Instructors & Choreographers

Niki Farahani is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2015) and an MFA from Smith College (2025). Passionate about teaching and artistic collaboration, Niki works across disciplines to create performance-based and interdisciplinary work. She currently works and performs with Shakia Johnson (Kia the Key & Company) while developing new performance projects of her own. Her practice is rooted in collaboration, experimentation, and community engagement.

John Guaragna is excited to be a part of the SHU Dance faculty. He continues to build community through his work as a choreographer and teacher for the shared love of dance and art.

Degrees

• BFA in Theatre Arts: Molloy University/CAP21

Theatre Credits

Off-Broadway

• Come Home (The Chase Brock Experience)

Broadway National Tours

• Chicago (Ensemble/Billy Understudy)
• Donna Summer Musical (Bruce Sudano)

Regional Theatre

• Jesus Christ Superstar (Asolo Repertory Theatre)
• Newsies (The REV)
• Tarzan (The REV)
• Carousel (The REV)
• A Chorus Line (Greg)
• Saturday Night Fever (Tony Manero)

Cruise Ships

• Norwegian Cruise Line’s Footloose (Ensemble/Ren Understudy)
• Elements (Dancer)

Sally Hong most recently performed in Flower Drum Song at East West Players as Ms. Lee, Ensemble, and Dance Captain. She had the privilege of performing on Broadway in Flower Drum Song which received a Tony nomination for choreography. She traveled around the country in the national tours of The King and I (Fan Dancer), Flower Drum Song (Dance Captain), and 42nd Street. She has danced in 13 other regional musical theater productions in southern California including West Side Story (Ovation Award winner for Best Musical). Hong was depicted as a cartoon dancer in the 1999 animated movie The King and I.

She was a Radio City Rockette for six seasons and was one of the first Rockettes invited to teach “The Rockette Experience” at Radio City Music Hall. As a Rockette, she appeared on television in The Donny & Marie Show and twice on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

After being inspired by a robot ballerina on a Japanese television program, Sally began dancing at age five. She grew up in Hong Kong and studied classical ballet and character dance under British teachers in the Royal Academy of Dance system. In California, she was exposed to jazz, tap, musical theater dance, hip hop, and Pilates for body conditioning. She graduated magna cum laude from University of Southern California with a BA in Theater.

Her teaching career began when she was a scholarship student at Professional School for the Arts in California. Sally took every possible class in every genre and learned a lot about teaching while subbing for different styles and teaching different age groups. She expanded to teach at schools, academies, studios, and gyms. In addition to Sacred Heart University, Sally has taught at Yale, Dean College, Regional Center for the Arts, Academy of Dance Arts, Dance Unlimited, Conservatory of Dance Wilton, Danz Magic, and Notre Dame Catholic High School of Fairfield as the founding director of dance. Sally has instructed virtual classes for Showtime Theatre Company, California State University Long Beach, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Her choreography has been seen in musicals at Notre Dame Catholic High School of Fairfield, Trumbull High School, and Pantochino Productions. Past Sacred Heart University classes include:

• Movement for Musicians
• Tap
• Musical Theatre Dance
• Kickline

Sally cofounded Rockettes of Color Alumnae, which offers mentorship and classes for young people in the hopes of helping Radio City diversify the line. She is a proud member of Rockettes Legacy and currently serves as president of the Rockette Alumnae Association.

Contemporary Dance Instructor

Caitlyn Hydeck was born and raised in Connecticut where her passion for dancing would grow and flourish through all of the styles of dance she studied. Her first loves were jazz and tap which would eventually be accompanied by ballet, contemporary and hip hop. She went on to study at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and performance and was the captain of her dance team. During this time she expanded her repertoire with more styles such as breakin’, popping, and locking. Her love for performance and creating movement continued as she took classes in New York, North Carolina, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Connecticut. She began teaching and choreographing award winning hip hop routines for various studios and dance teams while also presenting her work on the stages of New York and Connecticut. She has danced for artists such as Kat Deluna, Flo Rida and Def Jam productions and has appeared on networks such as MTV2. She has been dancing and teaching for Double up Dance Company and their non profit, Gift of dance for the last eight years. She has been coaching and choreographing for the Fairfield University Dance Team while teaching and choreographing contemporary dance for the Sacred Heart University dance program. She has also been the head choreographer for ERA theater productions for the last two years. Creating movement for productions from In the Heights to The Wizard of OZ. She has been dancing for twenty nine years now with Thirteen years of experience in choreography and loving every minute of it. 

