Jackie O'Riley spent her formative dance years in the Irish set dancing community in Boston, MA.  Over the past 20 years, she has ardently sought out old-style or traditional step dancing, sean-nós dance, and set dancing and is now a respected performer and teacher, with a unique repertoire that includes older steps she’s collected from masters and field footage, and original material she’s composed.  

 

Jackie performs and teaches in the US, Canada, and Ireland, was an original member of the touring sean-nós dance show Atlantic Steps, and in 2018 performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as part of Na Píobairí Uilleann's production, "The Sound of Ireland".  She founded, directs, and teaches O’Riley Irish Dance, a unique, non-competitive dance program for kids and teens now in its 14th year, is the co-recipient of a 2017 and 2022 grant for choreographers through the Boston Foundation, and a co-recipient of a Mass Cultural Council Fellowship in Choreography in 2021.

 

In 2019 she co-released a debut, first-of-its-kind visual album, From the Floor.  Above all, she believes in prioritizing musicality in dancing, being a part of the wider musical and traditional community, and maintaining the joy that drew her to the tradition in the first place.