About the School

The Taylor School of Irish Dance officially opened in September 2002. Irish dance lessons are available to girls and boys of all ages and adults. Irish dance is an excellent and fun way to strengthen and develop skills in music, tempo and rhythm, improve physical coordination and to learn about the Irish culture through its tradition of dance.

With a focus on deportment, footwork and rhythm, we begin by learning the fundamentals, which include hop two, threes and sevens. Dancers move onto more difficult steps in reels, jigs and slip jigs. We also learn a variety of the Ceili dances such as the four-hand reel, Humours of Bandon, Walls of Limerick and Sweets of May. During the second year of lessons dancers are introduced to hard shoe, which is a leather shoe with solid taps on the toe. We begin with a traditional hornpipe and traditional set dances such as St. Patrick’s Day and the Blackbird and move on to treble jigs and set dances.

Dancers perform at several community events including ceilis, senior citizen homes, and the St. Patrick's Day Parade. We also participate in local competitions or Feisanna. Competitions are a great way to demonstrate and test what you have learned and to meet other Irish dancers from the Ottawa area and from across North America.

Suzanne Taylor started her Irish dance career at the age of 4 years in Ottawa. She continued her dance training with the Bernadette Short School of Irish Dance. Suzanne competed at the championship level in competitions in Canada and the United States. Suzanne has over ten years of Irish dance teaching experience and is certified (T.C.R.G.) and registered through An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha in Dublin, Ireland. She is a member of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America and the Irish Dance Teachers Association of Canada. Suzanne currently directs the Taylor School of Irish Dance in Ottawa.
You can contact Suzanne at: 613.231.1215.