Erin O'Donnell
Where do you live? Brooklyn, NY.
Current company and position? Owner of O'Donnell Academy of Irish Dance & Co-Founder of Brooklyn Irish Dance Company.
First job and what it taught me? Teaching! I started dance classes when I was seven years old and by twelve or thirteen, I was helping out with the new beginners. It's a common rite-of-passage for dancers as they get older to start assisting and learning how to communicate the basics down to the younger dancers, and in many ways is how you become a better dancer yourself.
Teaching itself is a masterclass in so many skills - communication, crowd management, public speaking, organization, and more. You begin to see very quickly that how you may learn something may not be how others will best absorb that information, and start to develop your own ways to best help each student. And of course, you never stop learning yourself - every year I find new things to incorporate into my lessons to be a better dancer and teacher.
How do you embrace your Irish heritage? I cannot remember a time in my life where Irish dance and culture was not at the forefront of my life. Even before I started dancing my parents would be playing the Chieftains and the Clancy Brothers albums at home. Once dance became a part of my life, it never left - only the way I've gotten to experience it and share it with others has changed!
After a successful competitive career medaling nationally and internationally, I spent several years dancing professionally, most notably as an opening cast member of Celtic Fyre and Carol of the King, the Irish Dance Christmas Spectacular, on tour internationally as the lead performer in Night of the Dance, and as part of the US premiere of Fainne Oir on Broadway. I have also performed throughout the United States with many incredible Irish musicians, including world renowned fiddler Mairead Nesbitt of Celtic Woman, Danu, and The Prodigals.
I opened the O'Donnell Academy of Irish Dance in Brooklyn in 2016, and since then the school has grown to be a wonderful community of dancers of all ages and levels. Teaching in New York City is a joy because while there is such a strong Irish community here, there are so many other cultures and communities that may have never thought about Irish dance otherwise. You don't have to be Irish to Irish dance, and nowhere is that more celebrated than in NYC.
One of my proudest achievements, though, is co-founding Brooklyn Irish Dance Company in 2018 with three amazing Irish-American women. We realized that despite the city's cultural history, there were few (if any) creative outlets for professional Irish dancers. Brooklyn Irish Dance Company was created for dancers, by dancers to develop new opportunities to grow as performers and establish new and innovative creative works. Since 2018, we’ve developed new choreography each year and performed throughout NYC and the surrounding tri-state area for a variety of venues, audiences and communities. We love to introduce the world of Irish dance to communities across NYC, and with community based social dances like GAYLI™, and multidiscipline events like DANCE BROOKLYN, we’ve shown how making Irish dance accessible makes everyone happier.
Something people would be surprised to know about me... When I'm not dancing, I'm designing - I am a Creative Director and Brand Strategist in NYC for companies of all sizes, specializing in start-ups, tech and finance, and entertainment.
Biography: Erin O’Donnell, TCRG is a professional Irish dancer, who started Irish dance at the age of seven and never stopped! After a successful competitive and professional career, she received her teaching certification with honors from CLRG and opened the O’Donnell Academy of Irish Dance shortly after.
She is the co-founder of Brooklyn Irish Dance Company, a performing arts company bringing Irish dance, music and culture to the stage to cultivate professional-level opportunities for dancers in NYC & beyond. Her work has been seen both off-Broadway and throughout the US as the choreographer and director of Celtic Odyssey & A Celtic Christmas Story.
