McGinley School of Irish Dance

The McGinley School of Irish Dance

Biography

The McGinley School of Irish Dance, formerly known as Lena McGinley’s Ceili Dancers began as a performance Irish dance troupe in January 2000. The group was formed with six original members and focused solely on teaching and performance. Now a Cumann Rince Naisiunta (CRN) sanctioned school, the school has grown to over 100 dancers ranging in age from three to adult.

The school is under the direction of Lena McGinley. Lena was born in Sligo, Ireland and lived in Carrick-On-Shannon until the age of five. In 1982, her family moved to Long Island, New York. It was here that Lena began studying Irish Dancing under the direction of world-renowned Donny Golden. By the age of fifteen, she was competing in Preliminary Championships and had performed at Radio City Music Hall. Lena is now an associate member of Cumann Rince Naisunta (CRN), meaning "National Dance Association." In June 2005, Lena traveled to Dublin Ireland and sat Part One of her ODCRN Exams. She passed Part One and hopes to complete her degree in June 2007.

Since becoming an associate member of CRN, dancers from the McGinley School have begun competing in solo and team competitions. In their first Feile (a small Feis), dancers from the McGinley School earned 83 solo awards and seven team awards. Twenty-five dancers placed first in their solo competitions and sixteen dancers placed out of their competitions and will move up a level. This was a very impressive first appearance.

In August 2005, twenty-one dancers from the McGinley School traveled to Dayton, Ohio and competed in their second CRN sanctioned feis, First In Flight Feile. The dancers brought home an impressive 112 solo and team awards.

February 2006 marked the beginning of new opportunities for Irish Dancers in the United States. Cumann Rince Naisiunta held it's first ever Qualifying Feile in the United States. The Qualifiers were hosted by the McGinley School of Irish Dance and the purpose of this Feile was to compete and qualify to attend the Irish Open World Championships to be held in April/May 2006. Thirty-six dancers from the McGinley School of Irish Dance Qualified to attend the Irish Open Championships.

In April 2006, 22 dancers from the McGinley School of Irish Dance traveled to Dublin, Ireland to compete in The Irish Open Championships. The group had a very successful first trip. Jackie Cole won her All Ireland Award, Garrett Faust paced 5th in his, Heather Jorgensen placed 7th and Sydney Dombrowski placed 10th. The Under 12, 4-Hand placed 6th and the Dance Drama placed 2nd. Along with all of this, the dancers won over 50 solo awards. A very impressive and great starting point at the world level.

The performance group has performed at the Whitaker Center, the York Capitol Strand Theatre, York First Night, The Appalachian Brewing Company, The McClain Celtic Festival, Penn-Mar Irish Festival, Adam’s County Irish Festival, and numerous retirement communities and local festivals all over Central Pennsylvania. Other performances include live performances with Eileen Ivers and Searson. Dancers from the school have also opened and performed with Trinity Irish Dance Company.

Appearances in the 2003 and 2004 Harrisburg Saint Patrick’s Day Parades earned the group awards for “Best Performance” both years consecutively and in 2005, the group was awarded “Best Entertainment.” In 2006, the group took it up a notch and was awarded the "Dauphin County Commissioner's Award, Best Overall" in the parade. In their debut performance in the 2005 York Saint Patrick's Day Parade, the group won 1st place, Best Group/Organization and reclaimed the award in 2006. In the 100^th Anniversary of the Enola Railroad Parade the group was awarded 1^st Place Large Group.

Please, join us in experiencing the rhythmic beats of hard shoes combined with the elegance of soft shoes, as we weave traditional reels, jigs, and ceili dances. The group adds a modern flair that promises to appeal to various audiences.