Degrees & Certifications

• Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance and Performance, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Tap Dance Instructor

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Lexie Sahagian is originally from Long Island, where she grew up training in various styles of dance. After competing for many years, Lexie moved to NYC to continue her training. She completed the Professional Semester at Broadway Dance Center, where she trained from and/or assisted many well known choreographers such as Bo Park, Theresa Stone, Luam, Neil Schwartz, Keenan Cooks, etc. She is a member of AbstraKT Beings the Company directed by Theresa Stone, as well as Shinsa directed by Bo Park. Credits include Adidas, Amazon, Macy's, Heineken, America's Got Talent, Good Morning America, etc. Lexie has taught dance for over 10 years to all different ages and levels. Teaching and choreography credits include, Immersive shows “Limbo” and “B_tterland” directed by Bo Park, BDC Professional semester showcase, Brickhouse NYC, etc. Lexie looks forward to continuing to grow and learn while sharing everything she has learned along the way!

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Natalie Stys is a New York City based dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Natalie holds an MA in Performing Arts Administration from New York University and a BFA in Dance from Shenandoah Conservatory, studying abroad at Balettakademien Goteborg in Sweden. She has further trained with Broadway Dance Center’s Independent program, Springboard Danse Montreal, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company/Hubbard Street Chicago, Broadway's Best Dance at the Growing Studio, and Dana Foglia Dance. Natalie has spent the past three years performing in National Tours with the physical theatre company, Catapult Entertainment (America’s Got Talent S8). Some other performance credits include: BalletNext, Vertical Shadows, Neville Dance Theatre, New York Jazz Choreography Project, “Trapus 11” at New York Live Arts, and “A Christmas Carol” (Crossroads Theatre Company). When not performing, she works as a guest teacher and choreographer throughout New York and New Jersey across all genres. Natalie focuses on developing technique, artistry, and style, working in both commercial and concert dance mediums.

Garet Wierdsma is a dance artist from Connecticut, and is the creator, director, and founder of the contemporary dance company Garet&Co. Before beginning her professional journey, Garet graduated with high honors from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Business in 2021.

Garet's work with Garet&Co has earned her and the company invitations to perform at countless festivals and shows across the Northeast, sharing not only their artistry, but her mission of creating a safe, sustainable, and uplifting space for dancers to train and perform. The company has performed frequently and consistently over the course of its five seasons. A few of these highlights include presenting work at the following prominent venues: Jacob's Pillow, Symphony Space, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Warner Theatre, Dixon Place, Chesterwood, The Colonial Theatre: Berkshire Theatre Group, and TADA Emerging Artist Theatre. Garet’s work has also been awarded grant funding from the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Garet is currently a faculty member at Sacred Heart University (SHU), where she teaches contemporary dance classes, creates and sets choreography for performances, and teaches a creative process class. Through SHU, Garet’s work was chosen for presentation at World Dance Movement in Italy in 2025. Garet is also proud to have been selected as a choreographer for The Bushnell’s “Stories of Queer Love” project in 2023. Her filmed piece has since gone on to be screened at countless venues, including The Bushnell, and has won numerous awards including two Telly Awards. Her choreography for the project was also brought back to be performed live at the Bushnell's June 2026 "Immersed in Pride" events. Garet is a co-organizer of CT Young Artists, an organization she began with her colleagues to provide valuable and accessible artistic opportunities for high school and college dancers in Connecticut (CT). Garet serves as the secretary of CT Dance Alliance, a non profit organization dedicated to connecting the dance community in CT.

