Creative Director

John Lawrence Morgan was raised in an Irish dance studio – he is from a “legacy” of teachers, Margie and John Morgan who have produced many World Champion dancers and teachers at the world-renowned Morgan School, Manchester, UK.
As a dancer JL won multiple major competitions including the British National, Great Britain and All Scotland Championships and placed in the top 3 at the World and All Ireland Championships. Following his retirement from competitive dancing, he went on to tour with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames between 2009-2012, while also completing his bachelor’s degree in politics and modern history followed by his PGCE in secondary education.

Qualifying as a TCRG in 2014, John Lawrence quickly became part of his family “legacy”, teaching and choreographing for multiple Regional, National and World Champion dancers while also working as a secondary school history and politics teacher at some of the UK’s leading independent and grammar schools.

In 2018 JL relocated to the DMV to teach at the McGrath Morgan Academy. The school quickly established itself as one of the leading Irish dance schools in North America, producing multiple Regional and National winning titles. Students under the guidance of JL and performing his choreography have achieved success at the World championships in both solo and team events. One of the highlights of JL’s teaching career to date is becoming the first teacher in North American history to write, produce and direct three consecutive winning World Championship winning dance dramas; “The Banshee in the Bedroom (2019), “The Belle of Belfast City” (2022) and “Derry Girls – The Dance Drama” (2023).

Having collaborated on a number of occasions, John Lawrence is excited to be joining forces with Abbey, to create “Morgan Legacy” and looks forward to many years of sharing their collective passion and love for both contemporary and traditional Irish Dancing.

JL and Abbey have partnered to create Morgan Legacy.