The People
Directors
The board of directors of Dance Ireland is a non-executive board elected by the membership. Members of the board encompass a wide variety of key skills in choreography, performance and artistic programming. Periodically directors with complementary expertise in a range of areas including financial management, public affairs and marketing are co-opted onto the board.
The board of directors meets approximately 6/7 times a year (including AGM). The board's primary functions are overseeing the organisation’s mission, ensuring good governance and to inform the creative vision for the organisation.
Adrienne Brown
Chairperson
Academic, Choreographer, Teacher, founding member of APDI
Adrienne Brown trained in Dublin, at the London School of Contemporary Dance, and the Martha Graham Center of Dance, New York, from which she gained first place in her teacher-training certificate in 1996.
She founded New Balance Dance Company in 1987, and has choreographed over 30 works to date, which have been staged in Ireland, England and France. Adrienne was the first Irish choreographer to be invited to take part in the inaugural Writing Dance/Righting Dance project in 1997, at the Institute of Choreography and Dance (ICD), Cork; a three-year mentored research project, under Kim Brandstrup of Arc Dance Company. ICD commissioned her to create the full-length dance work Colmcille, which premiered in 2000 and toured Ireland in 2001.
Adrienne has taught movement to actors at the Gaiety School of Acting for over fifteen years, and also teaches technique and choreography at Inchicore College of Further Education.
From 2002 - 2006 she undertook a BA degree in University College Dublin, graduating with honours in Music and English, and an honours MA in American Studies. Following her master’s thesis in 2006, she was awarded an Ad Astra Research Scholarship from University College Dublin to undertake a four-year PhD in Musicology and Dance, based on the proposal “Meaning Indicators in Twentieth-Century Music and Dance.” Attending musicology and dance conferences, she has given several papers on her research.
Megan Kennedy
Secretary
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dancer
Megan trained at Alvin Ailey Dance Center in New York City and received a B.A. Honours from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She is Co-Artistic Director of multi-award winning junk ensemble. www.junkensemble.com
Megan has performed with Retina Dance Company (UK), Storytelling Unplugged (Romania), Firefly Productions (Belgium) and in Ireland, CoisCéim Dance Theatre (Faun, As You Are), Brokentalkers (The Blue Boy, On This One Night), The Abbey Theatre (Romeo and Juliet), Bedrock Productions (Pale Angel) and for The Pavilion and The Ark. For film: Wonder House (Jameson Film Festival 2012), Her Mother’s Daughters (Dance on Camera Festival NYC/RTÉ Dance on the Box), Siblings (Fergus Byrne).
Other choreography includes Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades Opera (Edinburgh Festival Theatre), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Samuel Beckett Theatre), and eX Choral Ensemble (IRL). Megan is Secretary to the Board of Dance Ireland.
Breandán de Gallaí
Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher
Breandán de Gallaí was a member of Riverdance from 1994 to 2003; touring throughout the world, Breandán was Principal Dancer for over 7 years.
He graduated from the Gus Giordano Dance Academy, Chicago in 1988 having been awarded a scholarship to study Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap dance. He subsequently went on to complete an honours degree in Applied Physics from Dublin City University.
From 2004 to 2008 Breandán was the external examiner for the MA in Traditional Irish Dance Performance at the University of Limerick. He earned a MA in Ethnochoreology in 2009; the year he held the position of artist in residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, where he is currently completing a PhD in Arts Practice.
Breandán features regularly as a presenter on TG4 and RTÉ. The dance show Noċtú, which is Breandán’s current project, was the subject of a 6-part television series (Dance Off) which was aired on RTÉ in the summer of 2011.
Lisa McLoughlin
Dancer, Choreographer, Pilates Instructor
Lisa trained at the Rambert School, London. She has begun to develop work as a choreographer with Fourtold, Project Arts Centre 2011, and for summer 2012 Below the Tide, The Sanctuary, Dublin.
