Céilí: Seán Curran Company and Darrah Carr Dance

Darrah Carr (artistic director) holds a PhD in dance from Texas Woman’s University. She received her MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University. Named one of the “Top 40 Under 40” by the Irish Echo, one of the “Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year” by Irish America magazine, and one of the “Most Influential Women of 2010" by the Irish Voice, Carr has been active for 25 years in both the Irish and modern dance communities as a choreographer, dancer, educator, and writer. In addition to her work as the artistic director of Darrah Carr Dance, Carr and her Irish step dance partner, Niall O'Leary, have performed their duet act in a variety of locations ranging from Disney World to the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. They are featured dancers in Absolutely Irish!, a PBS documentary directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Wagner with a cast of traditional Irish musicians led by Dr. Mick Moloney. As a scholar, Carr has presented her research at the Dance Studies Association, the National Dance Education Organization, the World Dance Alliance, Dance Research Forum Ireland, the Popular Culture Association, and New York University's Percussive Dance Symposium. She has contributed articles to Dance magazine, Dance Studio Life, Dancer and the Dance Insider, and a chapter to Close to the Floor: Irish Dance from the Boreen to Broadway. Carr is an assistant professor in the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. 

Photo courtesy of the artist

Seán Curran’s career in the arts spans 35 years, beginning with traditional Irish step dancing as a child in Boston. A sought-after choreographer and director for opera and theatre, Curran’s notable projects include Salome (Opera Theatre of St. Louis, San Francisco Opera, Opera Montreal, San Diego Opera); Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream for The Shakespeare Theater; Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Shalimar the Clown, Ariadne on Naxos, Nixon in China, and Daughter of the Regiment at Opera Theater of St. Louis; NYC Opera productions of L'Etoile, Alcina, Turandot, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Capriccio, and Acis and Galetea; Shakespeare in the Park's As You Like It; the Metropolitan Opera’s Romeo and Juliette; and on Broadway in James Joyce's The Dead, Cymbeline, and The Rivals at Lincoln Center Theater.  

As a dancer, Curran is known for his early performance work with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, receiving a Bessie award for his role in Secret Pastures, and as an original New York City cast member of STOMP! His works for his contemporary dance ensemble, Seán Curran Company, have toured to nearly 100 venues in the U.S., Europe and Asia with seasons in New York City at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Theater Workshop, The Joyce Theater, The Guggenheim Museum, New Victory Theater, 92nd Street Y/Harkness Dance Project, Danspace Project, Symphony Space, Central Park Summerstage, and Celebrate Brooklyn.

A graduate of New York University, Curran now serves as Arts Professor and Chair of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Dance. 

Photo credit: David Samuel Stern

Brooklyn-based visual artist and composer Dana Lyn has collaborated with songwriters Stew and Heidi Rodewald, actor-directors Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio, performance artist Taylor Mac, and poet Louis de Paor, among others. She has received commissions from Brooklyn Rider, the National Arts Council of Ireland, the Apple Hill String Quartet, violinist Johnny Gandelsman, violist Nicholas Cords, line upon line, A Far Cry, Palaver Strings and the New Orchestra of Washington. She has written music for documentaries, New York Times’ audio stories, and for dance. Her own musical projects include the sextet Mother Octopus and collaborations with D’Onofrio, guitarist Kyle Sanna, and De Paor. Dana was an artist-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in the Spring of 2017, a member of the Joe’s Pub Working Group in 2018, and a 2018 awardee of the American Composers Forum Create Commission. Most recently, she was a recipient of a 2020 NYFA Women’s Fund Award for Media, Music and Theater and a Sundance Composer Lab Fellow in 2021. She released her album, A Point on a Slow Curve—a suite of music for septet and four voices, inspired by visual artist Jay DeFeo’s monumental painting, The Rose—via In a Circle Records in February of 2022. 

