Creative Team

Carol Leavy Joyce

Producer, Creator and Choreographer Mná na hÉireann

Carol is a teacher, adjudicator and grade Examiner of Irish Dance. During her dancing career she has won three World titles, three All Ireland titles and nine Ulster titles.

During her eight-year career with Riverdance she was Irish Dance Director, Assistant Director and also contributed new choreography to the show. In 2003, she was part of the Creative Team who staged the show in the Great Hall of the People in China and also in 2003 she arranged the Riverdance line of one hundred dancers as part of the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games in Croke Park in Dublin.

Carol was Irish dance choreographer on The Pirate Queen, a new musical by Boublil and Schönberg, which had its Broadway premiere in 2007. Her work on the show, in collaboration with Graciela Daniele, received an Outer Critics Award nomination. She was choreographer on the Japanese version of The Pirate Queen that premiered at The Imperial Theatre Tokyo in November 2009, choreographer on the Norwegian production that premiered in Kolboten in Oslo in 2015 and in 2012 she choreographed an Irish production for SONG musical group which played at An Táin Arts centre in Dundalk.

In 2008, she co-created, choreographed and produced The Rising Step, an Irish dance show telling the story of dance which ran for two summer seasons in An Grianán Theatre, Co. Donegal.

Carol graduated in 2011 with an Honours Master’s degree in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick.

In September 2019, Carol produced, created and co-choreographed a workshop production of Mná na hÉireann at An Táin Arts Centre, Dundalk in Co. Louth. Carol is working towards realising this workshop piece from its middle development stage into a Dance theatre production that will in a very unique way tell the story of our historic women and bring the production to audiences nationally and internationally.

Carol is an Assistant Lecturer of Musical Theatre at Dundalk Institute of technology. Carol Leavy Joyce T.C.R.G. BG. C.R.G. MA

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Áine McGeeney

Composer

Since graduating with a BA in Irish Music and Dance and a MA in Irish Music Performance, Áine has captured the hearts of Irish Music fans all over the world. Hailing from Dundalk, County Louth, Áine is a founding member of the band Goitse with whom she has toured extensively around the world. To date, they have recorded five critically acclaimed albums and together, the quintet Goitse makes what Irish Music Magazine calls “Music that’s brimming with energy and creative zeal.”.

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Singing both in the English and Irish Language, Áine has been described as having “a voice of an angel” and was awarded ‘Female Vocalist of 2016’ by the Irish American news. Combined with her energetic, high octane fiddle playing she is now one of the leading young musicians in Irish music today. As a result, her teaching skills have been highly sought after and have seen her giving workshops on fiddle and vocals all around the world. Her musical talents have led her to tour the world as lead fiddle player with several dance shows including Michael Flately’s world famous ‘Lord of the Dance’. 

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Áine has also established herself as a highly regarded composer with many of her compositions featuring on several albums to date. She was commissioned to compose a suite of music to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 rising, which was performed by The Laois Folk Orchestra and in 2018 wrote a suite to recognise the passing of 100 years since the end of World War 1. Just last year, Áine wrote the music for ‘Mná na hÉireann – A unique celebration in music, song and dance of the women of the revolution’ which premiered in Sept ’19.

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Declan Clarke

Dramaturg

Declan Gormanhas been involved in theatre for almost four decades as an actor, writer, director, public artist and educator. He was co-founder with Joe O’Byrne of Co-Motion, Dublin acting in many 1980s shows, including Song of the White Man’s Burden and The Sinking of the Titanic. From 1990 – 95 he was Theatre Programmer at City Arts Centre Dublin. From 1997 – 2010 he was Artistic Director of Upstate, Drogheda, where (among others) he wrote and directed The Weavers (after Hauptmann); The Green Fool (after Kavanagh); Hades (Stewart Parker/BBC Award); Epic and At Peace.  Freelance since 2010, he has toured in Ireland, Norway, Russia (pre-Ukraine invasion), USA, Britain, India and Canada with his James Joyce solo shows The Dubliners Dilemma and Falling Through the Universe. He has led public art and community theatre projects in Monaghan, Louth and Dublin, and taught community-engaged theatre at NUI Galway and New York University.  His 2016 play The Big Fellow (after Frank O’Connor) toured in Ireland and to India. He co-wrote and directed Dorothy McArdle: Prison Notebooks with performer Sharon McArdle (Kilmainham Gaol /Smock Alley 2022). He is currently working as Director and Producer on A Personal Prism by Galway writer David Joyce which will be presented at various Co. Galway venues in November 2024, is association with Town Hall Theatre and a range of disability and arts support partners.

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Michael Patrick Gallagher

Choreographer

A two-time World Champion and five-time All Ireland Champion, Michael Patrick learned to dance under the tutelage of Anne Kerr at the famed Aodh Rua School of Irish Dance in Donegal. 

While studying law at Queens University in Belfast, a decision to go and audition for Riverdance was to change his life. He joined the show in 1996 and within a year was chosen to become the male lead dancer of the Lagan Company. He performed with Riverdance for over 7 years and in that time appeared on several TV commercials and the hit show ‘Dancing with the Stars’. He toured extensively in Europe, North America and Asia and developed a love for travel that he still enjoys to this day. 

When Michael Patrick finished touring with Riverdance, one of the first things he did was to take his TCRG exam. He moved to Phoenix to open up his own dance school and has made Arizona his home ever since. In 2014 he completed a Masters in Ethnochoreology at the University of Limerick. 

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Ella Clarke

Movement Director

Ella Clarke’ choreographies include the 2008 Irish Times Theatre Award Best Production winner “Phaedra’s Love”, “A Midsummers Night Dream” and “Anatomy of a Seagull” for Loose Canon Theatre Company, “Only an Apple”, “Comedy of Errors”, “Big Love”, “Romeo & Juliet” and “Woman and Scarecrow” for the Abbey Theatre, “Wedding Day of the Cro-Magnons” for Bedrock, “Macbeth”, “Shutter” and “Titus Andronicus” for Siren Productions, “Adaptation of a Meeting” and “Behindtheeyeliesbone” for Myriad Dance Company, “Don Gregorio” and “Transformations” for Wexford Festival Opera, “Sweeney Todd” for The Gate Theatre, “200 Feet” for Project Arts Centre, “Eating Seals and Seagull Eggs” and “Goblom” for Little Wolf Productions, “The Messenger” and “Barney Carey Gets His Wings” for Barnstorm Theatre Company and “The Fall”, “42” and “In Vena Cava” for Ella Clarke Choreography.  

Her work as a performer includes productions for Genesis Collective, CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Ciotóg Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Ireland, 2nd Nature (Vienna), Scottish Dance Theatre, Rex Levitates Dance Co, Siren Productions and The Abbey Theatre.

From 2004-2011, Ella co-directed Genesis Project Dublin, during which time she commissioned and performed five of distinguished choreographer Deborah Hay’s works. She is director of Ella Clarke Choreography since 2012, Assistant Lecturer in Dance at TU Dublin since 2001, and received an MA in Ethnochoreology from University of Limerick with first class honours in 2019. 

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