Lochlan ‘Lucky’ Howard: “The Best Results Will Come From Hard Work, Focus, and Attitude”

The name’s Howard. Lochlan Howard. 

He’s an 18-year-old Irish dancer from the small suburb of New Albany in Columbus, Ohio, who captivated an audience at this past April’s CLRG World Championships in Montreal, Canada, where he not only claimed his sixth consecutive champion title, but also delivered an electrifying, dynamic performance as James Bond in the inaugural Michael Flatley Freestyle Competition.

The performer’s frenzied combination of fast feet and nostalgic theme music was utterly enthralling, so much so you almost forgot you were watching an Irish dance competition. “Because it was so new,” Lochlan says, “I had no expectations for what I was doing and was just going to go out there and do the best that I could.”

Even before his Bond debut, Lochlan had his own viral moment on social media, as a simple video of his spectacularly polished hornpipe steps in the studio had been remixed into some hilarious parodies, eliciting a range of comments from “When the function got the charcuterie board”, to “I thought the video was sped up when I first saw it!” On top of Lochlan’s limber ankles and finely-tuned rhythm-first approach to dancing, he carries himself with discipline and grace. “That’s definitely been one of the biggest things,” he says, “the big picture, but also the details.” It’s this insight that allowed him to both pick up a globe and give an unforgettable freestyle performance within days of each other.

It’s fitting that Lochlan’s family and friends affectionately call him ‘Lucky’ — a nickname that’s stuck with him since he was born and followed him throughout his journey to becoming an Irish dancer. “I’ve definitely been Lucky in real life,” he says modestly. But it’s clear that Lochlan has worked extremely hard to make his own luck since the beginning of his dance career.  

Lochlan has been around Irish dance, music, and culture his entire life. Just 20 minutes away from his hometown is Coffman Park, home of the Dublin Irish Festival: one of the United States’ largest music and cultural festivals. Occurring annually during the first weekend of August, over 100,000 visitors gather for activities such as Irish and Celtic music, genealogy, food and drink, dance, cultural exhibits, games, sports, and arts and crafts. 

Growing up with this event inspired Lochlan’s older sister, Brooke, to start Irish dancing right before he was born. Soon enough, Lochlan followed in his sister’s footsteps and started dancing at The Academy of Irish Dance in the Mid-America region in 2012, where he has trained, competed, and performed since he was 7-years-old. 

Lochlan credits his sister for being his biggest inspiration, as he started his dancing journey during the last two years of her career. Brooke has an impressive competitive resume of her own: a team member of The Academy’s world-winning Senior Ladies Figure from 2015, Mid-America Oireachtas champion, and a two-time world medal holder. “She had an incredible work ethic,” Lochlan says. “It was great to start dancing when she was kind of at her highest level because I saw what it took.”

In addition to his sister, Lochlan didn’t have to look much further than his Academy schoolmates and teachers, Byron Tuttle and Edward Searle, for motivation. When you’re surrounded by so much dedication and hard work, he says, it’s hard for it not to rub off. “There was just so much talent around me all the time. I wanted to keep being at the top level with all of them.”

And to the top level Lochlan did ascend, picking up his first world champion title in 2016. Thinking back to his previous wins, Lochlan admits that while the titles he earned in 2016, 2017, and 2018 tend to blend together in his mind, they are each special in their own right. “I’m glad that there’s videos and pictures and they’re not any less meaningful to me because that’s how it started.” 

On the other end of the spectrum, his victory at the 2019 Worlds in Greensboro, North Carolina, was a product of sheer endurance as he navigated five total days of dancing across his solo performances and team competitions. Unlike previous World Championships, solo competitions that year followed the new two-day structure, in which dancers performed their first and second round dances on the first day in order to recall for the second day, where they then repeated the first two rounds again before recalling for the set.

With a laugh, Lochlan describes his experience at last year’s World Championships in Belfast — following the two-year hiatus brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic — as a fever dream. “There had been such a huge break that going back to Belfast and being put into that World’s culture again was just shocking almost,” he says. “So I didn’t feel like I was there. I didn’t feel totally present.”

