Harris-Grieco Academy of Irish Dance

The Harris-Grieco Academy of Irish Dance is gearing up for their favorite time of year: The High Holy Days of the St. Patrick’s Day season! Throughout February and March, dancers ranging from 4 years old to adults will perform at restaurants, bars, schools, nursing homes, private parties and cultural organizations throughout Western New York. These performances highlight a variety of traditional and modern Irish dances in both soft shoe and hard shoe. The Harris-Grieco dancers are under the instruction of Rachael Grieco of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Jennifer Mammoliti from right here in Western New York. Together they give dance students a world class experience when learning Irish Dance. The mission of their program is to bring out the best dancer in every child, and the best child in every dancer! Ms. Grieco and Ms. Mammoliti do this by providing high energy classes taught by caring and knowledgeable instructors that combine superior quality instruction in Irish dance. The dancers learn hard work, character building, and a profound respect for the time-honored art of Irish dancing and Irish Culture.

A unique aspect of Irish Dance is that it includes both solo dancing and team dancing, which are dances steeped in Irish history. The solo dancers and Harris-Grieco teams compete worldwide with regional competitions in Philadelphia, National competitions most recently held in Nashville, Tennessee and on the World Stage in cities such as Killarney, Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland. Throughout the year they participate in local cultural events such as Buffalo Irish Festival, Niagara Celtic Festival, Pulaski Festival, and many festivities at the Buffalo Irish Center. A particular highlight of last year was performing in “Dance the Night Away” with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Kleinhans Music Hall. You can also see the dancers in various parades throughout the year. The Academy keeps busy year round.

The Buffalo Irish Dance Parents Organization is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization that exists

with the goal of supporting the families of Harris-Grieco Academy of Irish Dance, as well as to

support the preservation of Irish heritage and the arts in the Buffalo, NY area. Tax deductible

donations from these shows are made to the Parent Organization and benefit the dance

students as well as assist in the groups efforts to share Irish culture with the community. In

addition, we fund our efforts with cultural grants awarded throughout the year, and some of that grant money is funneled back into the community so that Western New York can share our love of Irish culture and dance. Follow Harris-Grieco Academy of Irish Dance and the Buffalo Irish Dance Parents Organization on social media for more updates and to find out about local performances. The next public performance will be at The Guinness Toast at The Buffalo Irish Center on Friday, February 16th. For more information about Irish Dance Classes or to book our dancers for your event please visit: https://www.buffaloirishdance.com/