Garet’s experiences as an educator and choreographer include seven years at Connecticut Dance Academy (CDA), three as a guest choreographer/teacher, and four as a weekly teacher. Garet continues her work and valued relationship with the studio as a guest choreographer/teacher. Outside of CDA, Garet has served as a guest choreographer and teacher at a multitude of studios and schools across CT, MA, and NY.

In addition to Garet's artistic experience, she also spent two and a half years working in sales and marketing at Dance Media on all of their brands (including Dance Magazine), where she gained a foundation of valuable experience in the business side of the dance industry.

Garet's goal through Garet&Co is to give back to her community, and her home state, through cultivating a sustainable and strong dance community by offering valuable and positive opportunities for both dancers and audiences. Through Garet&Co, she has successfully and single-handedly produced sixteen and counting professional dance performances, and has held countless open community classes and workshops—all of which have been filled to the brim with passionate dancers and inspiring energy. As her work at the helm of this company continues, Garet is excited about the new ways she can bring dance, and her art, into the world.

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Sidra Bell is the founder of Sidra Bell Dance New York and a dancer, choreographer, and educator. She has been an artist in residence at the University of Oklahoma (Brackett Distinguished Visiting Artist Chair), a Visiting Lecturer and Artist in Residence at Harvard University, and an Adjunct Professor at Barnard College. Bell received a BA in History from Yale and an MFA in Choreography from Purchase College. She is the founder of the award-winning MODULE Laboratory. Bell has won awards for her work, notably a First Prize for Choreography at the Solo Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, a National Dance Project Production Award from NEFA and a Creative Capital Wild Futures Award. In 2017 Mayor Thomas Roach named February 3 “Sidra Bell Day” in White Plains, NY. Her work has been seen throughout the United States and in Denmark, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, China, Canada, Aruba, Korea, Brazil, and Greece. Bell has created over 100 works notably for Nevada Ballet Theater, Nashville Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC, Ailey II, The Juilliard School, Whim W'Him, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College, River North Dance Chicago, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Sacramento Ballet, Boulder Ballet, Motto Dans Kolectif Turkey among many others. Solo mainstage presentations and commissions of her dance company include The Met Museum, The Met Breuer, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, The Aronoff Center Cincinnati, Emens Auditorium Indiana, Kungsbacka Teater Sweden, Vara Konserthus Sweden, One Dance Week Bulgaria, Chutzpah! Festival/The Dance Centre Vancouver, Gibney, The Wilson Center North Carolina, Manship Theatre Baton Rouge, Dance Theater Workshop, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, SteelStacks Pennsylvania, SummerStage Jackie Robinson Park NYC, Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre Pittsburgh, 92Y, Tanz Farm at The Goat Farm Arts Center, Bryant Park NYC, and The Egg Performing Arts Center. The company was lauded in the press as No. 1 in Contemporary Dance by the Pittsburgh Examiner in 2014 for The 2023-2024 Gibney Presents Season was curated by Gibney Center Artistic Director Nigel Campbell. ABOUT THE ARTISTS company has been in residence at Alloy Studios Pittsburgh, Kelly Strayhorn Theater Pittsburgh, Point Park University Pittsburgh, LevyDance San Francisco, LINES Ballet School San Francisco, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, Dance Theater Workshop Studio Series, Stella Adler Acting Studios, Gibney, Arts Umbrella Vancouver, Ball State University, CUNY Dance Initiative at Hostos College and Lehman College, Vara Konserthus Sweden, SITE Stockholm, New Jersey Dance Theatre, Tisch Summer Dance Festival, Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, University of the Arts Philadelphia, Derida Dance Center Bulgaria, and PearlArts Pittsburgh. Bell was commissioned as the choreographer for the feature film "Test" set in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS crisis in 1985. Written and directed by Chris Mason Johnson (Frankfurt Ballet/White Oak Project), "Test" was awarded two grand jury prizes from Outfest. The film had many screenings at festivals worldwide, including The Seattle Film Festival, Frameline37 (San Francisco), Outfest (L.A.), Berlinale, and New York City Lincoln Center's NewFest. The movie enjoyed a theatrical release and was a New York Times Critics Pick. It is currently available on VOD, iTunes, and Netflix. Bell was the first Black female commissioned to create work for the New York City Ballet where she created works for film and the Lincoln Center stage (Fall Fashion Gala 2021). Her work was performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for New York City Ballet’s engagement in May 2022. She was nominated for a Bessie New York Dance & Performance Dance (Outstanding Choreographer) for SUSPENDED ANIMATION for New York City Ballet. She was Bessie nominated once again as Outstanding Choreographer for the Gibney presented show IN | REP: Introspection. Recent features of her historical work at New York City Ballet include Essence Magazine, NY1, News12, Playbill, and Amsterdam News. She has also been featured in press outlets Town & Country, Cero Magazine, Meet the Dance Company Theater Development Fund, Good Company Cleveland WKYC, Dance Magazine, DancePulp, Home4Dance, BiT TV Bulgaria, Turkish TV, and CityLights Vancouver. As a solo artist she has held residencies at Yaddo (The Patricia Highsmith-Plangman Residency) & Djerassi Resident Artist Program with funding support from Yaddo Access Grants and University of the Arts Faculty and Academic Development Fund. Recently she performed in experimental durational events with acclaimed violinist Sita Chay at Joe’s Pub, Washington, D.C. 's Union Stage, and at the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. Upcoming projects include continued installments of her living archive and book project INSIDE | FORM, an action installation of ephemera, performance objects, documentary film, collaged media, and writings. She has been a featured guest speaker on numerous podcasts and at institutions for dance and theater. She was highlighted in an aired television feature on TODAY (NBC) “How choreographer Sidra Bell is blazing a trail for next generation" in June 2023.

