Céilí Mór Kentucky 2023

The Bluegrass Ceili Academy, in partnership with the Bluegrass Irish Society, Lexington Parks and Recreation, the Kentucky Irish Music Academy and Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers presents Céilí Mór Kentucky 2023, a celebration of Irish dance, music and language.

Céilí Mór Kentucky is made possible in part by a dance development grant from An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha.

Meet the Instructors ~ Course Listing ~ Schedule ~ Shop Gear

Join us July 21-22 in Lexington at Artworks at Tates Creek for workshops in Irish dance, music and language. Learn from professional musicians and dancers and participate in two community ceilis Friday and Saturday evenings

Admission: $5 Friday (classes + ceili), $10 Saturday (unlimited classes + ceili) or $5 Saturday (ceili only)

Location: Artworks at Tates Creek at the Tates Creek Recreation Center ballroom, 1400 Gainesway Drive, Lexington, KY

Meet the Instructors

The musicians, dancers and language instructors on Céilí Mór Kentucky’s faculty have a long history within the local, regional and international Irish dance and music communities.

Mary Beth Taylor is the artistic director and founder of Irish Dance Dublin. She is a sean-nós dancing teacher and a registered Irish dancing teacher with An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha. The child of an Irish mother (Phil from Galway) and an American father (Bob from Idaho), Mary Beth grew up in Marietta, Georgia. Now married to a Dubliner (Richard from Glasnevin), she has been living and dancing in Ireland since 2002. A dancer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Mary Beth has enjoyed many different opportunities as a performer, tutor and choreographer. Along with running weekly classes in Dublin, she has danced all over the world, having taught and performed throughout Ireland, the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Cyprus, Albania, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and Oman. She is also an instructor with Bluegrass Ceili Academy.

Jeremy Wade is a dynamic educator, composer and performer based in the Central Kentucky area. He has served as the director of percussion for Clark County Public Schools since 2016, and at Lexington Christian Academy since 2008. He teaches beginning dance and bodhrán for the Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers, and is co-director of the Kentucky Irish Music Academy.  In addition to providing class/ private instruction, he is an active clinician, presenting workshops at universities and Irish music festivals throughout the Ohio Valley. Jeremy plays bodhrán as a part of the Kentucky-based trad duo, Set Course (with Justin Bridges), and regularly performs alongside Liam’s Fancy and world-renowned flautist, John Skelton. He studies Irish dance with McTeggart (six-time Mid-America Oireachtas céilí champions) and performs as a member of their faculty dance company. In addition, his playing can often be heard at local feiseanna, where he serves as an accompanist for competitive Irish dancers.

Megan Moloney is the founder and director of Bluegrass Ceili Academy. She studied Irish dance for nearly 20 years in the Washington, D.C., area with the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance; began teaching adult students and teams more than 25 years ago; and achieved certification with CLRG, the Irish dancing commission, in 2010. The adults Megan coached achieved two North American team championships in 2023 and 2009, 23 regional championship ceili team titles between 2004 and 2015, and a solo regional championship in 2022. In addition to teaching and competing, Megan has danced — and had her choreography performed — in Kentucky and across the nation’s capital, including at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, the Annapolis Irish Festival and Shamrockfest. In July 2021, Megan was one of 23 teachers worldwide selected by Irish Dancing Magazine for excellence in teaching. For the last four years, Megan has volunteered with the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America scholarship committee and recently served as a member of the International Working Group for CLRG. She serves on the board of directors as the president of the Bluegrass Irish Society and chair of the Lexington St. Patrick’s Parade.

Justin Bonar Bridges received his first violin lesson at age five. At 10 he competed in Ireland for the first time, having ranked as the Midwest U.S. Irish fiddle champion (a title he would earn three more times). By 13 he held a teaching position at the Riley School of Irish Music and was a member of Silver Arm, Cincinnati’s premiere Celtic band. It was at this time that he also began extensive studies under Kevin Crehan, a mighty fiddler steeped in the Irish tradition. During the “aughts” he traveled extensively throughout North America and Ireland, learning from many masters of the Irish music tradition and picking up the mandolin and tenor banjo. His skills were also put to the test – alongside Silver Arm he performed with groups such as the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops and Ballet Tech Ohio. In 2017 Justin was recognized as a Master Artist in the Kentucky Arts Council’s Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program. Through this exciting grant he had the opportunity to bring a wider level of traditional Irish fiddle instruction and appreciation to the state of Kentucky.

