Welcome to the McHugh School of Irish Dance.  For more than 30 years, we have taught Irish Dance in the Delaware County and Wilmington, Delaware Area.  Sisters Tara McHugh Boyce and Sheila McHugh were both Regional and National champion dancers, along with performers for many years before becoming certified Irish Dance instructors.  Our teaching staff now includes Tara’s daughters, Maura and Aislinn, along with former McHugh Dancers, Victoria Borowsky and Kimber Shallock, as assistant teachers. Additionally, we have two workshop instructors, Tara Callaghan and Joseph Seletski. We pride ourselves on instructing each dancer as an individual.  We’ll work with dancers to set and reach their own personal goals.  We aim to build our dancers’ self-esteem in a positive environment with constructive instruction.  ​
We offer a learning environment for all types of dancers
  • Non-competitive, social dancers looking to enjoy a dance class with friends
  • Non-competitive, performance-based dancers who enjoy parades, recitals, and other shows
  • Competitive dancers who wish to set goals of local, regional, national, and world-level competitive advancement 
Our dancers have lots of opportunities throughout the year to dance, perform, socialize, and compete at whatever level they choose.

General Information:
  • We accept new dancers on a rolling basis, so registration is permitted year-round.
  • Classes run from September through June.  July classes have a limited schedule. There are no August classes.
  • Dancers should bring a dance bag, water bottle, and snack (for longer classes) to the studio.  Limit other personal belongings.
  • Communication is through EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE, and TEAMREACH.  Please ask your teacher for the password
  • We respond quickly to emails, so if you have not received a response, please send another message.
  • Dancers must come to class properly dressed.  McHugh uniforms are strongly recommended, but appropriate athletic wear is also permitted. Absolutely no long dresses, jeans, or baggy pants are permitted. Hair must be pulled away from the face. Dancers must wear dance shoes (ballet slippers are fine for beginners).  Dancers may not dance barefoot.  
  • We will provide feedback in class for our dancers to work on at home.  If your dancer needs to bring a notebook to take notes, that is encouraged.  We will also occasionally send videos to parents for their dancers to reference at home.  Remember that practicing at home is necessary to advance competitively.
  • All of our steps from beginner through champion are available on our Google Drive, so dancers can reference at home.  Please ask your dance teacher to send you the link.
  • Dancers must always be respectful to teachers and other students.  Any serious infraction will be brought to a parent's attention.  
  • Dancers and families are expected to respect our studio space.  Dancers are expected to clean up any accidental spills and dispose of trash after classes.  
  • Dancers may not leave the studio space without permission.  Safety is our number one concern, and we must know the location of all dancers at all times.  
  • Occasionally, we will take pictures and use them for promotional materials or for our social media accounts.  If anyone has an objection to allowing their dancer's pictures online, please let us know.  
  • Please have your dancer use the bathroom before class.  Dancers will be allowed to go to the bathroom during class, but it can be disruptive when running to the bathroom becomes "contagious", especially with our littles. 
  • Please tie your dancer's shoes with a double knot before class.  Untied shoes can waste an extensive amount of class time.  Please also work with your child to learn how to tie shoes.
  • There is no refund given for canceled classes or classes that fall on a Holiday.  Dancers may make up a class at another suitable class option.  Please refer to our schedule for class times 
  • Most beginner dancers attend one weekly class. As dancers progress, many choose to dance more than one night a week.  See the tuition schedule on our website for tuition rates
  • If you need to miss your dancer's scheduled class, your dancer can make-up a class at another time or location.  
  • Tuition is paid at the first class each month.  Check (payable to McHugh School), Venmo (@tara-boyce-2) or cash.
  • McHugh Merchandise is available here: https://www.feistyfitzy.com/collections/mchugh-irish-dance-school-gear
  • We have social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook where we highlight important events and dancer accomplishments.
  • ​Social Media
    • We expect that ALL dancers and families behave appropriately on social media
    • Bullying of any kind will not be tolerated.
    • Dancers and families represent the McHugh School and the Irish Dancing organizations at feisanna, majors, performances, and anytime they are wearing McHugh Attire, so please use your best judgment when posting online. 
 
  • Summer camps: We offer two camps during the summer
    • Irish Princess Camp
    • 1/2 day for ages 3-6
    • Held in our Aston Studio the 3rd week of June 
    • Cost is $199
  • Irish Dance and Swim Camp
  • Full day (9-3) for ages 5+
  • Held at our Wilmington Studio  (Elks Lodge and Pool) the first week of August
  • Cost is $ $300

Holiday Party
We host an annual Holiday party in early December at the Elks lodge for Dancers and families.  We offer a potluck dinner, games, gift exchange, and more!

St. Patrick’s Day festivities
  • We participate in both the Wilmington and Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parades.  The McHugh School is the 2022 winner of the Walter Garvin Award for “Best Children’s Dance Group”
  • Performances: We offer opportunities for all level dancers to participate in performances at schools, nursing homes, restaurants/bars, private events and even TV performances.

McHugh Feis
We host our own Feis (competition) in May with dancers from all over the country.  

Feis(Competition) "pronounced fesh"
Our competitive dancers are trained for competition and have the opportunity to compete at feisanna anywhere in the country, virtually every weekend if they desire.  Our dancers have competed at the Regional, National and World level.  

Recital
We have a holiday recital each year in January.  Date/Location TBA.  All level dancers are encouraged to participate if they choose!
​
  Competing

  • Competing: Most of the new dancers are not ready to compete for several months.  We will send emails to the school when local feisanna open for registration.  If you have any questions about whether your dancer is ready to compete, just let us know!  Most feisanna use www.feisweb.com for online registration.  You can let us know if you have questions about how to create your dancer’s online profile
    • Dancers start out in competing in beginner.  
    • Dancers advance to advanced beginner after the first year of competing or sometimes sooner
    • Dancers advance from Advanced Beginner to Novice by placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in each dance.  They can wait till the end of the calendar year to move
    • Dancers advance from Novice to Prize winner by placing 1st in each dance
    • Dancers advance from Prize winner to Preliminary championship by placing first in a soft shoe and a hard shoe dance
    • Dancers advance from Prelim to the final level, Open Championship, by placing 1st on 3 separate occasions.
  • Solo dancing vs team dancing:  Our dancers can learn both solo dancing and team dancing (4 hands or 8 hands).  Team dancing is typically for our more experienced dancers, 2nd year and above.  These teams are put together based on age and these teams have to opportunity to compete at our Regional Championships over Thanksgiving each year.