Our history
Our History
The Eileen Moore Dance Academy will officially open its doors to students from the 8th of September 2025!
Although this is the start of a new chapter for Miss Eileen and the team, there is a history to the school which pre dates Eileen.
Eileen started dancing age 4 with the Aedeen O’Hagan School of Ballet in Portlaoise. When Aedeen ceased teaching in Portlaoise, Miss Helen Dunne stepped into her shoes and opened Espira Dance Academy. Miss Helen is another previous student of Aedeen and highly qualified teacher. Helen taught tap and modern in addition to ballet and her school continued to grow. Eileen was one of Helen’s first modern and tap students in Portloaise and later taught for her in Castledermot and Portlaoise. When Helen decided to crease teaching in Portlaoise, she turned to Eileen to continue the growth and progression that Aedeen began.
Eileen hopes to continue to provide exceptional dance education for students in Portlaoise alongside her team.
Eileen began dancing at the age of 4 at the Aedeen O’Hagan School of Ballet in Portlaoise and it was from then that her love of dance started to grow.
She began Irish Dancing with the Lynam School of Irish Dancing at the age of 8. She went on to compete and win medals at World Championship Level as both a soloist and figure dancer, competing up until the age of 20. Her time as a Lynam School dancer provided an array of performance and competitive opportunities and she has fond memories performing at weddings as part of the schools senior group.
When Helen Dunne opened her dance school in 2010 Eileen started doing Modern Theatre and tap. It was here that she developed a deep love of jazz and lyrical styles of dance.
Her full time dance training began at 16 when she spent TY in Inchicore College of Further Education.
After completing the year she left to study Performing Arts in Bath, England.
In 2015, she returned home and took the first step of gaining teaching qualifications back at Inchicore where she gained her Diploma in Dance Education(DDE) in Modern theatre.
In 2016, she auditioned for and was successful in becoming Miss Laois and representing herself and her county in the Miss Ireland Final. She got into Top 5 in the talent portion of the competition and performed a lyrical dance in the final. From her experience in Miss Ireland she became interested in modelling and has modelled for Fashion Shows and was printed in a fashion magazine highlighting the importance of renewable fashion.
Next she went on to gain her DDE in ISTD Classical Ballet. She took her advanced 1 in RAD ballet and her Advanced 2 in ISTD modern during this time. At the end of the year she attended spent 3 weeks training in Vienna at ImPuls Tanz International Dance Festival thanks to the Erasmus programme.
She also studied for an additional qualification and holds a National Certificate in Exercise and Fitness (NCEF) from the University of Limerick. She felt spending time studying the human body would inevitably add to her dance teaching skills.
Eileen travelled to England where she became an Acrobatic Arts Certified Instructor.
In June 2018, Eileen spent 2 months in LA as a solo traveller. She met and lived with dancers from all over the world and remains friends with many of them. Over the 2 months she took over 100 classes in a variety of styles at the world renowned and iconic Millenium Dance Complex and Debbie Reynolds Legacy Studio.
After her time in LA she moved to Bristol. She travelled to London weekly and was an Intern at Base Dance Studios which enabled her to take class and continue to train incredibly hard.
Over Christmas in 2019, Eileen joined the cast as Mrs Claus at Fota Island Resort’s immersive christmas experience. It was shortly after this that COVID hit. COVID had a massive impact on the London Dance community, theatres closed and everything was put on pause.
When dance schools re opened, Eileen started teaching with Rosemary Carrington and Kathy Plaster. Whilst teaching for Kathy she trained for and achieved her DDE in Tap. She also completed a short acting course, ‘Acting for Camera’ in Bristol Old Vic and was also a member of Bristol’s Acting Lab Theatre. Eileen developed a fondness for acting in her spare time and has also worked as an extra in multiple shows, including Dr.Who and Casulty.
In Bristol, she also found a love for aerial hoop where she trained in ‘The Bendy Studio’. Towards the end of her time in Bristol, she started experiencing extreme back pain which resulted in a break for both dancing and teaching. She spent 6 months in Cornwall before moving home to Ireland.
Shortly after arriving home in Ireland, she was diagnosed with two herniated discs which explained the route of her now chronic back pain. In April 2025 she had spine surgery.
In June 2025 she got married and she is now very excited to move onto the next chapter of opening this new dance school with the help and support from her husband, friends and family.
Meet our team
Jodie
Jodie began dancing with the Ballet Barn at age three, training under Aedeen and Adele. She completed her ballet exams with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and expanded her training to include Modern Theatre, Jazz, and Contemporary Dance with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD). Jodie continues to dance at Advanced Two level in both Ballet and Modern Theatre.
During her time at Inchicore College of Further Education, she obtained ISTD Diplomas in Dance Education for both Ballet and Modern Theatre Dance, achieving outstanding results that reflect her exceptional teaching ability. She graduated with a Level 6 Advanced Dance Studies qualification and a Special Purpose Award in Dance Teaching. She also gained practical teaching experience in a range of schools across Leinster.
This year, she is excited to begin her BSc (Hons) in Sports Therapy at Portobello Institute, where she will combine her love for dance and anatomy to help dancers train safely and effectively.
Laoise
Laoise started her training in the Ballet Barn with Aedeen O’Hagan and Adele Mealey and then continued her training with Helen Dunne. Laoise holds a Diploma in Dance Education in Modern Theatre Dance with the ISTD. Laoise is a qualified Primary School teacher with a specialism in working with children with Special Educational Needs.
While undertaking her degree in Mary Immaculate College she performed and competed with the college dance team ‘MIDance’. Whilst performing with the ‘MIDance’ Jazz and Contemporary teams, Laoise was also the choreographer for the Contemporary team. Laoise also performs with a number of local musical societies and pantomime groups.
Aoife
Aoife works full time as a secondary school teacher, qualifying from Dublin City University. While at DCU, Aoife danced and competed on the ballet, jazz and dolls teams, as well as choreographing for the ballet team. Before this, Aoife attended Inchicore College of Further Education, where she achieved a Distinction Level 5 QQI in Dance Studies, along with her ISTD Intermediate Modern Dance and RAD Intermediate Ballet exams. She is an active member of Portlaoise Musical Society and Clara Musical Society. Aoife has been assisting and teaching dance for a number of years and is currently pursuing her Diploma in Dance Education for Modern Theatre Dance. Aoife is looking forward to working with the team at the Eileen Moore Dance Academy.
Rachel
Rachel began dancing with the Aedeen O’Hagan School of Ballet, where she completed her Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) ballet grades and vocational exams up to Advanced Level. She also achieved her Intermediate Modern Theatre exam with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD).
She went on to study Computer Science and French at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with a BA (Hons). During her time at Trinity, she was a member of the dance society, serving as a captain and choreographer for both the Jazz and Contemporary Intervarsity teams. Under her leadership, both teams placed second nationally in 2015/2016, and she returned to captain and choreograph the Contemporary team in 2017/2018. Rachel also broadened her dance training internationally, taking ballet and jazz classes while studying abroad in Nice, France.
Rachel began teaching ten years ago with experience in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. She has taught outreach programmes to students in disadvantaged areas and has been teaching with Espira Dance for the past two years. She is delighted to now be teaching with Mor Dance Academy!
Alongside her full-time career as a software engineer, she continues to share her passion for dance through teaching and performance, including stage and wedding events.
She is currently completing her ISTD Diploma in Dance Education (DDE) in Modern Theatre Dance, to further develop her skills as a teacher.