Kyle Sanna’s diverse musical practice includes composition, improvisation, the recording studio, live coding, and the traditional music of Ireland. His compositions have been performed at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, the Royal Opera House in Oman, Sydney’s ABC studios, the National Recital Hall in Taipei, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and many points between. WNYC’s New Sounds and Soundcheck host John Schaefer called his music “unconventionally beautiful.” Kyle has received commissions from Brooklyn Rider, The Knights, Palaver Strings, Beta Collide, soprano Danielle Birrittella, and flutist Alex Sopp. Festival acceptances include the International Symposium on Electronic Art, The Oregon Bach Festival, and Art Basel Miami Beach. His “ruminative and shape-shifting” (San Francisco Chronicle) work for string quartet, Sequence for Minor White, won first prize in the 2018 Charlotte New Music Festival Composition Competition. He has arranged music for Béla Fleck, Jan Vogler, Anne-Sofie Von Otter, Martin Hayes, and for Yo-Yo Ma on two Grammy Award-winning albums: 2010’s Songs of Joy and Peace and 2016’s Sing Me Home with Silkroad. His arrangements have appeared on The Colbert Report, NPR’s Performance Today, and on the Sony Classical, Sony Masterworks, In a Circle, and Naïve labels. In addition to his composing and arranging, Sanna performs regularly as an improvising guitarist with Kinan Azmeh’s CityBand and Ground Patrol, and performs traditional Irish music with the Seamus Egan Project, the Martin Hayes' Common Ground Ensemble, and a duo with violinist Dana Lyn.

Amanda K. Ringger has been designing locally, nationally, and internationally for over 20 years with artists such as Darrah Carr, Faye Driscoll, Cynthia Oliver, Doug Elkins, Leslie Cuyjet, Molly Poerstel, Laura Peterson, Kyle Marshall, Antonio Ramos, Alexandra Beller, Deborah Lohse, Kota Yamazaki, Sean Donovan, and cakeface, among others. She received a BA from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD and an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She is the recipient of a Bessie award for her collaboration on Faye Driscoll's 837 Venice Boulevard at HERE Arts Center.

Mark Randall is the associate dean and an assistant professor in the School of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design in New York. He is principal of Worldstudio, a strategy and communications firm that works with non-profit and civic organizations to improve the lives of individuals and communities. Mark is president of Worldstudio Foundation, the first nonprofit in the U.S. devoted to encouraging social responsibility in the design and arts professions. Mark has collaborated as a visual designer with Seán Curran Company for over twenty years. Most recently at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival for Abstract Concrete (2018) and Dream’d in a Dream (2015). In 2017, he launched B-Line Ice Cream, sweetened with honey from his own hives. In addition to tasting good, B-Line promotes local beekeepers in upstate New York and educates the public around the critical role bees play in our lives. In 2017 Mark was the recipient of the prestigious AIGA Medal.

Amanda Shafran is an international designer, artist, and teacher based in NYC. Selected NY theater, opera, and dance credits include Ars Nova, The Signature Theater, 59E59, HERE Arts Center, Green Room 42, Jose Limon Dance Co, and BAM Next Wave Festival. Solo multimedia art shows include Evolution (2016) and FasciaFigures (2014). Regional and International credits include the Kennedy Center, and the Beijing Opera. Corporate collaborations include Fox Searchlight Pictures, Amazon Prime, Dover Publishing, Tiffany & Co, L. Delaney Miniatures, and MetaAnatomy. Amanda’s work has been written up in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and NYYogaLIFE. www.AmandaShafran.com

Kendal Griffler (performer) New York native Kendal Griffler began dancing at the age of four and hasn't stopped since! She danced competitively for the Early Mcloughlin School of Irish Dance where she found success on the regional, national and world level. Kendal began her professional career with The American Company of Irish Dance at the age of 20 and has since toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Kendal debuted as a company member with Darrah Carr Dance in their 2018 fall season. Career highlights include being cast as a featured role in Fáinne Óir, a contemporary dance and music production choreographed by Ciara Sexton and touring as lead dancer in Celtic Rhythms direct from Ireland. Most recently, Kendal was the Principle Female understudy with Celtic Illusion. Kendal teaches performance based Irish dance and pilates. She has been an instructor the past two summers at Camp Rince Ceol, the original Irish dance camp. Along with teaching and performing Kendal is also a social media manager and digital content creator.

Caitlin Kelaghan (performer) from Brooklyn, NY, holds a master's degree in speech language pathology and teaches for the NYC Department of Education. She received her initial dance training from the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance and achieved championship level status.  Caitlin has performed internationally at the Festival of Irish Choreography in Dublin, Ireland, as well as on Mick Moloney’s Greenfields of America Tour.  In addition, she has toured nationally with the Prodigals, the McLean Avenue Band, and the Andy Cooney Band.  Caitlin has recently appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, the CBS Morning Show, and at Carnegie Hall.  In 2011, Caitlin was crowned the NYC Rose of Tralee and traveled to Ireland to represent New York in the Rose of Tralee International Festival. Caitlin currently dances with the Niall O'Leary Irish Dance Troupe, Emerald Fire Dance, and Darrah Carr Dance.

