Irish Dance Performance troupes

Irish Dance Performance track is for those who love to perform in lots of different ways. We do festivals, libraries community events, weddings, cultural events, recitals parades and siamsa (irish for party)! If you love the creative contemporary side of Irish dance this is for you!

Our Programs

Are there tryouts?

We will have tryouts for the performance troupes soon! Tryout dates will be announced on our social media and in an email. Watch our Instagram and keep an eye on your inbox!

Who will be on the performance troupe?

Everyone who tries out will make a troupe. We are hoping to have 2-3 performance troupes. Each troupe will have a name and work as a team to learn choreography for performances.

What will they learn in performance class?

The performance group is going to be such a fun experience! This is the place where creativity and thinking outside of the box will be cultivated. We will integrate fun music and modern steps and ideas as we create these numbers with both traditional and creative dance steps. We will also help our students learn to choreograph themselves.

What will they wear?

We will be getting fun new costumes to go with the dances we are learning. Sometimes it will just be something simple that you can bring from home and sometimes it will be a dance-specific costume. We will also be using the costumes we already have.

What is the purpose of this class?

The goal of this class is to concentrate and be ready for any performance that we participate in each year as well as ones that we are invited to. The choreography will be similar to our past featured performance numbers such as Ballroom, Galway, Hills of Ireland, etc. Each troupe will learn their own set of performance choreography. The goal is to have a database of fun dances so that when the opportunity to perform comes up we are ready and look amazing!

What is required?

Your participation in the performance troupe is conditional on your commitment to attend these three required events:

Performance debut (intro of new choreography and Fundraiser for costumes), this will take place in the fall

Parade/Siamsa (the Saturday closest to/before St. Patrick's Day)

Recital: 1st week of June

What other performances will we have?

We will have other performances come up throughout the year that we will have the opportunity to participate in. Some samples of these optional performances include the school caravan (the Friday in March closest to St. Patrick's Day), Heritage Festival (May), Golden Spike Railroad (May), Assisted living centers (Christmas March), Festival (June-August), etc. Once committed to attending these optional events we expect full commitment.

Irish Dance Class Description

Beginner I Irish

Ages 7 - 12

Class time: 1 hour.

In our Intro to Irish Dance class, dancers learn 4 traditional light shoe dances (Reel, Light jig, Single jig, and Slip jig) and learn hard shoe technique. Once they have mastered all of their light shoe dances they will be ready for the beginner 2 class.

Beginner II Irish

Ages 7 & up

Class time: 1 hour twice a week

This class focuses more on hard shoe dances and continues to master technique and control of soft shoe dances. They will learn 3 hard shoe dances (Hornpipe, Jig, and Traditional set) in addition to the 4 light shoe dances. Dancers in beginner II Irish are invited to join 1 hour of Ceili Class*.

Novice/Prizewinner Irish

Class time: 1.5 hours/2x a week plus 1 hour of Ceili Class.

This class will teach more complex choreography to expand on basics taught in Beginner I & II Irish. These dances will be more complex in rhythm, strength, and flexibility. Traditional choreography is emphasized at this level.

Championship Irish

Class time: 3.5 hours a week plus 1 hour of Ceili Class.

Championship-level dancers explore contemporary competition choreography and stylization with a deeper emphasis on technique, strength, and flexibility.

Adult Irish

Age 18+

Class time: 1.5 hours

This class is for adults who would like to come learn how to Irish dance. Classes focus on strength and flexibility as well as just a fun way to get good exercise and have fun with other adults. Learn traditional Ceili (group) dances and both traditional and contemporary solo choreography together. It is a great way to stay fit and have fun with friends.

Irish Teams/Ceili*

Class time: 1 hour

Learn the 30 popular traditional Irish ceili dances and modern performance choreography. Team classes are a great way to learn how to work together while learning more about Irish culture and modern Irish dance choreography.

Celtic Journey

By Invitation

Celtic Journey is our invitation-only performance group for dancers in Novice level and above. Celtic Journey performs year-round at community and cultural events including the Siamsa St.Patrick's day celebration in SLC, and Elementary school caravan in March.