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Sean
Culkin, TCRG
Director
Sean began Irish dancing at the age of 6
with Peggy O'Neill, ADCRG. In 1995 he earned his TCRG and began teaching
adults. He founded the Culkin School of traditional Irish Dance in April
1997. In addition to being director, he is the main instructor for many classes. |
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Nicki Sack Bayhurst, TCRG, ADCRG
Artistic Director
Nicki learned Irish Dance at the age of
nine from Theresa Burke of the Burke School in Pittsburgh, PA. She qualified several times
for the World Championships, competing in Salthill, Ireland in 1988. She
has been teaching at the Culkin School since 1997. In addition to
instructing she choreographs competitive steps for championship level
dancers. |
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Megan
Howard, TCRG
Megan has studied with Sean Culkin since 1996 and was one of the first adult students when the school opened in 1997. She was a member of the Culkin Southern Region Championship ceili teams and has choreographed dances for shows at the Kennedy Center and throughout the area. As an instructor, Megan works with both children and adult students. |
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Assistant Instructors |
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Kate
Bole
Kate began
Irish dancing at the age of seven with the
Burke School in Youngstown, Ohio, and has qualified for the World
Championships four times, competing in Belfast in 2006. She has also studied with the Cannon School in
Cleveland and taught adult classes at John Carroll University.
Kate joined the Culkin School in 2002, where she is currently an open
championship level competitive dancer. |
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Tammy Larson
Tammy has been with the Culkin School with its inception and is a member of the National Championship adult ladies ceili team. A student of Peggy O'Neill as a child, Tammy brings years of experience to the Culkin School. She assists with a number of classes. |
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Megan
Moloney
Megan is a championship-level competitive
dancer, figures choreographer and webmaster at the Culkin School, where she has studied
for the last ten years. She coaches the adult Oireachtas and Nationals teams. |
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Denise Olive
Denise began dancing at the age of four with the Gray School in Connecticut. She danced at the championship level for 7 years, placing in the New England Regional Oireachtas and qualifying for the North American chamionships. During college, she was an assistant instructor for the Gray School. In 2005, Denise joined the Culkin School, where she has won several Regional Championship adult ceili titles before competing at the 2009 World Irish Dance Championships. |
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Ed
Parmelee
Since joining the Culkin School in 1997,
Ed has competed as an adult dancer, earning two Southern Region Ceili
Championship titles. He has also served as chairman of
Feis Culkin since its inception. Ed assists with children's classes and figures teams. |
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Jen Rittenhouse
Jen is an assistant instructor for the Rockville classes who danced at the championship level. She is
currently in the process of obtaining her teacher's certification. |
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Jen Smith
Since joining the Culkin School in 1997, as one of Sean's first students, Jen has competed at the regional and national level. Currently a championship level dancer, Jen recently graduated from George Mason University and assists with a number of classes. |
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In addition to these instructors, student
volunteers assist teachers to maintain a low student/teacher ratio and
provide appropriately challenging steps for all students. The
volunteers compete at preliminary championship level or above. |
