The wonderful Hannah DeRusha has been instrumental in carrying on and developing the programming for our younger students, for over 10 years.  Hannah is a lifelong Irish dancer. She grew up competing with the Griffith Academy and performed for several years with the Griffith Celtic Dance Company. Since moving to Boston, Hannah has studied old-style step and sean-nós dancing with Kieran Jordan and others. She has also performed with Kieran Jordan Dance, the MIT Dance Troupe, and most recently with Rising Step. Her choreography has been showcased at many regional venues and festivals, including the Boston Celtic Music Festival. Hannah holds a degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT and a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education from BU. She has been teaching Irish Dance to children and adults for over fifteen years! She also has a background in improv comedy, which she has been integrating with dance for teaching and performing purposes. She has produced a week-long Irish dance theater camp where students were in charge of all aspects of production, from choreography to sets to costumes. Her mission is to give children the tools to practice agency and express their thoughts and emotions through movement, to connect joyfully and thoughtfully with audiences, and to foster a greater appreciation of the natural world around (and inside) us. 

​

Joining us for the second year, Samantha Jones is versed in various forms of Irish dance, including step dancing, sean-nós, Set and céilí dancing. She took her first dance steps in ballet and tap at the Groton Community Center in Connecticut, taking up Irish dancing in her teens with Spirited Soles Irish Dance in Waterford, CT. She returned to Irish dance as an adult, inspired by the joyful and musical dancing of Kieran Jordan, with whom she subsequently studied old-style step dancing and sean-nós dance. She has since taken workshops and lessons with a myriad of dancers in Ireland and North America in solo and social styles of Irish dance. In addition to Kieran, she counts Kevin Doyle, Donny Golden, Patrick O’Dea, and Michael Tubridy among her influences. Sam has several years of experience teaching dance, music, and theater to children and adults. She recently completed her doctorate in ethnomusicology at Harvard University where she focused her research on the musicality and transmission of non-competitive solo Irish dancing in Boston.

​

Eve Sheridan is an Irish dancer from Galway, Ireland. She began dancing when she was 5 years old at the Hession school and competed for many years winning regional titles, World and All-Ireland medals in both solo and team dancing. As a young dancer she always dreamed of joining a professional show and this became a reality when she joined the cast of Celtic Legends in 2018. Since then, she has performed with Rhythm of the Dance, Danceperados of Ireland and the Fusion Fighters to audiences across Europe, Asia and the US. She is very excited to be teaching this beginners class at the Dance Complex and looks forward to sharing her love of Irish music and dance with the next generation!