Since 1998, the Bessie Award-nominated company Darrah Carr Dance has created a sensational and unique blend of traditional Irish step and contemporary dance. The company draws from Irish music, step dance footwork, and spatial patterns to create high-energy, rhythmically based work that is accessible to a broad audience.
Recent New York City performance highlights include: NBC’s “The Today Show,“ a guest performance with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the company’s annual season at The Irish Arts Center, “The Yeats Project“ at the Irish Repertory Theatre, The Duke Theater on 42nd Street, Celebrate Brooklyn, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the annual NYC Irish Dance Festival, “Stam-pede“ Percussive Dance Festival at Symphony Space and a guest appearance with Mick Moloney at the Skirball Center.
The company has performed at venues throughout the United States including MASS MoCA, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Yard at Martha’s Vineyard, Wesleyan University (Connecticut), The Center for Performing Arts and SUNY Orange (upstate New York), The Dance Complex, Summer Stages Dance, and the JFK Museum (Massachusetts), The Goose Route Dance Festival (West Virginia), The Valentine Theatre (Ohio), St. Mary’s University (Minnesota) and the San Jose Fleadh (California). They have also appeared at the Toronto Fringe Festival, the Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival, and at the Bank of Ireland Arts Center in Dublin. In addition, they frequently conduct national tours with The Andy Cooney Band.
Her Irish Extravaganza (Irish duets, and traditional Irish group dances) features live music and champion Irish step dancers who have garnered awards at numerous competitions on both the national and international circuit. Darrah Carr Dance also features a wide variety of outreach and educational programs.
Darrah Carr Dance has received funding from numerous sources, including commissions from Trinity Irish Dance’s Junior Company and the One World Foundation, a fellowship from Summer Stages Dance, and grants from the American Ireland Fund, the Fund for Creative Communities, the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, The Brooklyn Arts Council, the Davenport Fund, and the Outer/Space program administered by Dance Theater Workshop.