The nearly 2-year-old McMenamin Irish Dance Academy, now located at 1926 E. Capitol Dr. in Shorewood, has entered into a lease agreement for property at 3948 N. Maryland Ave. -- the space formerly occupied by Napoleon's just south of Capitol Drive. Napoleon's, at one time one of the largest game stores in the Midwest, was a one-stop shop for board games, puzzles, chess sets, role-playing games and more. It closed in March 2005 after 25 years of business.

The new McMenamin Irish Dance Academy studio, which is more than double the current space, will open in October 2006. Construction and renovations are currently underway. The larger studio will enable McMenamin Academy to expand its class offerings for beginning and advanced dancers. It will also allow the instructors to implement new training and fitness programs and provide dancers with state-of-the-art facilities for instruction and training for competitions and performances throughout the world.

Last week, the Shorewood Foundation approved a $5,000 grant to help support the growth and expansion of McMenamin Irish Dance Academy to the newly acquired space in the Village of Shorewood. "We are most grateful to the Shorewood Foundation for their support of our school," said McMenamin-Johnson. "We are pleased and proud to remain part of the Shorewood community and are humbled by the support and confidence of the Shorewood Foundation."

McMenamin Irish Dance Academy was founded in January 2005 by lead instructor Aine McMenamin-Johnson. With nearly 100 students enrolled for classes, McMenamin Irish Dance Academy is the only Irish dance school based in Shorewood and along the North Shore. McMenamin also has a studio in Brookfield.

Post a comment / write a review.

Recent blogs/briefs by Jeff Sherman

Your thoughts on Jazz in the Park? Wednesday Organizers want your thoughts and opinions on Jazz in the Park. Take this survey as the ...

A "Milwaukee love fest" from the airlines Tuesday Today, the Airline Biz blog on dallasnews.com notices the increased focus on flights in ...

Target hits the mark with new shopping cart design Tuesday Target has taken its appreciation of design to a new level with its new shopping carts. ...

Random reflections and photos from a festive weekend Monday The weather was perfect, the events large and Downtown was buzzing. My weekend too was ...