Laura Neese (performer) is a dance artist and educator from Staten Island, NY, where she developed a love for dance under the mentorship of Rosemary Cappozalo and studied Irish dance with Niall O’Leary. Described as “ethereally romantic” by the Dance Enthusiast, Neese has performed works by artists including Darrah Carr, Melissa West, Sean Curran, Ann Carlson, Maho Ogawa, and KitchenSink Collective, among others. Performing credits range from Jacob’s Pillow to the Today Show to Wexner Center for the Arts. Neese presents her own stage and site-based choreography at venues in New York City and nationally. She holds an MFA from the Ohio State University, BFA/BA from SUNY Buffalo, & pilates certification from Kinected. Neese is currently on faculty at the University of Kentucky Dept. of Theatre and Dance. Teaching credits include Irish Arts Center, Hofstra University, Kinected, & the Ohio State University. She is thrilled to be a part of Céilí at the new IAC. lauraneese.com

Jin Ju Song-Begin (performer) is a choreographer, dancer and dance teacher from Seoul, Korea, whose work has been presented internationally in Korea, Japan, Singapore and the U.S. Since moving to New York in 2010, her work has been shown in many venues in NYC. In 2012, Jin Ju founded her dance company, Da-On Dance. She has danced for Tere O’Connor, Keith Thompson, Emily Berry and Daniel Roberts. Currently she dances in NYC with Douglas Dunn + Dancers, Cornfield Dance, Netta Yerushalmy and Seán Curran Company. In 2021, Jin Ju created the dance film Bubble as part of the StuffedArts residency at Judson Church, and she will be participating in the Rauschenberg Residency in 2023.

Alexandra Williamson (performer) is thrilled to be celebrating her 10th year with Darrah Carr Dance! She was awarded the Meg Hunt Artist In Residence at the Wrangell Mountains Center, in the Wrangell- St. Elias National Park, Alaska for the summer of 2021. She has taught and performed at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and the Alaska Folk Festival. Alexandra attended Montclair State University receiving a BFA in dance and a minor in musical theatre. She studied Irish dancing with the Davis Academy. Alexandra attended the Morris County Academy for Visual and Performing Arts High School where she was encouraged to integrate modern and contemporary dance with traditional Irish step dancing. Alexandra currently dances for several companies and choreographers including Darrah Carr Dance, DiMauro Dance Co., Champagne Fountain Dance Company, Karen Gayle, Emotions Physical Theatre, Jennifer Chin, and Moe-tion Dance Theatre. Alexandra is on faculty at Hofstra University and has taught  at Steps on Broadway, the School at Steps, Peridance Capezio Center, the Joffrey Ballet School, Kean University, and Bergen Performing Arts Center.  Alexandra has performed on the TODAY Show and Good Morning America, and has toured internationally, most recently at Project Arts Center in Dublin, Ireland. Instagram: @Alexandra_Dances

Benjamin Freedman (performer) earned his BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where he currently serves as a professor in the dance department. He began his career as a company member with The Mark Morris Dance Group and was featured in the PBS special L'Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato filmed at the Teatro Real in Madrid. He has danced with The Metropolitan Opera in productions of Turandot, Der Fliegende Holländer, Samson et Dalila and as a soloist in Agrippina. Other opera credits include The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Lafayette, Against the Grain Opera, and Opera Columbus. Off-Broadway, he performed in Third Rail Project's The Grand Paradise and Company XIV's Nutcracker Rouge and Boylesque Bullfight. He has danced as a member of Seán Curran Company, Keigwin + Company, The Bang Group, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, among others. He worked as choreographer and associate director for West Edge's Opera's Eliogabolo. Most recently, he served as choreographer and stage director for the feature film She Came To Me directed by Rebecca Miller starring Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei. Benjamin is thrilled to join Seán Curran for his 8th year with the company!

