Culkin School News Blog

Good Luck!

2008-06-29T14:56:47Z

Here's wishing great dancing and safe travels to the Culkin School dancers heading to the North American Irish Dance Championships this week in Nashville, Tennessee. Championship dancers Nikki M, Corrine M and Sean R will be competing in solo competitions. And the Ladies Ceili team will represent the Culkin School in the Adult Ladies 8-hand team competition. Dancers include: Tammy L, Kate R, KC F, Melissa d, Alexandra W, Julie D, Amy T-W, Debbie K and our alternate Bonnie Z.

Congrats to our Newest Champions!

2008-06-22T14:32:55Z

Summer feiseanna keep bringing good news for our dancers! Congratulations to our newest Open Champions, Molly L and Kate B for their 1st place wins at Old Dominion Feis. Congrats also to Samantha D for qualifying for Preliminary Championships. Way to go ladies!

Thank you for a Great Year!

2008-06-14T16:38:44Z

It has been a GREAT ’07-’08 school year. The school continues to grow from strength to strength.

I want to thank: My family, especially Denise, my wife; All our teachers, Nicki Bayhurst, Caterina Earle and Megan Howard; All our assistant teachers, Megan Moloney, Kate Bole, Denise Olive, Ed Parmalee, Tammy Larson, Jennifer Rittenhouse and Jen Smith; and all our student assistants.

And of course you, the parents and students.

I am looking forward to a break in Sligo, Ireland with my family beginning after my Dublin meeting tomorrow Sunday. I wish you all a summer that does have some rest in it, to “recharge the battery”.

Please do sign up for all the shows we have and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!!

In appreciation,

Seán

Congratulations to our Seniors!

2008-06-04T01:52:27Z

As May and June rolls in, we say congratulations (and goodbye) to our seniors, some of whom have been with us for a decade. Graduating from college this year is Jen S. Our high school seniors include Phillip S, Rachel K, Erica S, Jenny E and Nikki M. Good luck to those heading to college nearby, across the country and across the Atlantic! We'll miss you!

(If the webmaster missed any of our seniors, please send an email to webmaster ~at~ culkinschool.com an I'll get the info posted!)

Washington Folk Festival

2008-06-02T11:21:33Z

The Culkin dancers performed on Sunday, June 1 at the Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo Park. Here's a sample of our performance.

Be sure to check out our YouTube videos page for more from this show and others!

Registration for Adult Open Gym Now Available

2008-05-31T01:37:01Z

Adult Open Gym returns to Hughes this summer! Sessions will be held for all levels of adult dancers on Wednesday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00pm beginning June 25 and ending August 27. The idea of these sessions is to work on and refine material dancers already have.

The cost is $10 per session and a minimum of 10 dancers is needed for each session. If we don’t have enough dancers registered in advance for a particular night, we will have to cancel that date.

Please download a registration form and return it to reserve your space.

Adult Open Gym Registration (Word document)

Congratulations to our CCE Competitors... and our newest Champs!

2008-05-26T01:44:17Z

Congratulations to all of our dancers who did so well today at the Comhaltas Irish Dance Festival - the CCE Feis. It was great to see so many out there wearing the Sligo black and white!

Congrats, especially, to three of our newest championship dancers: Kia R and Mary Margaret S both qualified for Prelminary Championships. And earning her second 1st place in prelims, Allie P qualifies for Open Championships! Way to go girls!

Registration for New Beginners Open

2008-05-19T22:15:30Z

Registration for the 2008-2009 class year for new beginners is now available. The Culkin School class year runs from September through June.

2008 - 2009 New Student Registration Form (PDF File)

For the school year beginning in September 2008, six beginner classes will be offered that are open to boys and girls aged 5-10, as well as a new Culkin Kids class for students ages 3-5. Class start dates will be posted as soon as they are available.

