A two-day Irish dance workshop in Lexington Jan. 18-19, 2020, will explore the roots of Irish and percussive dance styles. The event returns for the third year to Artworks at the Carver School and for the first time features classes on percussive improvisation and Appalachian flatfooting.
Whether you tap, clog, Irish dance or just enjoy a good toe-tapping tune, we invite you to spend your weekend making music with your feet. Join us as we bring acclaimed dancer and instructor Mary Beth Taylor to Lexington from Dublin, Ireland, for two days of traditional old style Irish séan nos and set dancing classes. Taylor will be joined this year by Julie Shepherd-Powell, an award-winning Appalachian flatfoot dancer, and Carla Gover, a Kentucky Folklife Program master artist in traditional dance, who will teach sessions on Saturday.
Visit our Workshop info page for the schedule, registration fees and class descriptions.
What are you going to learn over the two-day workshop? The older styles of Irish dancing we’ll study are perhaps less athletic and demanding on the dancer’s body than its modern competitive counterpart, but it is absolutely compelling to watch and listen to.
Our workshop will also explore set dancing, a traditional form of group social dancing that is still very popular in Ireland today. Like céilí dances, sets are comprised of a series of figures, but include ‘battering’ footwork, which puts sean-nós-style shuffling rhythms into the different figures.
Get signed up for our Irish dance workshop in Lexington
Take one class or take them all! We have a special rate for those interested in taking the full Irish dance workshop in Lexington — $100 for both days. And then take what you’ve learned and share it. At the end of the workshop, dancers and their friends and families are invited to join us for a dance about at McCarthy’s Irish Pub in downtown Lexington.
All classes will be held at Artworks at the Carver School, 522 Patterson Street, in downtown Lexington.
Visit our Workshop info page for the schedule, registration fees and class descriptions.
Ready to sign up?