School History

    The Marie Moore School of Irish Dancing has been in existence since 1990.  The School opened its first location in Scotch Plains, NJ and then expanded to Manhattan and Queens, NY.  The school now has grown even more and now has classes in Pennington, New Jersey.

     The school is one of the most competitive and successful schools in the area, producing many championship dancers.  The school trains students for both solo and team competitions.  Many of the dancers have competed at National and International competitions.  They have appeared on National TV as well as performed at Radio City, Carnegie Hall and on Broadway.  Many have also danced with Riverdance and in Lord of the Dance.

    Although a great deal of emphasis is on competition, many children dance for the culture, exercise and love of their art form.  All classes are taught by either Marie or Frank or both together.  The prime focus is that all children should be afforded the same opportunity to learn and improve regardless of their level of ability.  The students in the school are given the individual attention they need to reach their potential.  Like all other sports and activities, not all make it to the top. But we believe that each child should be given the chance to be the best they can be.    We divide all our classes – placing each child in the class which is best suited for him or her.

    The school is also involved in running fundraising events which is then allocated amongst the students.  A good percentage of the funds come from our annual Feis held in March – The Garden State Feis.  We also run a tricky tray event which is held at our annual Christmas Ceili.  Here too the children are afforded the opportunity to perform in a non-competitive environment where family and friends can all attend and have a fun night out.

    The funds are allocated to students to purchase material for their school costumes.  It also helps defer costs for those students who travel to compete at National and International levels.  The school also provides a year-end party where scholarships are awarded to the high school graduates who go on to attend college.

    Year round the students perform at Nursing Homes, Hospitals, Weddings, parties etc.  They also march in the  St. Patrick’s Day Parade and in the Memorial Day parade.