May 3 IAC PRESENTS 8TH ANNUAL NEW YORK CITY IRISH DANCE FESTIVAL

From our Mover and Shaker Niall O'Leary:


http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/03/movers-and-shakers-niall-oleary-irish.html



IAC PRESENTS

8TH ANNUAL NEW YORK CITY

IRISH DANCE FESTIVAL

Featuring the stars of Broadway’s Hit BILLY ELLIOT, Performances from the

Best of Irish Dance Troupes, Workshops in Traditional Irish Dance Steps, Live

Music, and More at Free, Family-Fun Festival





The Eighth Annual Irish Arts Center New York City Irish Dance

Festival takes place on Sunday, May 3rd from 12:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Riverside Park South, Pier I at

West 70th Street in Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River.



This FREE, all-ages festival kicks off the Summer on the Hudson series, featuring performances by stars

of the Irish dance world and dance schools from the New York area, open workshops for all skill levels

in many styles of traditional Irish dance, music seisiúns, face-painting, Irish language conversation

circle, a panel discussion with the performers, an Irish song workshop, Irish crafts, a rousing,

evening-ending set and céilí dance with live music, and food & drink available on site. The festival

showcases some of the best local and international traditional Irish musicians. This year, the young

stars of BILLY ELLIOT will open the festival with a meet-and-greet question and answer period

from 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm, and the 2009 Senior Ladies World Step Dancing Champion Ashley

Smith will perform two traditional dances.



Confirmed participants for 2009 include- a meet and greet with the young stars of

Broadway’s BILLY ELLIOT champion Irish dancers Trent Kowalik, David Bologna, & Heather Burns; Donny Golden Dancers; Niall O'Leary Irish Dance Troupe; 2009 Senior Ladies Step Dance World Champion Ashley Smith; Darrah Carr Dance; Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance; the Keltic Dreams Irish Dance Troupe from PS 159 in the Bronx; Solas an Lae; and Kathleen Collins.



Event to take place rain or shine.



The New York City Irish Dance Festival mission is to preserve, nurture and celebrate Irish dance in a

non-competitive, pressure-free environment where the key ingredient is enjoyment, and all level of

dancers can participate.



The Irish Arts Center New York City Irish Dance Festival kicks off the Summer on the Hudson in

Riverside Park South, Pier I at West 70th Street in Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River. Summer

on The Hudson is a free annual Arts and Cultural Festival in Riverside Park South Presented by the New

York City Department of Parks & Recreation.




Irish Arts Center New York City Irish Dance Festival 2009

Schedule



This schedule is subject to change



Main Stage – Area 1

1:00pm Niall O’Leary School of Irish Dance (Performance)

1:15pm Children’s’ Céilí Dance: everyone out on the floor!

1.45pm Keltic Dreams from PS 59 in the Bronx (Performance)

2:00pm Niall O’Leary Open Dance Workshop

2.45pm Donny Golden Dancers (Performance)

3:00pm Darrah Carr Dance (Performance)

3:15pm Donny Golden Open Dance Workshop

4:00pm 2009 Senior Ladies World Champion Ashley Smith: softshoe dance (Performance)

4.05pm Solas an Lae Dance Company (Performance)

4.20pm 2009 Senior Ladies World Champion Ashley Smith: hardshoe dance (Performance)

4:30pm Adults Set Dancing Workshop w/ Kathleen Collins

5:30pm Niall O’Leary Irish Dance Troupe (Performance)

5:45pm-8:00pm Céilí: Set and Céilí Dancing for All



Tent 2

12.30pm-1:00pm Meet the young stars of Broadway hit musical BILLY ELLIOT: champion Irish

dancers Trent Kowalik, David Bologna, & Heather Burns

1:15pm Irish Language Conversation Circle

2:00pm Open Music Seisiún: all musicians welcome (participation not necessary)

3:30pm Irish Song Circle Workshop

4:30-5:15pm Panel Discussion: Irish Dance Past & Present:

Donny Golden, Niall O’Leary, Darrah Carr, Ashley Smith, Deirdre Lowery



Tent 3

1:00pm-4:00pm Children’s Face Painting

1:00pm-4:00pm Arts & Crafts for Kids



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Directions: Pier I is located on the Hudson River at 70th Street. Take the 1 train to 72nd street and walk

west to Riverside Park South. Enter the park at 72nd Street on the Hudson River.



*********



New York City Irish Dance Festival - performers include:



NIALL O'LEARY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - Niall O'Leary, TCRG, ADCRG is a former All-Ireland and

World Champion. His teachers included Kevin Massey- proclaimed by Michael Flatley to be the greatest

Irish dancer ever, and Rory O'Connor - the first man to do Irish dancing on the radio. O'Leary qualified as

an Irish dance instructor in 1994. In 1996, he put together and choreographed the first-ever multi-national

team to compete in the World Irish Dance Championships, including dancers from Germany, Finland,

Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Botswana, the USA and Ireland. Niall O'Leary performs regularly as a

solo artist, in duet with Darrah Carr, and with various acts such as Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of

America, Natalie MacMaster, Cherish the Ladies, and The Prodigals. His company, The Niall O'Leary

Irish Dance Troupe, perform at festivals, corporate events and concerts and have toured the US and

Japan. He conducts occasional workshops and master classes around the US, Ireland, Mexico, Japan and Thailand. He has released an instructional video on Irish step dancing entitled Cuts from the Kitchen. He is the founding chairman of Úll Mór CCE, the Manhattan branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, a feis musician, playing accordion and keyboards, and also practices as an architect. O'Leary was honored by Irish America Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish-Americans of the Year.

