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Monday to Friday: 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. · Saturday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. · Sunday: ClosedMonday to Friday: 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Woman ownedFall enrollment opens in July(781) 555-0100
Blue Hill School of Irish Dance
Book a placement visit
Book a placement visit

Irish dance in Braintree

Start with a workshop, then find your class

There is no trial class here. Every new dancer, child or adult, begins with an intro workshop and a placement visit, so we can see how you move and place you in a class that fits.

Book a placement visitSee the levels
  • Ages 5 to 16, and adults
  • Soft shoes first, hard shoes later
  • Intro workshop before a first class
Children leaping across a hall floor while their teacher claps the beat

Your first weeks

Your first weeks, and what to wear

No shoes are needed yet. Here is how a start goes.

Read the family policies
  1. 01

    Step 1: Intro workshop

    Come in leggings or shorts, a fitted top and clean socks, with hair tied back. We teach a first reel and answer every question.

  2. 02

    Step 2: Placement visit

    You dance in the class that seems to fit, in the same socks. Afterward the teacher talks with you about the level.

  3. 03

    Step 3: Soft shoes

    Once you have a level, soft shoes are ordered with you. Until they arrive, socks are fine.

  4. 04

    Step 4: Hard shoes, when your teacher says

    Hard shoes come later, never before the teacher says it is time. Please don't buy a pair ahead.

The levels

From first steps to open level

Six levels in our own words. Each one names what a dancer works on and how the teacher decides it is time to move up.

  1. 01

    First steps

    Ages 5 and up, and adults
    Skills

    • Standing tall and moving from the hips down

    • The first steps of a reel in soft shoes

    • Counting along with the music

    • Learning what the steps are called

    Moving up

    When the first steps stay steady across the floor, your teacher moves you into a beginner class and tells you why.

  2. 02

    Beginner

    Ages 5 to 12, and adults
    Skills

    • A reel and a light jig in soft shoes

    • Keeping time without watching the teacher's feet

    • Your first group dance

    Moving up

    Your teacher watches a full dance to the music, then talks with you and your family about the next class.

  3. 03

    Advanced beginner

    Ages 8 and up
    Skills

    • A single jig and a slip jig

    • Lines, circles and turns in a group

    • Your first hard shoe steps, once your teacher says it is time

    Moving up

    Your teacher moves you when a dancer is steady in both shoes and ready for longer steps.

  4. 04

    Novice

    Ages 10 to 16, and adults
    Skills

    • A treble jig and a hornpipe in hard shoes

    • Dancing a whole step to the music

    • A ceili dance for a group of eight

    Moving up

    The teacher decides, in a conversation with the dancer, after watching a few weeks of classes.

  5. 05

    Intermediate

    Ages 11 to 16, and adults
    Skills

    • Longer steps in every dance

    • Timing and carriage on your own

    • Choosing events with your teacher, if you want to

    Moving up

    A dancer who is ready for the open class is asked, never told, and can stay at this level as long as they like.

  6. 06

    Open level

    Ages 12 to 16, and adults
    Skills

    • Dances at full length

    • Helping to teach the first steps

    • Learning new ceili dances with the group

    Moving up

    There is no level above this one. Dancers stay for as long as they like.

Where to startBook a placement visit

Sample levels.

Your teacher decides where a dancer starts and when they move up.

The year

Where the feis season sits in the year

Intro workshops, sessions and the spring showcase, month by month. Feis season is for the dancers who choose it.

This school year

  • Intro workshops

    Late August and early January · Where every new dancer starts, before the first placement visit.

  • Fall session starts

    Early September · Classes meet once a week in the main hall.

  • Winter session starts

    Early January · A good time for a first workshop after the holidays.

  • Feis season

    Spring, with a few in the fall · A feis is a day of Irish dance events. Dancers choose which to go to, with their teacher.

  • Spring showcase

    In May · Every level dances for families in the hall.

  • Closures

    School vacation weeks and Thanksgiving week · We follow the town's school calendar.

Sample dates.

Fall session schedule

Filter by level, then book a placement visit. A new dancer starts with the intro workshop on a Saturday.

Fall session

Showing 12 of 12

  • Monday

  • Tuesday

    • 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

      Advanced beginner

      Soft shoe and hard shoe · Noelle Cavanaugh · Main hall

      8 to 12Advanced beginnerFull

  • Wednesday

    • 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

      Intermediate

      Soft shoe and hard shoe · Noelle Cavanaugh · Main hall

      11 to 16IntermediateOpenBook a placement visit

  • Thursday

    • 5:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

      Open level

      Soft shoe and hard shoe · Ronan Molloy · Main hall

      12 to 16 and adultsOpen levelOpenBook a placement visit

    • 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

      Feis preparation

      Hard shoe · Noelle Cavanaugh · Main hall

      10 to 16NoviceOpenBook a placement visit

  • Friday

    • 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

      Ceili night, once a month

      Group dances · Ronan Molloy · Main hall

      All agesAll levelsOpenBook a placement visit

  • Saturday

    • 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

      Intro workshop

      Soft shoe · Noelle Cavanaugh · Main hall

      5 and up, and adultsFirst stepsOpenBook a placement visit

Sample classes.

Times shift a little each session. The enrollment page has this week's.

Who teaches

Two of our teachers, who run the placement visits

Four teachers share the week. Noelle and Ronan meet every new family.

  • Noelle Cavanaugh, director and teacher, standing at a tall window in the main hall

    Noelle Cavanaugh

    Director and teacher

    Noelle danced as a girl and has taught Irish dance to children and adults ever since. She leads the intro workshops, decides where each dancer starts and teaches the beginner, advanced beginner and feis classes.

  • Ronan Molloy, teacher, holding a pair of hard shoes in the hall

    Ronan Molloy

    Teacher

    Ronan came to Irish dance as a teenager. He teaches the novice, open and adult classes and calls the dances at ceili night.

Families say

What families tell us

“We came to the workshop not knowing a single step. Nobody rushed us, and the teacher told us exactly which class to start in.”

Abbie T.Parent of a nine-year-old

“I had not danced since school. The adult class is laid back, the dances are real, and I look forward to Monday nights.”

Geoff P.Adult student

“Our two have different classes on different nights, and the school makes that easy. The explanations about shoes and feis helped.”

Kendal R.Parent of two dancers

Sample reviews.

Come and meet us at a placement visit

Choose a time on our enrollment page. We will confirm by text or email, and tell you what to wear.

Book a placement visitRead the family policies