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Kenny Bermudez is a hip-hop dancer born a raised in the Bronx, New York. Starting as a street performer, he was recruited by a crew; shortly after, competed on America's Best Dance Crew (top four of season 4). From this moment on, Kenny has been performing on TV shows, award shows, movies, and tours with artists of multiple genre's of music. Till this day, Kenny is still an established working dancer based in New York out of Connecticut.

Rachel Leigh Dolan is an award-winning choreographer, director, and educator with more than 20 years of experience training dancers for professional careers in commercial theater. A lifelong educator and creative leader, Rachel has choreographed more than 25 professional productions spanning regional theater, Off-Broadway, television, and film. Most recently, she was featured as a choreographer on New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for CNN and CNN International.

Rachel is a two-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Choreography, with eight total nominations. Throughout her career, she has collaborated on a wide range of projects alongside some of the industry’s most sought-after choreographers across Broadway, television, and film. She currently serves on faculty at Steps on Broadway and Pace University Sands College of Performing Arts.

Katie Drablos, a Dallas native and SMU dance performance graduate, made her mark in New York City initially as a Radio City Rockette and has kept dancing, teaching and choreographing her way through the city ever since. Notably, she served as Al Blackstone's associate choreographer for productions like Oklahoma, Pippin, and Hairspray, and performed in his original shows at iconic venues such as The Joyce Theater in NYC. She has taught workshops all across the United States as well as Mexico City, London, São Paulo, Vancouver and Prague. She choreographed pieces for college programs at Sacred Heart University, Southern Methodist University and Princeton University. She is the resident choreographer for Woman in Motion dance company based out of NYC and has had six different works premiere at the Ailey Citigroup Theater from 2022-2026.

