Morgan Bullock is an American

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vario ...

r, known for her Irish dance remix of rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

's song "

Savage Savage may refer to: Places Antarctica * Savage Glacier, Ellsworth Land * Savage Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Savage Ridge, Victoria Land United States * Savage, Maryland, an unincorporated community * Savage, Minnesota, a city * Savage, Mi ...

", which went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

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and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

in May 2020.

Biography

Bullock started dancing when she was 3 and discovered Irish dance at the age of 10. She has been dancing at the Baffa Academy of Irish Dance in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

ever since. In 2019, she placed 43rd at the Irish dance world championships. In May 2020, she posted a video to TikTok of her Irish dancing to the popular song "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion. The video was reposted by large accounts on several social media platforms, including

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

(Irish prime minister)

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

– who invited her to Ireland to dance in the 2021

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

parade –

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's mother

Tina Knowles Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

, Irish-Nigerian author

Emma Dabiri Emma Dabiri is an Irish author, academic, and broadcaster. Her debut book, ''Don't Touch My Hair'', was published in 2019. Biography Dabiri was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Nigerian Yoruba father. After spending her early years i ...

, and the large Instagram account

The Shade Room The Shade Room (TSR) is a media company, founded by Angelica Nwandu in March 2014. Instagram-based, The Shade Room offers celebrity and trending news on an hourly basis, predominantly within the African American community; The New York Times call ...

. Padraic Moyles, the lead dancer of Irish folk music show

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

, invited her to join the show's US tour when it comes to Virginia and offered her free admission to their summer school, Riverdance Academy. Bullock stated she faced backlash from users on social media who saw her untraditional dancing as appropriating Irish culture, but she explained it, "represented a very small minority of the feedback that hegot". In November 2020, she joined Irish

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

Colm Brophy Colm Brophy (born 22 June 1966) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency since 2016. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from July 2020 to December ...

and Ambassador of Ireland to the United States

Daniel Mulhall Daniel Mulhall (born 8 April 1955) is a retired Irish diplomat and a former Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. He has also been Ireland's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Germany and Malaysia. Education Born in Waterford, Ireland, Mul ...

in Ireland's new

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

strategy, which according to Taoiseach

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...

: "seeks to give reland'sdiaspora a strengthened voice within Irish life, while also setting out the many ways this Government will work to support the Irish abroad." Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Bullock was unable to attend the St. Patrick's Day parade in Ireland, but in March 2021, she performed virtually for the US' Embassy of Ireland. In October 2022, Bullock was announced as one of the recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad for 2022 in the category of Arts, Culture and Sport.

Personal life

As of June 2020, Bullock is pursuing a

master of education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

degree at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

to become an elementary school teacher.

References

External links

"Watch Morgan Bullock perform Irish dance on TikTok"
from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' (August 3, 2020)
"American woman puts diverse spin on Irish dance"
from

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

(March 15, 2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Morgan African-American dancers African-American female dancers American female dancers People from Richmond, Virginia Performers of Irish dance Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dancers from Virginia 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women