Irish Dance Globe is lucky enough to be interviewing Bailey Quigley. She is the goddess of arches and instep and always in a solo dress with some variation of pink and black. She’s a silent competitor, always in the zone, and as you probably know, typically winning the competition. Seeing her on stage you’d never assume her quiet demeanour. When she’s dancing, you can’t take your eyes off of her.
Bailey Quigley is 25 and spent her early childhood growing up in England and currently lives in San Antonio, TX dancing for Inishfree TX. She’s still competing and currently works at Kids R Kids Childcare Center, teaches at Saint Mary’s Hall College Prep School, and runs a photography business.
Bailey’s Journey to the Podium
Before this interview with Bailey, I assumed that she’s been taking names in Irish dance from the beginning, but quickly learned that this wasn’t always the case. Bailey tells me that her skill took a lot of hard work and dedication. As a beginner she was able to learn steps easily and point her feet, but everything else she really had to work hard for, making sure she would be taken seriously. What’s also interesting, is she started pretty late. Her first dance class was at 12 years old, she didn’t go to Nationals until she was 16, and went to her first Worlds at almost 18. She is a great example that it doesn’t matter where or when you start, it’s all possible.
Bailey states “There’s no time limit, and if you work hard and love to dance, you can still be successful, even if you don’t start dancing when you’re five.”
Bailey got started in Irish dancing after seeing Inishfree perform at the Riverwalk on St. Patrick’s Day.
“I was just kind of like, “Oh, that’s different.” My mom was the one who convinced me to try a class.
Thirteen years later, she’s continuously dominating the competition. Bailey is a four-time Oireachtas Champion, 10th in the world, and like I said before, I can’t remember a feis that she didn’t win. She has no near plans of retirement but is currently working on completing her grade exams for when she finally decides she’s done competing, and adds with a laugh “sometime in the next decade… we’ll see.”
Bailey tells me that she keeps coming back for a combination of things, but mostly it’s her friends and her relentless competitive need to be the best before she even THINKS about retiring. Amen sister.
She also speaks affectionately about her school, and when I ask her if she’s interested in shows, she tells me “not yet”, as she helps with the beginners and would be too sad to leave them. Other than loving the beginners, she’s grateful for the drive and the competitive spirit her school provides.
“We push each other to go past our limits at every class; I love being in a school with people who challenge me!”
She also talks to me about how she loves those rare moments when she’s on stage and feels like she’s dancing her best. “It’s kind of like this bubble that could pop at any second, but you try to just stay in it for as long as possible.”
Bailey says her biggest challenge in dance —which I’m finding out is a common trend — is her head. She tells me that she’s always been the kind of person who is never satisfied with her own dancing, which has its pros and cons. In some ways, she’s grateful that she’s a perfectionist, as it has made her work at things until they are “literally drilled into her brain and feet.” On the other side of it, she struggles to see the talent that she has. When she sees a video of herself, all she focuses on are the things she wants to improve on versus realizing her strengths and the improvements she’s made. “…it’s been a struggle to learn how to brush off small flaws and focus on how much I have actually improved.”
This is a pretty common theme for artists in all forms, even with highly successful and accomplished dancers like Bailey. I know it’s no consolation, but l can’t help but continue to shower her with compliments about her insanely beautiful feet, I mean look at them. She did tell me her secret though; with a combination of exercises and ballet stretches, it’s also attributed to “freaky toe pointing genetics.”
In regards to competition, she does wish there was some way to change how subjective the sport is. She questions if there was a way to make it where dancers weren’t getting 1st and 20th in the same round from different judges, but then she points out that this comes with being involved in a sport that’s also an art form.
“Also, boys should have to do the slip jig, just saying.”
Bailey, the Travel Bug
If you follow Bailey on Instagram, you’ll notice her aptitude for travel. She’s been solo travelling since she was 17. This started from her going to the All Irelands by herself. She says that it was one of the most amazing experiences and has been obsessed with travelling ever since.
“I especially love solo travel because it kind of forces me to push my comfort zone, meet people, be independent, etc.”
As a top competitive Irish dancer, travelling comes with the territory. She tries to go to at least one new place whenever she has a competition. She points out how the flights are so cheap within Europe “… you can go almost anywhere for less than a hundred dollars, and it seems like a waste to not sight-see if I’m already over there for dance!”
She is really quite the fearless adventurer. She tells me one of her favorite dance travel stories is from the Great Britains in 2018. “I made a point to stay in some super weird Airbnb’s and ended up spending the night in a refurbished gypsy wagon and then another night on this guy’s sailboat. He actually took me out and taught me how to sail, too, so that was a lot of fun!”
For all the people wondering how she manages to balance all of this with her work/life schedule, she tells me that she’s very lucky. Although she works three jobs, they are all flexible enough to allow her both time off for dance competitions and time off for class pretty much every night. That brings in the “life” balance question.. and well, Bailey’s life is dance, so what would be her “free time” is dancing.
“I’m working to reach my goals, though, so it’s worth the time I put in, in my opinion!”
Miss Photography Queen
When I ask Bailey about her hobbies, she mentions photography. If you look at her photography Instagram, she is being so modest. This does not fall under the “hobby” category, she’s a pro. I always noticed her artistic eye just by scrolling through her beautifully curated personal Instagram feed, which on occasion may feature her having fun doing her actual hobby of Hip Hop dancing, but I’m just now learning about her photography page. Her editing style is so tasteful and sophisticated. She finesses gracefully balanced compositions and plays beautifully with color and light.
Bailey is clearly a bright soul, experiencing life with vigour and passion. She tells other dancers:
“There’s only a point in doing anything if you love it! You could have all the natural talent in the world, but you will never ever reach your full potential if you don’t love dancing!”