Katie is a passionate dance educator teaching young people and adults across the country, internationally, and at Steps on Broadway. She specializes in contemporary, jazz, lyrical and theater jazz. She collaborates with live musicians and visual artists often and curates shows and classes across NYC venues. Some favorite places she teaches, other than Steps on Broadway, are House of Jazz in London and Momen in NYC. A cancer survivor with a heart for storytelling, she showcased her directorial and choreographic prowess in three, self-produced full-length NYC shows at Arts On Site, a theater in the East Village; "35: a celebration of being alive,” “Almost 36,” & “Only the Best.” All shows were vehicles to fundraise for oral, head, and neck cancer patients. To be alive and to turn pain into art is Katie’s way forward, despite cancer and its long-term effects.

Jen Leno (she/they) is a lighting designer, ETC programmer, photographer, educator, and artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA in lighting design from Brooklyn College (2023). She has been fortunate to design lighting for the Sacred Heart University Dance Program since fall 2024. She also designs for SHU’s Theatre Arts Program, mentoring student designers and lighting programmers.

Recent designs include: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Sacred Heart University) Mr. Cobra (Performance Space NY), American Idiot the Musical (Sacred Heart University), Not Nobody (59E59 Thr. B, NYC), King James (The Kitchen Theater Company, Ithaca NY), Half-Life (HERE Arts Center, NYC), Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (Brooklyn Opera House), Mercury (Theater Row/Soho Playhouse, NYC), and Sasha Velour's Nightgowns the Musical (The Connelly Theater, NYC). You can see her work at: jenlenodesign.com or on Instagram @jdl.lxd.

Nicole Messina is an accomplished tap dancer, choreographer, and educator with more than 25 years of teaching experience. Her professional career began after competing in the 1999 Miss America Pageant, where she was a top 10 finalist and Preliminary Talent Award winner for her tap-dancing performance.

Following the pageant, Nicole spent several years performing professionally as a dancer and actress. Her credits include appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Marquis Theatre on Broadway, and the Harris and Showboat Casinos in Atlantic City. She also toured nationally with Absolut Tap, a production choreographed by Aaron Tolson. In addition to her stage work, Nicole appeared in television, film, and commercial projects and served as a guest host on QVC.

Nicole later shifted her focus to choreography and dance education, where she has earned widespread recognition for her work. She has received numerous regional and national choreography awards and is a 13-time Industry Dance Awards nominee for Best Tap Choreography.

Passionate about preserving and advancing the art of tap dance, Nicole founded Tap Impact, a youth tap ensemble dedicated to inspiring local communities through performance, education, and the rich history of tap dance. The group combines tap dance and spoken word to create meaningful and engaging artistic experiences.

Throughout her career, Nicole has taught at dance conventions and festivals across North America, including Utah Tap Fest, Toronto Dance Expo, and SoFlo Tap Fest. She currently serves as guest faculty at Broadway Dance Center in New York City and Powerhouse Dance in New Jersey. She was recently ranked as the number two tap dance influencer on the 2026 Feedspot top 40 list.

Nicole continues to share her passion for tap dance with audiences worldwide through educational content, choreography, and performance clips on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @nicoletapz.

Joshua Pelatzky was born in Northern California but began his dance training in the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex of Texas. Riverdance originally called him to dance at age 13 but, he quickly got passion and desire to study in every style of dance available to him. He spent summers at Alvin Ailey, Ballet Magnificat and Broadway Theater Project. At 15 Joshua was offered an apprenticeship then later a full contract with the Bruce Wood Dance Company in Ft. Worth, TX. The following year he was offered a swing role with the touring company of Cats.

As movement was always the passion, teaching quickly followed. By age 22, he was living in NYC and was part of the faculty at Broadway Dance Center. Later moving to LA, Joshua also joined the faculty at THE EDGE Performing Arts Center. From then he has gone on to teach around the world and festivals such as World Dance Movement in Italy, Spain and Switzerland. He has taught multiple years at Tanec Bez Hranic in Czech Republic as well as FairPlay Dance Camp in Poland, MOVEMENT in Israel and AbruzzOnStage in Italy. Joshua has also given masterclasses at OrmarsLab in Milan, Studio Harmonic in Paris, SieteOcho in Mexico City, BDC Tokyo as well as numerous colleges and studios throughout the world.

