Teachers

Ms. Jolie began her Irish dance career with the late Mr. Patrick Butler and the Butler Academy of Irish Dance in Syracuse, NY at the ripe old age of fourteen. After seeing Riverdance on the Late Night Show with David Letterman, she couldn’t get the rhythms out of her head and knew she needed to learn herself.

She was devastated when the first dance school she spoke with told her she was too old to begin. God knew that wasn’t the right school for her, and opened the door a year later when Mr. Butler began a class just ten minutes down the road from her house. Though she began “late”, Mr. Butler and his assistant teacher, Pattie, pushed and encouraged her in both her competitive and show career.

After several successful years with Mr. Butler, and later Pattie Sheehan-Malinowski of the Butler-Sheehan School, she met and married her high school sweetheart, Piper. They began a whirlwind adventure of moving around for school and careers, which landed them in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA.

While in Pittsburgh, Ms. Jolie began dancing with the Bell School of Irish dance where she finished out her dancing career under the amazing coaching of Julia Bell, ADCRG. She had the opportunity to compete at both the regional and national levels before retiring from competitive dancing. One of the highlights of her dance career was joining Michael Londra’s Celtic Fire with fellow dance teachers Brian and Mary Lanni. She was able to travel for one season before stopping to grow their family with their second son.

Ms. Jolie fell in love with the teaching ethics, organization, and positive family atmosphere that is the Bell School and decided to stay on as a teacher after her dancing career ended. In 2014 she sat and passed the TCRG exam to become a certified teacher with An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha in Ireland. She had ten wonderful years in Pittsburgh before relocating to the Triangle area. KIDS maintains a sister school relationship with the Bell School to this day.

She and her husband, Piper, have four boys, three who dance and one who retired at the age of eight, and one wonderful dog.

Ms. Jolie is so excited to bring her love of Irish dance to the greater Raleigh community and cannot wait to welcome new students, young and old, to her passion.

Hannah danced with the Dó Cairde School in Pennsylvania from age 8 through high school. After a ten-year break she returned to Irish dance through the adult class.

She is passionate about finding new ways to build strength and flexibility for safe, effective dancing — at every age and level.

Hey everybody! My name is Erin and I’m super excited to be a part of the Kilpatrick team! I come from a lengthy background in Irish dance including many years in the competition world! My goal is to create a positive, encouraging environment where students can grow in both skill and confidence while honoring the tradition and discipline of Irish dance.

I’m committed to helping each dancer improve their technique, strength, and performance while also fostering teamwork, respect, and a love for the art of Irish dance. I’m excited to support the dancers as they work toward their personal goals and represent the school with pride!

Ms. Laura began dancing with Rince na h’Eireann School of Irish Dance (now the Connick School) near Charlotte, NC when she was 6 years old. She joined the KIDS family in the adult program several years ago and has since loved teaching across all of the programs and ages at KIDS.

She loves how Irish dancing fosters community with those past and present while remaining an always-evolving physical and mental challenge. Laura is a doctoral student at Duke Divinity School and lives with her husband and their dog in Durham. Go KIDS!