Irish dance
My earliest memories of Irish dancing are with my mother, who taught me the 3s and 7s in our kitchen when I was around 8 years old. She took me to the local CCÉ céilí in Fairfax, VA in 1990 and I was instantly hooked.
Shortly thereafter, I started Irish dance lessons with internationally recognized teacher and adjudicator Laureen O’Neill-James, ADCRG in the Washington, DC area. As an O’Neill-James dancer, I competed locally, regionally, and internationally, qualifying for the World Championships three times and competing at the Worlds in Belfast in 2000.
I moved to Charlottesville, VA for college, where I taught under the guidance of teacher and adjudicator Carmel O’Rourke-Tighe, ADCRG. I was involved with the Blue Ridge Irish Music School while living there. Later, while living in Chico, CA, I danced with and taught at Maria Oliver’s Academy of Irish Dance (TCRG).
I have choreographed dances for competition and performance with each of these schools, as well as independently.
I completed my Master’s degree at the University of Limerick in the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance in Irish Traditional Dance Performance. Through the program, I gained experience with a variety of percussive dance styles, including traditional Irish dance (such as sean-nós, North Kerry/Molyneaux, and festival style), contemporary Irish dance, tap, flamenco, clogging, and body percussion.
I am currently a student in the Lauren Smyth Academy, a virtual training platform created by Lauren Smyth, the first Riverdance principal dancer from the festival tradition of Northern Ireland. The academy is based in festival style technique and performance skills.
Brazilian dance and movement
I began training capoeira with Mestre Piau of Grupo Candeias while living in Limerick. I later trained as a student in Mestre Curisco’s Grupo Capoeira Malês beginning in 2008. I started practicing with Capoeira Malês in in Chico, and then I continued to train with the Capoeira Malês DC branch in Washington, DC.
I began studying frevo in Recife, Brazil while on a postdoctoral Fulbright grant in 2018. I danced with Guerreiros do Passo, Brincantes das Ladeiras, Mexe com Tudo (Otávio Bastos), and Escola Municipal de Frevo (Júnior Viegas). I also took capoeira classes at Perna Pesada Capoeira Academy, as well as cavalo marinho and maracatu rural classes with Fabinho Soares.
I am currently studying frevo under Otávio Bastos through Mexe Com Tudo, which also involves frevo dance pedagogy and mentorship for frevo teachers using the Mexe Com Tudo method. I teach regular frevo classes through EducArte in College Park.
I also participate in samba no pé, samba de gafieira, forró, and other Brazilian dance communities in the DC area.
Et cetera
I took jazz, tap, and modern dance in high school and, while living in California, I danced contemporary jazz and hip hop as a member of the Full Force Dance Company (C-Force) at the Chico Creek Dance Centre. I was also a member of the Gorgorlu West African Dance & Drumming Troupe in Chico, CA, led by Alain Zinsou of Senegal.
I train in contemporary jazz and street jazz with Maurice Johnson in Washington, DC, and have also trained in jazz, hip hop, and modern dance throughout various locations in Washington, DC. I also trained in ASA! and Kelenya choreography classes with Akosua Akoto at Adinkra Cultural Arts Studio in Mt. Rainier, MD, drawing on traditional and contemporary African rhythms and styles.
I have taken classes in a variety of other dance styles, including Montserrat’s masquerade dance, dancehall, soca, Afrobeat(s), flamenco, Cape Breton step dance, Appalachian clogging and flatfooting, Greek dance, and body percussion. I am always trying to learn more!
Mini documentary about my work teaching Irish step dance to fellow percussive dancer Becky Hill through the Maryland State Art Council‘s Folklife Apprenticeship Grant in 2021-22. We focused our work on the Molyneaux Blackbird, a version of the Blackbird set dance by dance master Jeremiah Molyneaux of North Kerry (circa 1881–1965). Thanks to Wide Angle Youth Media for producing this beautiful documentation of our work and to Marty Frye on flute for providing a beautiful musical landscape for us to dance on.
Festival style slip jig choreographed by Ruth Long of Belfast, performed at the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland, St. Leonard, MD, in April 2023. Video credit: Pablo Regis de Oliveira.
Reconstruction of excerpts from a reconstruction of Donncha Ó Muimhneacháin and Celine Hession’s slip jig with Rebecca McGowan. Performed at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA in 2018.
Dancing with Kevin Doyle, Shannon Dunne, and Samantha Suplee with music by Mick Moloney, Billy McComiskey, and the Green Fields of America at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017.