On graduation she joined Daghdha Dance Company under the direction of Mary Nunan and later under the direction of Yoshiko Chuma.
She has been a regular dancer with CoisCéim Dance Company performing in Faun and As you are, The Nutcracker and Ballads among others.
A founding member of Rex Levitates Dance Company, she has performed with them extensively over the past 10 years, most notably alongside the National Ballet of China in Beijing.
She has also been a regular dancer with many companies including Ciotóg, Catapult, New Balance Dance Company, Marguerite Donlon and Dancers, and Opera Ireland. One of her choreographies, Tender hooks of honesty, was awarded the Jane Snow Award at the 2003 Dublin Fringe Festival.
She is a qualified Stott Pilates instructor and co-founder of Studio 32 Pilates Studio. She has wide experience as a dance teacher, working with a broad range of students (age range from 3 to 80).
Anne Maher
Artistic Director
Anne Maher has over thirty years’ experience in ballet, first as a dancer and later as a director, manager and co-founder of Ballet Ireland.
Anne trained initially in Ireland and then at L'acadamie de danse Classique in Monte Carlo on a scholarship from the late Princess Grace of Monaco. After a successful career as a dancer, dancing all of the major roles in the classical repertoire, Anne retired as a dancer and moved into management, setting up and developing Ballet Ireland into a successful and vibrant touring company. She is responsible for general management at Ballet Ireland, including planning and negotiating national and international touring schedules, funding negotiations with the Arts Council and Government agencies and is on Ballet Ireland's Board of Directors.
In 2009 Anne established the Irish Ballet Forum, of which she is the chairperson, to bring together the ballet community in Ireland and to help ensure better training for aspiring young dancers in Ireland.
Richard Johnson
Marketing Consultant, Company Director
Richard has over 20 years’ experience working in marketing consultancies and integrated marketing agencies in Dublin. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he spent three years teaching in the north inner city before changing direction to work in marketing and advertising. During his career he has worked across all the marketing disciplines PR, Direct Response Advertising, Sales Promotion and event management.
He has developed campaigns for many of the country’s best known brands which have gone on to win local and international awards. He is a board member and former chairperson of the Association of Promotional Marketing Consultants (APMC) and a director with Pulse Group Ireland.
Richard Wakely
Producer and Arts Consultant
Richard is an independent dance and theatre producer and arts management consultant working internationally out of Ireland. He is the Producer for Junk Ensemble and International Associate for Sol Picó Dance Company (Spain). In addition, he co-curates an annual season of new contemporary dance from Ireland at Dance Base as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in association with Culture Ireland.
In 2009, Richard produced the award winning double bill of ME (Mobile/Evolution), for Claire Cunningham (Scotland) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which he has since toured throughout Europe, the UK and most recently in 2011 into South America. From time to time, Richard also assists and works with various independent dance artists including Ríonach Ní Néill, (including most recently Frame in 2012), Nick Bryson and Damian Punch (Hanging In There and The Goldilocks Zone) and Fearghus Ó Conchúir (Open Niche tour in 2010).
As an arts management consultant, Richard is regularly called upon to conduct independent artistic and management reviews and evaluations in both Ireland and the UK. Current and recent clients include the Traverse and Lyceum Theatres, Edinburgh, South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council. He has recently completed a 6 year engagement heading up the rebuild of the critically acclaimed new Lyric Theatre in Belfast.
Previous employments include Commissioner for the China–Ireland Cultural Exchange Programme, Managing Director of the Abbey Theatre and General Manager of Hampstead Theatre. Richard has produced, co-produced and transferred 15 productions to London’s West End.
Dance Ireland Executive
The Dance Ireland Executive, led by a Chief Executive, delivers the policy as devised by the board through its year-round programme of activities.
The team of six is a highly skilled group of individuals with enthusiasm and a passion for dance. The team includes individuals from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise. All staff members are actively involved in planning activity and driving the ambitions of our fast growing organisation forward. We also employ a variety of freelance national and international dance specialists and arts practitioners to assist us in delivering our programme.