Coming into Montreal this year, however, he was not only eager to continue his championship streak, but also committed to living in the moment and leaving everything on the stage. “I was super focused on the main goal and worrying about myself and everything that I could do,” Lochlan says. “And if I did everything I did, it was in the judge’s hands and I was totally happy with it.”

He also had an added fire in his feet at this World Championships as he geared up to compete in the first ever freestyle competition in honour of the Lord of the Dance himself, Michael Flatley. “There were no nerves there at all. I was just really excited and happy to be there and seeing the competition and who else was in it,” Lochlan humbly shares of how privileged he felt to be a part of the inaugural cohort of competitors. “It was full of some of the best talent that was at that World Championships, for sure.”

However, he confesses how it wasn’t smooth sailing in the beginning of developing his entry for the freestyle event. Even though he didn’t know where to start when he walked into his first rehearsal, he knew that he wouldn’t have to go it alone. He was fortunate to go through the process with three other dancers from his school, including Dara McAleer, who won the female award category for the competition with her Egyptian goddess-inspired routine.

“The preparation was kind of crazy because the criteria was so up in the air, and there wasn’t a lot to go off of because it was the first one,” he says, “so we kind of just did our own thing with it.” It all fell into place, though, when his teacher and choreographer Byron gave him the idea of the James Bond character, which Lochlan instantly connected with and helped him get into the spirit of the freestyle competition.

Taking on a more theatrical approach to Irish dance is not entirely out of Lochlan’s wheelhouse. In fact, he shares that The Academy has a history of impressive productions that often fly under the public’s radar. In addition to the tried and true St Patrick’s Day parades and performances, The Academy puts on Broadway-style showcases during the spring and summer seasons. Recent themes have included Disney, the Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Mary Poppins. “The Academy show has really no bounds,” Lochlan says. “Byron Tuttle, he’s the main creative behind it all and Ed is working on it as well. But them together and the way that they put shows together is unlike any dance school out there.”

This style of character performing, the acting in addition to dancing, made stepping into the James Bond role all the more natural for Lochlan. “I’ve just been around so much performing stuff, arguably as much as my solos, that it just made that kind of freestyle competition way easier for me for sure.”

The final performance was exhilarating, capturing the suavity, class, and finesse of 007. Opening with an empty stage, an ominous, omniscient narrator with a thick Irish brogue set the scene: there’s been a breach at CLRG headquarters and all of the globes for the World Championships have been stolen. There’s only one person to call: Bond. Seamus Bond.  

Lochlan recalls waiting just off stage, hearing the audience’s eruptive reaction to the storyline, and feeling the anticipation and adrenaline bubbling.

“There was nothing I could do but get really pumped up for it. Each subtle joke was totally well received and because everyone watching it had such a fantastic response, it made the routine so much better,” he beams. “I was more in character, dancing more energetic, and playing everything up more than I was in class. I’m so glad that the routine was so well received and glad everyone loved it as much as I did.”

Suddenly, Lochlan burst onto the stage, finger guns ablaze. He truly captured the essence of an Irish James Bond from nose to toes: a slicked back, fiery red hairdo, a pair of shades, and a classic tuxedo with an undone bowtie.

Further adding to the vibe was the intense music composition, thanks to the help of musician Stephen Carolan who transformed the iconic James Bond theme song with an Irish dance flair. The choreography was a thrilling and entertaining blend of traditional hornpipe steps interwoven with stylistic movements reminiscent of the world-famous spy: running from villains, ducking for cover, and dodging invisible flying bullets, complete with a Matrix-style backbend.

Admittedly, the idea of “freestyling” at the World’s sounds a bit unorthodox at this high level, and stands in contrast to the tightly controlled, regimented nature of the solos and team dances traditionally found at this competition. Yet, Lochlan embraced the flexibility and found it liberating.

“There’s never been a competition where I performed something that was out of the box. I’ve been performing for so long; it’s a huge part of what we do at The Academy,” he says. “So it just felt super fun. I couldn’t imagine going in with any less experience though, because that would’ve been really nerve wracking.”

