with a second.

Sofia was proud of that first National podium in a competitive U17 age group, and especially proud to stand alongside a globally diverse set of champions: one Canadian, one Irish, two American, and one Mexican dancer.

In 2025, Sofia placed third at NANs and finished 15th at the Worlds, clinching her first medal at the competition. This April, she retained her 15th-place spot at the Worlds again, a massive feat in itself.

Those Worlds placements are meaningful not because of where she ended up, but because of what she went through to get there. Training for each of those World Championships pushed Sofia to her limits. “Competition can be really hard, not only because of the dancing. But it has taught me about being brave, trusting myself, and never losing the thought of why I dance,” she says.

Worlds 2026 was extra special because Sofia was presented with an opportunity to bring her Mexican heritage to the forefront of her dancing in a way she never had before. Just one day before her solo competition, she participated in the Michael Flatley Freestyle for the first time. First introduced at the 2023 CLRG World Championships in Montreal, the competition is designed to promote creativity and expression in Irish dance, without restrictions on arm movements, music, and other theatrical components.

She knew from the beginning that she wanted her routine to shine a light on Mexican culture, but she also recognised it would be daunting to do that at such a high level on Irish dance’s biggest stage. “I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to compete in that competition or if I could express everything I wanted to say through my choreography,” Sofia says.

She threw herself headfirst into the creative process, pouring intention and heart into every decision. Sofia worked with her teachers to blend Mexican and Irish music for the accompaniment, and together they crafted choreography that showcased not only Irish dance technique but also strength and courage. This involved a bit of creative interpretation to evoke the movements of an eagle. The costume was just as important: it completed the story, with colours and details inspired by the eagle and Aztec culture.

When it came time to put it all together on stage, Sofia was nervous about putting herself out there, not only after so much thought and work, but also because she was about to share something deeply personal: her heritage, in front of Irish dance’s biggest audience.

“Once the music started, everything changed, and I stopped thinking about whether it was going to be good enough and just focused on performing and telling my story,” she says. Her story isn’t hers alone. The history and symbolism make it, as Sofia puts it, a little bit of every Mexican’s story.

“It is amazing to see how something that started in one culture can bring together people from all over the world. And being Mexican has never made me feel like I don’t belong in Irish dance,” Sofia says. “If anything, it has made me more aware of what I can bring to it. I don’t want to leave my Mexican identity behind while learning about Irish culture. I want both to be part of who I am as a dancer.”

Soon after, she had the opportunity to continue exploring that connection on an even bigger stage. Two weeks after returning home from Worlds, Sofia opened her inbox to find an email from Lord Of The Dance inviting her to join its 30th Anniversary tour across Mexico that June.

“I remember opening the email, and I couldn’t stop crying,” Sofia says. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening.’” 

The first and the last shows stand out the most in Sofia’s memories. Breathlessly, she recalls the adrenaline rush and a level of nerves she had never experienced during a competition. But once she ran out for the first dance and saw her parents cheering in the audience, everything else fell into place. The tour’s final show, in Mexico City, drew friends, family, teachers, and fellow dancers, a perfect bow on the experience, Sofia says.

Sofia shared it with fellow Mexican dancers Luis Ángel Barajas Green, Andrea Mijetzy Pérez, ​​and Sergio Téllez. Speaking to The Irish Dance Globe, Ángel describes the moment as “a very big achievement for the Mexican community of Irish dancers”, praising his castmate Sofia, who he has known since she was around eight years old, as “extremely passionate and determined”, as well as “one of the sweetest people I know”. 

Sergio, who has also known Sofia since she was young, has witnessed her “pushing forward and constantly improving” over the years. “She works extremely hard towards her goals, and she is always willing to learn from others and help those around her,” he adds. “Seeing what she has accomplished at her age was even more incredible, [as] she achieved this dream 15 years before I did!”

Since returning from tour, Sofia has focused on competing and training. Having now completed high school, Sofia says this is the first time in her life she has had extra time to dedicate to dance. “My goal is to keep competing at the highest level and continue growing as a performer and hopefully have more opportunities to perform and travel through dance,” she says.

As part of this, Sofia’s teacher arranged for her to train in the UK with Kelly Hendry, who has been the school’s workshop teacher and choreographer for several years. Sofia has loved stepping outside her comfort zone in a new place and learning from other dancers.

“I want to work hard, learn from the people around me, and always try to bring out my best,” Sofia says. The results are already showing. This month, she placed sixth at the All Scotland Championships. She plans to train with Kelly in the UK until the World Championships in Belfast in 2027, and afterwards, she would love to start pursuing a professional dance career in shows.

Even as she learns from the dancers around her, Sofia’s own story is just as inspiring, and she wants to share what she’s learned with the next generation and bring it back to her home country. 

“The Irish dance community in Mexico is still quite small, so in the future, I would love to help it grow and help other young dancers follow their dreams, just as I have been able to follow mine,” she says. Above all, she wants people to not feel held back. While she’s in the UK, so far from home, her Mexican culture keeps her grounded. She is especially thankful for her parents, brother, and all her teachers for supporting and believing in her.

“When you come from a country where Irish dance is less known, it can sometimes feel like there are more obstacles for you. You may have a few competitions and few dancers around you, or few opportunities to train at the highest level,” Sofia says. “Just trust yourself and trust your abilities, your process, and your work.

“Never think that your background is something that holds you back. There are opportunities out there, and sometimes you just have to be brave enough to go after them.”

Follow Sofia on Instagram.

Photography: Dance Photography MK by Agata Brennan
Words: Siobhan Cooney
Design: Colleen Falco
Editor-In-Chief: Hollie Geraghty