Lauren Kravitz (performer) is a freelance dance artist primarily based in Dallas, TX. She received her early training from Booker T. Washington HSPVA and graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in dance. Lauren has worked professionally as a member of Take Dance, UNA Projects, and Indah Walsh Dance Company, among others. She's performed around the country at venues including the ODC Theater (CA), Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), and the Watermill Center (NY), among others, and has taught at New York University, Sam Houston State University, The Wooden Floor, and more. Since returning to Texas in late 2019, Lauren is dedicated to contributing to and supporting the local dance community. She currently works as the director of operations at Arts Mission Oak Cliff, an artist community center, and guest teaches throughout North Texas. Lauren is committed to creating opportunities for connection and growth for dancers in Dallas through her work as a co-founder of the non-profit for dancers, Agora Artists. Lauren has been a member of Seán Curran Company for six years and is grateful to return to the stage with fellow SCCo and Darrah Carr Dance Company movers this season!

Dwayne Brown (performer) is a native New Yorker who has lived in every borough (...except the fifth) and loves the ways in which the city still reveals itself even after three decades. He trained at the Ailey School and received a B.A. in psychology from Vassar College. As a professional dancer and performer his credits include: (theatre/stage) the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall; (TV/film) At Home With Amy Sedaris (TruTV), The Get Down (Netflix), Great Performances at The Met (PBS); (commercial) Stadium Goods, The Consistency Project, and NYFW; (modern dance) Bill T. Jones/AZ Co., Ralph Lemon, Kevin Beasley, Sean Curran. Recent credits: Lyric Opera Chicago as a soloist dancer, Lifes exhibit at the Hammer Museum, and the upcoming film She Came To Me, directed by Rebecca Miller. He is represented by Clear Talent Group and currently serves on the advisory committee for ARTBATH, an immersive performance salon series at the historic Blue Building.

Mariel Harris (performer) is thrilled to be sharing the stage once again with her fellow SCCo dancers, as well as collaborating with DCD for the first time! She has been dancing with Seán Currán for over 6 years and has performed numerous works with the company such as Dream’d in a Dream, Social Discourse, Abstract/Concrete, and Everywhere All the Time. Most recently, Mariel was in Toronto choreographing and performing in Roald Dahl's musical Matilda with North Stage. She also recently performed in the hit musical Head Over Heels featuring songs by The Go-Go’s in Albany with Park Playhouse. While in Albany, she was the associate choreographer for Jungle Book Kids at Park. One of Mariel's favorite credits is performing in Radamisto (JFK Center) with Opera Lafayette. Mariel graduated from NYU Tisch and trained at LINES Ballet and Joffrey Ballet.

Israel Harris (performer) is a Latino-American originating from Guatemala, and raised in Bellevue, WA. He is a Brooklyn-based artist with specialties in dance instruction, performance, choreography, video editing, social media and marketing practices, and legislative advocacy. He graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance, a minor in psychology, and a minor in hebrew and judaic studies. Israel had the pleasure of dancing abroad under the instruction of Judith-Sanchez Ruiz, Meg Stuart, Leila McMillan, Shahar Binyamini, and Bosmat Nossan, and he’s fortunate to have performed feature roles in works by Wayne McGregor and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE. Israel has also danced in works by Lar Lubovitch, Ori Flomin, Luca Renzi, and Valeria Gonzales, assisted Sidra Bell during her creative process with the Second Avenue Dance Company in 2019, and is a current company member with Eryc Taylor Dance, Drye Marinaro Dance Company, and DanceAction. He started working with Seán Curran Company while in school in 2018, and is performing for the first time with the full company.

Jonathan Matthews-Guzmán (performer) trained briefly at Inis Acla School of Irish Dance with Mary McGinty in Memphis, Tennessee. After graduating from NYU Tisch Dance in 2014, Seán Curran connected Jonathan with Darrah Carr, and they’ve been with DCD ever since, as well as teaching regularly through Irish Arts Center. Jonathan has traveled to Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Springboard Danse Montréal, the International Theatre Festival of Kerala, John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre, and Toscana Dance HUB, where they studied dance accompaniment with Robert Boston. They have accompanied for their alma mater’s and Barnard’s dance departments, created original dance music for Giada Ferrone, Patrick Corbin, Gaspard Louis, and Rashaun Mitchell, and sing tenor with the Cecilia Chorus of NY and Cantori New York. They have additionally performed with Dance Entropy, Indah Walsh, This is Not a Theatre Company, and, with Holly Sass, co-founded BREAKTIME. Their writing can be found at Eye On Dance, Dance magazine, and the Journal of Dance Education; they made their curatorial debut in 2021 through SMUSH Gallery. Jonathan teaches theatre and chorus at the Calhoun School, where they are privileged to have an open learning environment to make accessible the totality of their disparate interests.