Even as excited as Lochlan was for the freestyle event, he didn’t want it to distract from his solo competition. “Solos were definitely the main focus; defending the five world titles that I’d already had,” he says. “I had to make sure that they didn’t take a backseat to anything.” Preparing for this World Championships — like any other major — involved daily dance classes and additional private lessons, all of which paid off, for Lochlan once more found his way to the top of the podium for a sixth consecutive title.

This dedication, commitment, and natural talent truly manifest in Lochlan’s dancing, with a style that can only be defined in one word: effortless. He attributes much of his personal dance brand to his training with his dance school. “I think The Academy is probably one of those schools that has that real style about it across the board,” he says. “So I do my own thing with that, but going off just how the style makes me feel. It just makes me feel very proud.”

Lochlan’s formula for tapping into this emotion and creating calm, cool, and collected Irish dancing is simple: “Keep it traditional, neat, and focused on the basics, but then add in the hard stuff.” He has perfect posture, meticulously precise footwork, and hypnotic syncopation and rhythm. But trying to make it look easy is harder than it seems.

“That was something that did not come easy, and it shouldn’t come easy to anybody,” Lochlan says. “That took me a really long time to keep that calm expression, hold it nicely, and just make it look effortless almost. Which, you know, every part of the dance can’t look effortless because Irish dance is so hard.”

Nevertheless, he persisted and carried this intention in his mind and in his feet throughout all of his competitive commitments in Montreal, including a senior mixed four-hand that also took home a globe. Despite his pledge to keep his solo titles at the forefront, he neither took his freestyle performance nor his ceili team for granted.

“Those weren’t extra because they still had to be performed at the top level,” Lochlan says. This is definitely a throughline in his dance school, as the Academy is renowned across the Irish dance community for their figure performances, marked by innovative choreography, sharp arm movements, and clean formations. 

It’s clear that the bedrock of this champion’s drive and passion is not only a killer work ethic, but also humility. “My main advice has always been to have no expectations when it comes to how you are going to do or what result you think you should get or deserve,” he says. “The best results will come from hard work, focus, and attitude. That goes for everyone, whether you’re trying to move up or trying to win a world championship.”

Now that the competitive season is done and dusted, Lochlan reflects on what a jam-packed year it has been. Claiming a sixth World title was the final pinpoint on a long roadmap, as he participated in each of the major CLRG Irish dance competitions in the 2022-2023 season — including his first time taking the stage at the All Scotland Championships — all while balancing his studies during his senior year of high school. Though he shares that he had never completed the entire competitive circuit before, Lochlan cherished the experience and even noticed improvement during the brief downtimes between majors.

On the same day that The Irish Dance Globe spoke to Lochlan, he formally announced his retirement from competition on Instagram. Sharing collages of photos and nostalgic video clips from his 10 years of Irish dancing memories — included being undefeated since 2015 — he dedicated most of his post to expressing his immense gratitude for The Academy: “You guys made some far off dreams a reality for me and have for so many people,” Lochlan writes. “It really does mean so much everything you guys have done for me and everyone at The Academy past and present, huge thanks go to you too.”

Despite enjoying some much appreciated free time following his high school graduation, Lochlan is far from leaving the Irish dance world. In addition to helping out at the Academy and inspiring other dancers coming up behind him, he’s set to perform with Lord of the Dance on a brief tour in Taiwan this December. 

Bright-eyed and filled with optimism, Lochlan is ready for this next phase of his Irish dance career. “There’s a possibility of something in September that would be incredible, but if it doesn’t work out, it’s totally fine,” he says, “and then in the future, maybe other tours or other companies that are doing amazing shows all the time. At this point, really anything would be so amazing.” Regardless of what comes next, he is equipped with an open growth mindset. “Always aim to dance your best. And if you think you danced your absolute best, there’s definitely room to get even better.” 

Photography: Megan Howard
Photo Editing/ Creative Direction: Colleen Falco
Words: Siobhan Cooney
Editor-In-Chief: Hollie Geraghty
Social Media: Kari Barile