During his the earlier years of his career, Joshua was very involved in the contemporary ballet scene, and he had the great honor of performing works by Sidi Larbi, Desmond Richardson, Lar Lubovitch, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Medhi Walerski, Alexander Ekman, Ohad Naharin and Benoit Swan Pouffer, to name a few. Once moving to LA and into the commercial world, he had the pleasure of performing with artists such as Kesha, Betty Who, Billy Porter, FKA Twigs, Rachel Platten, Darwin Deez, Kelly Clarkson, Jane’s Addiction, Patti LaBelle, Rihanna, and Eminem. He has also appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Good Morning America, TODAY, Dick Clark’s New Years ‘Rock’n Eve, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and The Bachelorette.

Joshua teaching style is an evolving process much like dance itself. One of his favorite quotes is “dance is art, but the body is science.”

Having over 15 years of teaching and training in the fitness space, with NASM and NPCP certifications, he likes to bring a background of why and how the body is making dance possible. He also wants you to be able to keep dancing well into your later life. He likes a good warm up with conversations about placement, energy, and breathing, leading into implementation of the foundations discussed. He likes to maneuver the class to the needs of the students, so it will never be a cookie-cutter class. If we need jumps we work on jumps. If your turns or weight transfers are a bit off center, we will pivot to that.

Combinations can swing from jazz funk to contemporary and everything in between depending on your needs. What matters most to him is that the class leaves having learned at least one new thing and feeling more empowered, mentally, and physically.

Emma Rosa, Cuban New Jersey native, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher in various styles ranging from heels and hip hop to contemporary and tap. Emma is currently a backup dancer for popular Reggaeton artist Guaynaa and  has also performed live and in music video with other Latin artists including El Alfa, Sech, and Chimbala. Emma's live stage experience expands to performances with American music artists like Trey Songz, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Todrick Hall, and VH1 Love & Hip Hop’s Mariah Lynn as well as Tayla Parx's international We Need To Talk tour.

Emma was also a featured tap dancer and actress in Variety Life Production's off-Broadway show Midsummer: A Shakespeareance and the Public Hotel’s sold out Carmen: To Havana and Back. She was recently a dance athlete for Nike's Own The Floor campaign and has been a member of Maurice Cheatnut's tap company Dance Therapy, Theresa Stone’s contemporary fusion company AbstraKT BEINGS, and Shirlene Quigley’s heels crew Queendom.

Emma just completed her International Heels Expression Teaching Tour, traveling to 15 different cities including Paris, France and Milan, Italy. Right now, Emma teaches weekly sold-out classes at well-known NYC studios Brickhouse and SassClass and guest teaches at Peridance Center and Ailey Extension. She has also been a movement coach to emerging music artists including Mia Gladstone, Remi Lewis, Imani Rey, and more. Her main focus is to inspire movement expression for people of all levels and abilities through a focus on intuition, community-building, and unapologetic self-acceptance.

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Neil Schwartz had been dancing competitively since the age of seven. He has had the privilege and honor of working with actor Channing Tatum for Magic Mike, Girl Generation, Icona Pop for America’s Got Talent, and has been a lead in commercials for The Lottery, Simply Safe, and Mastercard which premiered at the 2020 Grammys. He has choreographed for artists such as ASTR, Kontravoid, Nuovo Testamento, Patriarchy, Wingtips and more. He is an international instructor who has taught in over 18 countries, an artistic director and currently teaches at the world-renowned Broadway Dance Center in New York. He is also a guest instructor at Brickhouse NYC, Movement Lifestyle and Millennium in LA. He has also had the honor to become part of the judging panel for World of Dance and Hit the Floor.