Jack Blackmon (performer) was born and raised in the mountains that surround Lake Tahoe, where they received their early dance training. They went on to attend NYU Tisch School of the Arts before working for contemporary choreographers throughout New York City, including Seán Curran, Paul Singh, Larry Keigwin, Christopher Williams, Emily Schoen, Nicole Wolcott, Jordan Lloyd, among others. Jack has also toured their own collaborative choreographic work with Charlotte Settle to the Austin Dance Festival, Dance Gallery Festival (Houston and New York), Crossing Boundaries at Dixon Place, WestFest Dance Festival, and most recently Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. In August of 2018, they joined the cast of Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More in New York, and performed several roles for nearly two years before the pandemic. They continue their immersive work in projects for OddKnock Productions in Denver, CO. They are a licensed massage therapist and believe in the immense power of touch and intimacy to ground and heal one another through physical performance and bodywork. Their goal is to incorporate as much levity, humor, absurdity, and queerness into whatever project they may be doing.

Trent Kowalik (performer) was just 3 years old when his parents enrolled him at DSD, the local dance studio. There he took ballet, jazz, and tap classes, but having seen a video of Riverdance, was eager to explore Irish dance and rhythms. Trent won the Irish Dancing World Championships for his age group when he was 12. Shortly afterwards, he played the lead in Billy Elliot the musical on the West End and Broadway, winning a TONY award for best performance by a leading actor in a musical. Trent studied ballet throughout high-school at ABT’s JKO school. He holds a degree in philosophy and a certificate in dance from Princeton University. Trent is a proud member of Darrah Carr Dance. He has also toured with Michael Lóndra and recently finished a season with Celtic Fyre at Busch Gardens. Trent has a passion for music production and is currently helping a number of artists independently release music. He is thrilled to be a part of Céilí and the new IAC!

Julia Manwaring (apprentice) has trained with Griffith Academy in Wethersfield, CT and currently studies dance at Hofstra University. She has performed in works by Larry Keigwin, Robbie Cook, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Pablo Ruvalcaba, and Livia Vanaver. Thanks to my family, friends, and professors at Hofstra for always supporting me.

Melissa Padham-Maass (performer) began her dance training at the Dancer’s Studio in Warwick, NY, under the direction of Lucinda Henry. She holds a BFA with honors from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College (SUNY), an MSc in dance science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and an MFA in dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Melissa has been performing with Darrah Carr Dance and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre for over 15 years. Melissa is the founder and current artistic director of the Warwick Center for the performing arts and the Warwick Dance Collective, as well as co-producer of the Fuller Moon Arts Festival and the Warwick Broadway Collective.

Michelle Esch (performer) graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in dance from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of The Arts and studied jazz/musical theater at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival. She is a company member with Darrah Carr Dance Company who is known for creating a unique blend of traditional Irish step and contemporary modern dance. Michelle has also taught and choreographed for the Discover Opera graduate program at Manhattan School of Music, the Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival, Arts Horizons, the Laurie Berkner Band Greatest Hits Tour and several music videos. Michelle has worked with Syncopated City Dance Company/Swing FX, Flexicurve, Meagan Woods & Company, and EDP Dance Project. Additional dance credits include A Jazz Happening with Chet Walker, Flightless Birds at the Joyce Soho, Cirque du Soleil’s Poetic Social Mission, Jazz at Lincoln Center Spring Gala, Monday Night Entertainment at The Rainbow Room, Microsoft’s Launch Party for X-Box Kinect, Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center, Frankie 100 Celebration at the Edison Ballroom, and Dance Legends at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Jack Puluka (apprentice) is a Central Jersey native from Somerville. Jack’s artistic journey began with local musical theater productions. This stage time quickly turned to studio time at the Lynn Academy of Irish Dance. Here, Jack found his love for teaching and choreography. These hopes were brought to light by the Somerset County Vocational School. Leading him to study at Montclair University for his BFA in dance, BA in film, and BA in dance education. Throughout his career, Jack has worked with artists such as Garret Coleman, Jessie DiMauro, Christain Von Howard, Steffanie Batten Bland, Darrah Carr, and Seán Curran. Jack intends to never stop learning about movement exploration and the art of amplifying storytelling with multimedia.