Paul Johnson
Chief Executive
Reporting to the board of directors, Paul Johnson has been the Chief Executive of Dance Ireland since June 2006. He is responsible for the overall management of the organisation, including liaising with funders, programming in collaboration with the Programme Manager and ensuring that Dance Ireland adheres to its remit and mandate.
With over 21 years’ experience as a dance artist, Johnson has worked on a range of dance, theatre and film projects with among others Daghdha Dance Company, DCDT, Druid Theatre Co, icontact, IMDT, Rubato Ballet, Scottish Ballet Steps Out, Tag Theatre Company and his own company MaNDaNCE (1991 to 2001). He is the author of Fine Lines on Shifting Ground: Reflections on a Choreographic Process (Project Press: 2000).
Paul is a member of the board of directors of Dance Resource Base (NI) Ltd, National Dance Archive of Ireland, Janis Claxton Dance Edinburgh and RGH Consulting. He was appointed to the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon for a five-year term (2008 to 2013).
Educational qualifications: BA in Communication Studies and a MA in Communication and Cultural Studies from Dublin City University.
Siân Cunningham
General Manager
Reporting to the Chief Executive, Siân is responsible for the overall financial management of the organisation, with specific responsibility for the day to day running of DanceHouse and Dance Ireland. She also leads and co-ordinates the Dance Ireland Residency and the Associate Artist Programmes. Siân joined Dance Ireland in October 2006. Prior to joining Dance Ireland, Siân spent seven years working with the Arts Council, where she held a number of portfolios, including Artists' Services, Local Authority and Arts Officer posts.
Educational qualifications: BA in Music and German (Hons), BMus (Hons) and a HDip in Arts Administration from University College Dublin, and a BA (Ord) in Law from Dublin Institute of Technology.
Elisabetta Bisaro
Artistic Programme Manager
Reporting to the Chief Executive, Elisabetta is responsible for the artistic professional programme and overseeing the organisation's international projects. In addition to her work with Dance Ireland, she works as a freelance producer for a number of international companies and artists in the field of dance and performing arts. Prior to joining the Dance Ireland in June 2006, Elisabetta worked with Irish Modern Dance Theatre (IMDT) and Project Arts Centre.
Educational qualifications: MA in Translation Studies (languages: English, Italian, and Spanish) from The Advanced School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators, University of Trieste.
Inga Byrne
Administrator
Reporting to the General Manager, Inga is responsible for membership, information dissemination, and office administration. She has held the administrator post since September 2008. Her portfolio of work also includes book keeping and management of Dance Ireland’s website and online communications. Prior to joining the Dance Ireland team Inga worked at the Talbot Gallery and Studios.
Educational qualifications: BA in Business Studies with Arts Management from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology.
Caoimhe MacAndrew
Receptionist/Administrative Assistance
Caoimhe MacAndrew joined the Dance Ireland team in March 2012. Reporting to the General Manager, Caoimhe is responsible for DanceHouse reception, front-of-house and also provides administrative support. Caoimhe has experience of working with a number of arts organisation including the Irish Film Institute, Dublin Theatre Festival, Dublin Writers Festival and the Centre for Creative Practices. She also worked as PR Assistant for Gerry Lundberg PR.
Educational qualifications: BA in English Literature and History of Art & Architecture from Trinity College Dublin and a Master of Arts in Cultural Policy and Arts Management.
Aoife Ryan
Receptionist/Administrative Assistance
Aoife Ryan joined the Dance Ireland team in August 2011. Reporting to the General Manager, Aoife is responsible for DanceHouse reception, front-of-house and also provides administrative support. She previously worked with Rebourne/New Adventures Dance Company in the UK in an administrative capacity.
Educational qualifications: BA (Hons) in Dance and Television Studies from Kingston University, UK.