Anna Bumiller is an Irish dancer, Irish language enthusiast, musician and teacher. A TCRG-in-training and former champion-level dancer with the Celtic Academy of Irish Dance, Anna recently graduated with honors from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick with a Master of Arts in Irish Dance Studies, where her thesis research focused on the historical relationship between the Irish Dancing Commission and the Gaelic League, as well as the use of the Irish language within the Commission. Anna began studying Irish in 2016 after a trip to the Aran Islands. Since that time she has received hundreds of hours of formal instruction with native speakers, in the USA and in Donegal. She has taught Irish classes and céilí classes through Irish in Dayton, Ohio, and has worked to develop strategies for incorporating the language into regular dance classes.

Dance, Language and Music Classes

Stay tuned for the full course description for this year’s Céilí Mór Kentucky classes. Confirmed classes are listed below.

Dance Classes

• Steps for Ceili and Set Dancing: Learn the basic moves you’ll need for ceili and set dancing – forward, backwards, and side to side, as well partner and group moves.
• Group Set Dancing: The Connemara Set: Set dances are the unique and popular social dances, some of which have been danced for more than 150 years. Learn one of the traditional dances from Connemara.
• Sean Nos Steps for Set Dancing: Take your sean nos learning to the next level and learn steps to incorporate into set dances.
• Traditional Sets – Learn the traditional set dance Jockey to the Fair .
• Small Figure dancing – Learn the basics of the smaller groups danced, including two, three and four person choreographies.

Language Classes

• Irish Language for Céilí Dancing: Learn vocabulary for céilí lingo and basic dance moves, then practice what you’ve learned at the evening céilí.
• Conversational Irish A & B: Take your first steps into speaking Irish in day-to-day life, ease anxiety about pronunciation and gain simple tools to help you continue learning on your own. Classes A and B will cover slightly different material for anyone who would like to attend both sessions.

Music Classes

• Irish Dance Tunes (Jigs and Slip Jigs): When most people think of Irish music they think of jigs. To that end we’ll kick off the weekend by learning a jig, and exploring the difference between jigs and slip jigs. All instruments welcome!
• Irish Dance Tunes (Reels): Tunes in 4/4 time show up in music all over the world, but the sound of an Irish reel is unmistakable! We’ll not only learn a reel in this workshop, but touch on everything from the quirkiness of single reels to how to reach those blazing dance speeds. All instruments welcome!
• Rhythm and Ornamentation in Irish Melody Playing: Irish dance music is all about rhythm, and one of the most interesting ways to accent rhythm is through ornamentation. In this workshop we’ll explore how to play various ornaments and how they fit into tunes. This workshop will cater specifically to melody players, but all instruments are welcome!
• Music Theory for Irish Dancers: Are you an Irish dancer who wants to know a bit more about the music you’re dancing to? Do you want a better understanding of how to differentiate between a reel and a hornpipe; or how to count a slip jig? In this class, Jeremy Wade will lead participants through the rhythmic anatomy of each of the common Irish dance tune types. Beginning with a crash course in music theory, dancers will analyze how rhythms are incorporated into various time signatures and tempos, and will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to some basic dance steps. 
• Irish Dance Tunes (Hornpipes, Hop Jigs, and More): Having covered some of the faster dance tunes in Irish Music, we’ll get into a laid back groove with swung rhythms. In this workshop we’ll explore hornpipes, barndances, flings, and hop jigs. All instruments welcome!

Schedule

We’re excited to announce our full Céilí Mór Kentucky schedule.

Friday, July 21 

• 6:30 – 7 p.m – Registration and Welcome
• 7 – 8p – Opening classes – Session #1
  • Dance: Steps for Ceili and Set Dancing 
  • Music: Irish dances tune – Jigs and Slip Jigs
  • Language: Irish language for ceili dancing
• 8:15 – 9:30 p.m. – Opening ceili and seisiún
  • Music by the Ceili Mor instructor/student band

Saturday, July 22

• 9 – 9:15 a.m – Registration and Welcome
• 9:15 – 10:30 – Session #2
  • Dance: Group Set Dancing – The Connemara Set 
  • Music: Irish Dance Tunes – Reels
• 10:45 – Noon – Session #3
  • Dance:  Sean Nos Steps for Set Dancing 
  • Music: Rhythm and Ornamentation in Irish Melody Playing
  • Music: Introduction to Bodhran 
  • Language: Basic Conversational Irish, Part A
• Noon – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch break
• 1:30  – 2:45 p.m. – Session #4
  • Dance: Traditional Sets – Jockey to the Fair  
  • Music: Irish Dance Tunes -Hornpipes, Hop Jigs, and More!
  • Language: Conversational Irish, Part B
• 3 – 4:15 p.m. – Session #5
  • Dance: Small Figure dancing – Two, Three and Four Hand dances
  • Music: Music Theory for Irish Dancers 
• 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. – Dinner break
• 6:30 – 9 p.m. – Closing ceili and seisiún
  • Music by the Ceili Mor instructor/student band