Bluegrass Ceili Academy

Jul142019 by BCANo Comments

Summer doesn’t slow down for this Lexington Irish dance school

From festivals to competitions to free classes, Bluegrass Ceili Academy, a community-based Lexington Irish dance school keeps the activities going all summer long. While our 2018-2019 classes wrapped up at the beginning of May, our dancers have kept dancing all summer long. On May 10, our youth Irish dance class took the stage at the Lexington Opera House for their year-end recital. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxTQBERlKgh/ The next day, our adults and a few of our youth dancers traveled up I-75 to Cincinnati for the Queen City Feis. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxU1OSwlRpR/ Then it was back home for the final night of Opera House recitals -- this time our Lexington Irish dance school team dancers took to the stage. (Be sure to scroll through all three photos below!) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxWC4-eFAeh/ Summer is festival season and there's no…

Jan22019 by BCANo Comments

Bluegrass Ceili Academy supports adoption of CLRG anti-bullying policy

Bluegrass Ceili Academy

On Jan. 2, 2019, An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) - the Irish Dancing Commission - sent its members a copy of the the organization's proposed anti-bullying policy. Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Lexington's community-based Irish dance program, supports this policy and immediately adopted the proposed statement. A copy of of the policy is below: Bullying and unkindness, whether physical or emotional, are entirely unacceptable at Bluegrass Ceili Academy. It conflicts sharply with the school's principles and will always be treated seriously. Bullying is behavior by an individual or group, repeated over time, which intentionally hurts another individual or group, either physically or emotionally.Bullying can take many forms (including cyber-bullying via text messages or the internet).If you feel that you are being bullied, or are concerned about bullying, please contact your teacher…

Aug192018 by Megan MNo Comments

Join our community-based Lexington Irish dance school – enroll this week!

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Instruction, Irish Dance Classes in Lexington

You've always wanted to try something new, right? Now is the time to dance with our community-based Lexington Irish dance school where you'll find fun, affordable instruction with a certified teacher for both children and adults. Our classes are offered in partnership with Artworks at the Carver School, a community cultural arts program in downtown Lexington. What is our Lexington Irish dance school like? We focus our dance classes on group choreography — known as ceili dancing — for fun, for exercise, for performance and for competition. Registration for 2018-2019 classes will begin in August 22, 2018 at noon via the Lexington Parks and Recreation website. View the full 2018-2019 Kiddie Kapers & Company Program schedule. New this year! We’re adding a pre-school Irish Dance class on Mondays for children ages 3-5. Our Lexington Irish dance school…

Aug12018 by BCANo Comments

Bluegrass Ceili Academy awarded LexArts community arts grant

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Community, Uncategorized

Lexington's community-based Irish dance school, Bluegrass Ceili Academy, has been awarded a community arts development grant by LexArts to provide scholarships to dancers for the 2018-2019 class year. "We're truly honored for the generous support of LexArts, through its Fund for the Arts, which is funded in part by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government," said Academy director Megan Moloney. "With this grant, we'll be able to bring Irish dance to more students in our community, including both children and adults." According to LexArts' website, since its inception, the organization has raised millions of dollars in support of the local arts through its annual Fund for the Arts. In turn, LexArts underwrites general operating expenses for a variety of arts organizations and offers competitive Community Arts Grants for arts projects…

Jul192018 by Megan MNo Comments

9 reasons our Irish dance classes in Lexington will make your heart sing

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Irish Dance Classes in Lexington

“Do what makes your heart sing.” At Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Irish dancing does just that – makes our hearts sing and our spirits soar...and we want to share that with you! If you've been thinking about trying something new and different -- for yourself or your child -- stop by our August or September open house events to learn more about Irish dance classes in Lexington with our community-based program. Our Irish dance classes for both children and adults focus on a few things: fun, friendship, art and sport. Here are 9 reasons you'll want to join us! 1. Perspective matters The love of dance and music knows no age limit. Academy director and fifth generation Lexingtonian Megan Moloney learned Irish dance as an adult, proving that it isn’t just an…

Jun122018 by Megan MNo Comments

Another new chapter for our Lexington Irish dance school

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Competitions

Sometimes the things staring you right in the face don't stand out as a milestone until someone else points it out. That's the case for our Lexington Irish dance school and the weekend coming up. This Father's Day weekend in Kentucky is also a back-to-back Irish dance competition weekend -- the Louisville Feis is Saturday and Lexington's Bluegrass Feis is Sunday. For those new to Irish dancing, a "feis" (pronounced "fesh") is a local dance competition. At our rehearsal Monday night, I was giving our dancers a pep talk -- you see, it's the first time each of them will be competing in Irish dance. One of the dancers pointed out that not only would it be a first for them, but it’s also the first for our community-based Lexington…

Nov222017 by Megan MNo Comments

Happy Thanksgiving from our Lexington Irish dance school

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Community

With Thanksgiving 2017 upon us, we at Bluegrass Ceili Academy wanted to thank our Lexington Irish dance school family for all that you bring to our community. We've had a busy year so far and there's still a lot coming up this fall and early in 2018, so we're excited to share some of those events with you. But first... all of the things for which we are thankful: Our students: From our beginners, to our returning students, to our adults, we are grateful for each and every pair of feet dancing across our studio floor. Our parents: In case your dancers haven't said so, we say "THANK YOU!" for choosing to make our Irish dance classes part of your child's cultural growth. Our partners: Our Lexington Irish dance school is…

Oct272017 by Megan MNo Comments

Get your toes tapping with our percussive Irish dance workshop in Lexington

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Instruction, Irish Dance Classes in Lexington

We're honored to announce that Bluegrass Ceili Academy is one of the sponsors of an exciting Irish dance workshop in Lexington coming this January 13-14. Whether you tap, clog, Irish dance or just enjoy a good toe-tapping tune, we invite you to spend your weekend with us 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. 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…

Oct92017 by Megan MNo Comments

What our Lexington Irish dance classes can teach your student

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Community, Irish Dance Classes in Lexington

October is National Arts and Humanities Month and a great time to look at what the arts, such as our Lexington Irish dance classes, can teach your student – whether that’s something as simple as a dance step or a broader life lesson. First, the research. According to the Americans for the Arts: Students involved with the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance. High school students who take four years of arts and music classes average almost 100 points higher on their SAT scores than students who take only one-half year or less. Low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate collegeas their peers with no arts…

Sep202017 by Megan MNo Comments

Irish dance in Lexington: Traditions, history give growth to new community

Bluegrass Ceili Academy, Instruction, Irish Dance Classes in Lexington

When I talk about what I want Bluegrass Ceili Academy's role in Irish dance in Lexington to be, you'll hear me describe our goal of being a community-based cultural arts resource for Central Kentucky. It's that perspective that we want to share with our dancers, families and supporters. We're just days away from the start of our second full year of classes at Artworks at the Carver School and we couldn't be more excited to welcome both our new and returning students. But before the new year begins, I wanted to share with you more about what Bluegrass Ceili Academy is, where we came from and our mission in being a vital part of the community. The legacy of Peggy O'Neill [caption id="attachment_945" align="alignright" width="234"] Peggy O'Neill. Photo courtesy of…