Cian Walsh — a Cork, Ireland, dancer who travels the world as a cast member of “A Taste of Ireland” — spent Tuesday morning exploring the sights of Lake Charles.

Among his stops were Stellar Beans Coffee House & Edibles and MacFarlane’s Celtic Pub.

“We don’t get a lot of time when we come to do the show,” he said between sips of coffee. “We get in, we get to the venue, we do the show, head back to the hotel and we’re gone in the morning. Unless we have a day off somewhere, we never get a good amount of time to see the place so this is really nice.”

Walsh and three other dancers flew into Dallas Monday night and made stops in Shreveport and Lake Charles before heading to New Orleans on Wednesday.

In two weeks, the quartet will return to each of those cities to perform in “The Irish Music & Dance Sensation.” The Lake Charles show is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Rosa Hart Theatre.

“Back in Ireland, my mom and dad have an Irish dancing school so it’s in the blood,” he said with a laugh. “I grew up on the competitive side of Irish dancing, which means going to all-Ireland championships, world championships. I retired when I was about 19 and I’m 25 now and on the professional side, but never did I think it would allow me to not only leave Ireland but see so many places. I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand, all of the United States. My passport is full.”

He said being able to do something he loves as a career is “brilliant.”

“I call it work, but it’s not really work,” he said. “When I was finished with competitive dancing, I felt I just wasn’t ready to hang up my shoes yet. I kinda felt like I was only getting started. I felt like I couldn’t really express myself as a solo competitive dancer but now with an audience I feel like we can grab them and bring them into the show with us. We know when we have the audience in the palm of our hands.”

On performance days, Walsh said the team’s day begins at 6 a.m. That’s followed by a 4- to 5-hour bus ride to the next city, check in at their hotel, 30 minutes of breathing room, then the team is at the venue by 4 p.m. The team performs the show, then leaves the venue at 10 p.m. and heads back to the hotel. The next morning, the schedule begins again.

Each tour can be between four and six months and then at the end of the year the “Celtic Christmas” shows begin.

“We tour about 90 percent of the year. It is physically tough, but I actually feel like it can be more mentally draining,” he admits. “We try and look after ourselves as much as possible. We try to be diligent in ourselves, trying to get to the gym every day, trying to not eat out every day, trying to watch what we eat — particularly if the hotel doesn’t have a kitchenette. At the beginning I was struggling a little bit but I’ve definitely found what works now. Now I’m on autopilot mode.”

Walsh has been with the “A Taste of Ireland” tour for three years.

“It can be tough being away from your family so much, but it’s also rewarding, too,” he said. “The audiences are nothing like I’ve seen before. They get involved, they really get involved.”

Walsh said “The Irish Music & Dance Sensation” storyline follows the history of Ireland.

“It takes you on a journey,” he said. “The first half is a lot darker and it deals with the famine and the Vikings coming to Ireland and the Easter Rising. It’s a lot more combative in the first act; our dancers are kind of fighting against each other. In the program it gives the audience the backstory of those numbers and what we’re trying to portray. Then we get to modern-day Ireland and there is a hurling match in there and it builds up to the finale.”

Tickets for the Lake Charles show start at $32. For tickets and more information, visit ATasteofIrelandShow.com.