www.nialloleary.com


NIALL O'LEARY SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCE - The Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance was founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1995, and was established in New York in 1996. Classes in solo dancing, céilí dancing and dance drama for children and adults are held in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Hastings-on-Hudson, as well as the Florida Panhandle. Manhattan venues include the Irish Arts Center and four other locations, making this the largest Irish dance school in the city. Classes are taught by Niall O’Leary TCRG, ADCRG and Louise Corrigan TCRG, who joined the school in fall 2008. The school has been featured on NBC-TV, FOX-5, CBS Radio, The New York Times, The Daily News, The Irish Emigrant, Home and Away, various Queens papers and Fuji-TV (Japan). www.nialloleary.com

NIALL O’LEARY IRISH DANCE TROUPE - The Troupe is a professional Irish Dance Company performing at festivals, showcases, corporate events and concerts. The Troupe has toured the US and Japan, performing in such prestigious venues as Osaka Festival Hall. In December 2001 and March 2002 the troupe toured America with 'The Three Irish Tenors'. The Troupe perform a free open-air concert every summer in NYC at the Union Square ‘Summer in the Square’ concert series. They also performed at the Wintergarden at the World Financial Center on St. Patrick’s Day 2009. The dancers in the Troupe are from Ireland and across America but now all live in New York. Together they blend their influences and experiences to create an exciting Irish Dance Show, combining traditional forms with new choreography. www.nialloleary.com


DARRAH CARR DANCE - Darrah Carr Dance specializes in ModERIN: a unique blend of traditional Irish

step and contemporary modern dance. The company blends Irish music, step dance footwork, and

spatial patterns to create high energy, rhythmically based work that is accessible to a broad audience.

Recent performance highlights include: NBC’s “The Today Show,” the company’s 10th Anniversary

Season at the Irish Arts Center, a New York season at The Duke Theater on 42nd Street, Celebrate

Brooklyn in Prospect Park, Symphony Space’s “Dance Sampler,” the Harry de Jur Playhouse, and Snug

Harbor Cultural Center. The company has toured throughout upstate New York, to the Bank of Ireland

Arts Centre in Dublin, to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and to the Yard in Martha's Vineyard. Carr's work

has also been presented in Ohio, West Virginia, California, and Canada. Artistic Director Darrah Carr,

named 'One of the Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year' by Irish America Magazine, holds an MFA from

New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University.

She is a Professor of Dance History at Hofstra University and is a frequent contributor to Dance

Magazine, Dance Studio Life, and The Dance Insider. In addition to her work with Darrah Carr Dance,

Carr performs in a duet act with Niall O'Leary, with the Niall O'Leary Irish Dance Troupe, and with Mick

Moloney’s Green Fields of America. For more information about Darrah Carr Dance, please visit:

www.DarrahCarrDance.com.

DONNY GOLDEN – Donny Golden was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York of Irish parents and was

the first American to place in the All-Ireland and World competitions for Irish Step Dancing. Golden has

traveled the globe performing and adjudicating in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and throughout North

America. He has choreographed shows for his dance troupe in such prestigious venues as Radio City

Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and has developed dance scenes for major motion pictures like The Devil's

Own starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, as well as choreographing a dance video for country music

sensation Shania Twain. He has performed on such noted television programs as The Tonight Show with

Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and Live with Regis &

Kathie Lee. He has trained over a thousand children in the art of Irish step dancing including the original

star of Riverdance, Jean Butler. In 1995, President Clinton awarded Donny the National Heritage Award,

the highest achievement America bestows on one of its artists for his invaluable contributions to the

promotion, preservation and development of Irish dancing throughout the world.





KELTIC DREAMS are a group of students from Public School 59 in the Bronx, ranging from the age of

7 to 13, started as an after school dance program founded by Irish-born step dancer Caroline Duggan.

They are predominantly Latino and African American in background. Duggan founded Keltic Dreams

because she recognized the importance of the ability of bringing different cultures together to create

something new, dynamic and exciting in the process. In addition, she recognized that exposure to Irish

dancing dramatically increased the children’s confidence and opened them up to new possibilities in their

own lives. Keltic Dreams have raised their own funding to travel and perform in Ireland, and planning for

future trips are currently underway.





TRENT KOWALIK – At age three, Kowalik started formal dance training with tap and ballet and at age

four, began Irish step dancing lessons. In 2006, he became the youngest American male to win the World

Irish Dancing Championship at age 11. Kowalik’s debut performance was as “Billy” in BILLY ELLIOT in

London's West End in December 2007, before returning to his home town of New York City where he is

currently playing “Billy” on BILLY ELLIOT on Broadway. Kowalik was named one of the first-ever “Global

100” by Irish America Magazine in April 2009.

ASHLEY SMITH was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, with both of her parents as her dance

teachers. She has been Irish step dancing since the age of three, and is currently a three time World Irish

dance Champion and a four time All Ireland champion. She just finished her Junior year at college, where

she is majoring in Dance and Theatre with a minor in Communications. Smith says, “Dance has always

been a passion of mine, and it will continue to stay that way for the rest of my life!”



SOLAS AN LAE - Solas and Lae (Light Of Day) is a transcending Irish Dance Company from Rhinebeck,

New York. Formed in 2004 by Deirdre Lowry, founder/director of The Solas An Lae School of Irish

Dance, and Patrick Brown, New York artist/musician. Their showcasing of constantly shifting and evolving

choreographic themes, seamlessly weaving through Brown’s urgent and dynamic musical score and

visual imagery resulted in considerable critical praise. Anne Gibbons of Dutchess Magazine writes that

Solas An Lae is, “The new spirit of contemporary Irish Dance.” The Poughkeepsie Journal states that,” All

Irish dance is not created equal. Solas An Lae perform as if they are taking on the world” and the

Kingston Times adds that their performances are, “Breathtaking elegant.”