Amy Mae Dolan is a performer, mentor, and speaker whose artistry and leadership elevate her far beyond the stage. As a World Champion Irish Dancer, Principal Dancer and Dance Captain with Riverdance, Amy Mae’s journey is a story of resilience, dedication, and excellence. Her presence inspires confidence and connection, whether she’s collaborating with brands, mentoring young talent, or captivating audiences around the globe. From standing center stage at prestigious performances, including a special appearance for Pope Francis, to being featured in Born to Riverdance, Amy Mae brings a depth of experience that makes her not only a world-class performer but also a trusted voice in empowerment and leadership.

Niamh O'Brien

Niamh O'Brien’s dedication to Irish dance began at the age of four, and over the years, she has established herself as one of the most accomplished and respected figures in the field. With a career spanning Ireland, England, and the United States, Niamh has competed at the highest levels and accumulated an impressive array of accolades. She has secured multiple Munster titles, and was crowned All Scotland Champion, North American Champion, All Ireland Champion, and World Champion, solidifying her reputation as an elite competitor.

Beyond her competitive achievements, Niamh has showcased her exceptional talent on international stages. She has toured extensively, performing across Germany and Switzerland, and spent several summers with the renowned Celtic Steps. These experiences allowed her to refine her artistry and share the cultural richness of Irish dance with global audiences.

In 2018, Niamh achieved the prestigious T.C.R.G qualification, further demonstrating her expertise and commitment to the art form. Alongside her successful career as a secondary school mathematics teacher, she founded her own dance school, where she continues to nurture and inspire the next generation of Irish dancers.

Today, Niamh remains an active performer, collaborating with touring groups in Dingle, where she and her husband, Tomás Ó Sé, share their passion for Irish music and dance with visitors. Through her teaching, performing, and ongoing contributions to the Irish dance community, Niamh continues to elevate the cultural heritage of Irish dance and inspire others worldwide.

Tomás Ó Sé

Tomás  is an accomplished dancer, athlete, and entertainer whose life is a vibrant blend of sport, performance, and cultural celebration. He began his journey in the world of dance at the tender age of five, quickly showing an exceptional aptitude for the art form. Over the years, he honed his skills and became a force to be reckoned with in the Irish dance community. From a young age, Tomás competed at the highest levels, securing multiple titles, including the prestigious Munster titles, British National Titles, and a remarkable 3rd place finish at the World Championships in 2014.

In 2016, Tomás joined the world-renowned Riverdance, a milestone in his dance career that marked the beginning of an extraordinary chapter. With Riverdance, he has traveled the globe, bringing the magic of Irish dance to audiences in countries such as China, Dubai, Russia, South Africa, across Europe, the United States, and Canada. His passion for performance is ever-growing, and he continues to thrive on stage, entertaining audiences worldwide.

In addition to his dance career, Tomás is also an avid sports enthusiast. He plays both rugby and Gaelic football, bringing the same commitment and teamwork from his sports experience into his dance endeavors. The combination of athleticism, artistry, and discipline from both worlds has made him a dynamic performer.

Beyond his international career, Tomás cherishes his roots in Ireland. Together with his wife, Niamh O’Brien, and his parents and siblings, he enjoys sharing the rich cultural heritage of the Dingle Peninsula with visitors through the vibrant and joyous experiences of Irish music and dance. This deep connection to his heritage allows him to entertain and welcome guests, creating memorable experiences for those lucky enough to embark on a tour of this beautiful region.

To this day, Tomás continues to enjoy performing with Riverdance, blending his passion for Irish dance with his love of entertaining and connecting with people from all walks of life.

Allison O’Riordan (Wetterauw) is an Irish dance instructor, choreographer, and former competitive World Qualifying dancer. In college, she founded and captained the Irish Dance Club at The Catholic University of America, growing the team to 25 dancers by her senior year.

She has coached the Claddagh Irish Dance Team at Sacred Heart University since 2015, creating innovative choreography and coaching the wildly talented dancers through performances, professional workshops, and trips to the SHU Dingle campus.

She is a proud alum of SHU’s digital media master’s program, and is also the 2014 Washington, D.C., Rose of Tralee.