Niall O’Leary

Niall O’Leary

July 22-27, 2012

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Bio and Class Description
Niall O'Leary
Bio

(Step Dance) (Ceili Dance Mini-Course)

Niall O’Leary, a former All-Ireland and World Champion, is from Dublin Ireland. His Irish dance teachers included Kevin Massey, proclaimed by Michael Flatley to be the greatest Irish dancer ever, 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. He is the Director of the New York City Irish Dance Festival presented by the Irish Arts Center in May each year and also runs an Irish Dancing Feis in New York City. O’Leary performs regularly as a solo artist, in duet with Darrah Carr, and with various acts such as Natalie MacMaster, Cherish The Ladies, The Prodigals, The Andy Cooney Band, and Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of America, as well as with his company The Niall O’Leary Irish Dance Troupe. He is in constant demand as a performer, choreographer and master instructor and conducts regular workshops and master classes around the US, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Japan and Thailand. He has made an instructional video in Irish step dancing entitled ‘Cuts from the Kitchen’. He is the founding chairman of Ull Mor CCE, the Manhattan branch of Comhaltas, a feis musician, playing accordion and keyboards, and also practices as an architect. O’Leary was honored in 2004 by Irish America Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish-Americans of the Year.

 Class Description

Irish Step Dance

Student Requirements/ Prior experience:

  • Able to do Hop 123′s
  • Able to dance hop 123′s
  • Currently enrolled in an Irish dancing School
  • Permission Letter from current Irish Dance Teacher

Major topics to be covered:

  • Technique
  • Style
  • New Moves
  • Drilling Core Skills
  • Heightening the Connection between the dance and the music

Teaching style:

Demonstration and repetition will be used. The class will be divided according to what is being taught: all levels will be catered to.

What students should work on prior to class:

Nothing really, just do some stretching: after a week of dancing, you will be fitter, sharper, better!

What to bring to class:

Softshoes, hardshoes (if you have them), notebook, pen.

If you have questions prior to class, you may email your questions to nialloleary@ireland.com
Web:  www.nialloleary.com
Phone:  212 726 1602