Tuesday at 4:00 in Washington, DC ~ NEW LOCATION!
Tuesday at 4:00 in Bethesda
Tuesday at 4:45 in Rockville (St. John's)
Wednesday at 4:15 in Silver Spring
Thursday at 4:15 in Kensington
Saturday at 9:30 in Rockville (Rockville United Methodist)

New this year! ~ FALL BEGINNER PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AGES 3-5

Our “CULKIN KIDS” program is 30 minutes long and runs 7 or 10 weeks. There is no separate registration fee for these classes. Classes are held Saturdays, 9:00 at Rockville United Methodist Church

Session 1 - September 20 - November 22 (10 weeks, $100)
Session 2 - January 10 - March 14 (10 weeks, $100)
Session 3 - April 25 - June 6 (7 week, $70)

More on class locations is available after the jump...

]]> Classes are offered at a number of levels for beginner, intermediate, advanced and adult students. Re-registration for current students will be mailed to families soon.

CLASS LOCATIONS:

Bethesda: Classes at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 7009 Wilson Lane (Near Wilson & River Rd)

Kensington: Classes at St Paul’s Methodist Church, 10401 Armory Avenue (Near Connecticut & Knowles)

Rockville: Classes at St. John's Lutheran Church, 4629 Aspen Hill Road and Rockville United Methodist Church, 112 West Montgomery Ave.

Silver Spring: Classes at Hughes Methodist Church, 10700 Georgia Avenue (At Georgia Ave & Plyers Mill Rd)

Washington, D.C.: Classes at Our Lady of Victory School, 4755 Whitehaven Parkway NW

Congratulations!

2008-05-10T18:25:34Z

Congratulations to Katie K and Allie P who both placed 1st in Prelims at the Sheehan-Gormley Feis. Hard work pays off!

Tickets for Wolf Trap Summer Show on sale now!

2008-05-08T21:13:41Z

Join us at Wolf Trap's Children's Theatre in the Woods this July for a fun-filled, dance-packed show!

Tickets are on sale now for Damhsa, A Celebration of Irish Dance and Music for performances July 8-12 at 10:00 AM and 11:15 AM.

Visit the Wolf Trap show website for more information.

Costumes, Competitions and More!

2008-05-05T02:15:27Z

We've added a new "Frequently Asked Questions" folder to the Culkin School Yahoo! Group to help answer questions you may not be able to find on the website. Currently, there are detailed answers to questions on ordering Culkin School costumes and Irish dance competitions.

Go to the FAQS folder for more information on these topics. You must be a member of our Yahoo! group to access the files.

New Photo Galleries Posted

2008-05-05T01:10:26Z

We've added a few new photo galleries to the website and updated some of the existing galleries. Be sure to take a few minutes to see the pictures for:

Glen Echo Family Day Festival
Washington Golf & Country Club Show
New photos in the DC St. Patrick's Day Parade gallery
New photos in the Championships Dancers gallery

Upcoming Competitions

2008-05-05T01:04:36Z

Two D.C.-area competitions have opened registration this week and are now accepting entries:

Old Dominion Feis will be held on Saturday, June 21 in Falls Church. Here's their eFeis information and registration page and here's the feis webpage.
Nation's Capital Feis will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 26 and 27 in Roslyn/Arlington. Here's their eFeis information and registration page and here's the feis website. (Warning: turn the sound down on your computer for this site.)

Be sure to sign up soon if you're interested in competing so that you ensure your entry.

Congrats to our Newest Champions!

2008-04-27T22:01:13Z

Congratulations to Claire M and Katie K for acheiving their final 1sts at the Four Provinces Feis and moving into Preliminary Championships.

Congratulations also to Megan W who placed 1st in her Preliminary Championship competition.

If you have results to report that you'd like have posted on the website, please email the webmaster and we'll get them posted!

Show Sign Up Information

2008-04-04T22:03:26Z

The Culkin School is implementing a new Yahoo! Groups based system to to tell our students about upcoming performance opportunities, and for dancers to sign up for those shows that will work with your schedule. We've added a Show Sign Up Information page to the website that explains how to use the new system. Take a look!