Dannsa are delighted to welcome Joe Mcguiggan (Traditional Irish Stepdancer) from Donegal for a great weekend of Irish and Scottish step-dancing.

Joe was born and reared in County Derry, in the North West of Ireland. In recent years he has been residing in the neighbouring county of Donegal on the Atlantic Coastline. His love of dancing was encouraged by his mother, and he has been dancing since the age of seven years in the old traditional style of the region. In his adult years he has been influenced and inspired by the old style Irish step dancers from the area and elsewhere in Ireland. Joe won the All Ireland Traditional Step Dance competition in 1991 and was runner up in the Sean Nos step competition at the All Ireland Oireachtas Na Samhna in 2006. He has performed at festivals in Ireland including Fleadh Cheoil na h’Eireann and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Derry, and most recently enjoys dancing socially and passing on the Donegal steps at weekly classes, and workshops. Click to view video of Joe dancing the Maggie Pickie

Dannsa are also joined by the dynamic and versatile musician Ewan McPherson. Ewan has received critical acclaim for his work with a number of groups across the Scottish music scene. As a founder member of Fribo he developed a unique sound fusing Scottish, Norwegian and World music and worked to combine folk and electronic music with RoughCoastAudio which premiered at Celtic Connections in 2011. A skilled multi instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and producer his talents also range from performing with Shooglenifty on Mandolin to a solo album to album of his own songs, many of which have been covered by other leading Scottish groups.

Calling us to the floor on Friday evening is Sheila MacCutcheon. Sheila starting calling with The Occasionals 17 years ago. 2 years later she was given the opportunity to teach traditional dance at Dancebase in Edinburgh. Since then she’s found herself teaching in Washington, Ireland, Trinidad, Estonia and France. Her repertoire includes old time, ceilidh, country and step dance. She loves nothing better than to share dances with everyone.

Join us for some lovely old steps from Ireland, great tunes, and very fine dancing.  

Download Schedule and Booking details 

Full weekend £90 | Concession (students, unwaged) £65 | Saturday Day and Evening £45 | Day only £40