"There were so many enthusiastic kids and parents, that I thought: If they're going to learn this, they are going to need a place to perform and also compete. So I had to actually create this for them because there is nowhere for them to compete."

He'd always thought the Chinese were so disciplined, he says.

"So I felt, if they were so disciplined in general, then they would be disciplined in dancing. I thought this would be a place where I could train dancers that not only would be enthusiastic, but would have the work ethic that I really wanted - and just look at those little kids their confidence is amazing and this is all done through dance."

"In Ireland, children usually start learning dance at 3 or 4, and if they want to continue, they go to a private school," Drake says. That was his own experience in Dublin.

As St. Patrick's Day approaches this year, he was urged to put on a performance in Shanghai.

"I thought we could do a competition in the daytime and perform at night. That would also create something for the competitors to do at night," he says.

But the idea turned out to be too good - the March 9 event completely sold out, so none of the competitors were able to come back that night and see Drake's all-star lineup from Dublin and Boston perform.

By the end of Drake's China visit last week, his school network had established a foothold in Beijing, Suzhou and Singapore in addition to Shanghai.

"I still have to keep my business going in Atlanta, and my sanity and my personal life," he says. "But this is the dream I have - I always wanted to teach Irish dance in places where there never was a teacher, and I'm fulfilling my dream right now."

For China Daily