About Us
Mission Statement - Anne-Marie O'Donnell - Stephen McAteer
Mission Statement
It is our goal to preserve Irish culture and heritage through the practice and performance of traditional Irish dance. We believe that the pursuit of Irish dancing excellence is an important and beautiful art form, and that it contributes to a young person's confidence and self esteem. We also believe that students thrive in an environment of good fellowship, mutual respect and enthusiastic encouragement. We work with all our students and their parents to foster this culture.
Anne-Marie O'Donnell, ADCRG, TCRG
Anne-Marie O'Donnell is the founder and Principal director of the O'Donnell School of Traditional Irish Dancing. An accomplished champion dancer, Anne-Marie won many awards throughout Canada, the United States and Great Britain. Upon retirement from competitive dancing, she obtained her teaching and adjudication certificates and opened the O'Donnell School of Traditional Irish Dancing in 1980. She is an active member of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of Canada, the Irish Dance Teacher Association of North America and An Coimisium Rinci le Gaelacha (Dublin, Ireland).
Students from her school have won many awards in both Canada and the United States - awards for teams, choreography and solo events. The school also performs at many charitable events each year. Anne-Marie is known for inspiring her dancers to ahieve their goals. She has mentored many students to continue their careers in dance as teachers, and other professional areas.
The O'Donnell School of Traditional Irish Dancing was founded on the philosophy that the self-confidence of its students is paramount!
Stephen McAteer
At the age of seven, Stephen began his Irish dancing career in his hometown of Toronto, Canada at the renowned Butler Academy with the late Mae and June Butler. Born to Irish parents, Stephen began dancing as a means to connect to his Irish heritage and this quickly developed into a lifelong passion.
As a young man, Stephen became one of the most successful dancers of his generation winning nine Eastern Canadian regional titles, six North American Championships, two All-Ireland and two World Championships. Stephen retired from competition in 1995 to start university. However in the spring of 1996, Stephen was delighted to put his studies on hold and join Riverdance in London on the eve of their first world tour. Over the course of the next five years, Stephen toured extensively with Riverdance accross North America and Australia and also appeared with them on Broadway.
In 2000, stephen obtained his TCRG and left Riverdance to complete his studies. After graduating with great distinction from McGill University, Stephen enrolled in the Master of Health Science program in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. Since graduating in 2003, Stephen has worked as a clinical speech-language pathologist with children and adults in medical, rehabilitative and educational settings.
Based in Toronto, Stephen continues to be very involved in Irish dancing and is in high demand providing workshops and master classes thoughout North America. He was delighted to pass his ADCRG in January 2006 and has very much enjoyed judging both locally and internationally.
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