BelfastTrad are delighted to host this workshop for beginners and intermediate dancers with Joe and Mary McGuiggan.
Joe will teach sean nós jig stepping suitable for beginners. Mary will teach traditional jig steps from County Derry suitable for more advanced dancers. Both workshops will take place at the same time but there will also be opportunities for everyone to dance together. Joe and Mary will also teach a two-hand reel.
Joe was born and reared in Co. Derry has been dancing since the age of five years in the old traditional style of the region. In his adult years he has been influenced and inspired by the old style Irish step dancers from the area and elsewhere in Ireland. He won the All Ireland Traditional Step Dance competition in 1991 and was runner up in the Sean Nós Step Dance competition at the All Ireland Oireachtas in 2006. Joe has performed at many festivals in Ireland including Fleadh Cheoil na h'Eireann, and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Derry. In 2016 he performed at the Celtic Colours Festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is the resident traditional dance instructor at An tAcadamh Cheoil in Derry City and has taught at numerous workshops across the country, including at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann and at the World Academy of Irish Music and Dance, University of Limerick.
Mary McGuiggan is a traditional Irish step dancer from Bellaghy in Co. Derry. She has been immersed in Irish song and dance since an early age and was taught dance by May Allen since the age of four. Mary has danced competitively, winning many championships at local, Ulster and All-Ireland level. She has performed in the Irish Sea Sessions Tour, the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, Cos Cos Festival, Ceolás, City Clickers, Bristol, The Oireachtas and All-Ireland Fleadheanna. She runs her own dance school and has taught and organised competitive Irish Step dance at all levels. She now teaches both céilí and traditional step-dance to children and adults “purely for fun” in local schools and community dance projects.