About the Company

Since 1998, the Bessie Award nominated company Darrah Carr Dance has created a sensational and unique blend of traditional Irish step and contemporary modern 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. Artistic Director Darrah Carr calls her style ModERIN: a playful combination of the words modern (dance) and ERIN (an Irish American reference to Ireland).

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 the 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.

Artist Statement

I source from two genres - traditional Irish step and contemporary modern dance. I feel two pulls - one toward tradition and another toward innovation - and seek to create dance in the space between. Dance in Ireland traditionally happened at a crossroads - a reminder to respect the road that led me to a place of intersecting genres, while simultaneously remaining curious about the path that lies ahead.

- Darrah Carr

About Darrah Carr

Darrah Carr (Artistic Director & Choreographer) holds an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University. She is currently a doctoral candidate, pursuing a PhD in Dance through Texas Woman's University. Named one of the “Top 40 Under 40“ by The Irish Echo one of the “Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year“ by Irish America Magazine, and one of the “Most Influential Women of 2010“ by The Irish Voice, Carr grew up in Ohio where she and her three sisters enrolled in the Tim O'Hare School of Irish Dance as a means of celebrating their Irish heritage. Now based in New York City, Carr has been active for over fifteen years in both the Irish and modern dance communities as a choreographer, dancer, educator, and writer. Carr recently received the New York City Comptroller's Irish Heritage Award in recognition of her substantial contributions to the cultural life of New York's Irish community.

In addition to her work as the Artistic Director of Darrah Carr Dance, Carr has collaborated independently with a number of esteemed artists. She served as the assistant choreographer to Seán Curran for the TONY award winning Broadway musical “James Joyce's The Dead“ and has set original works on Trinity Irish Dance's Junior Company, the Nassau Dance Theatre, and the Mise Eire Irish Dancers. Carr choreographed the Hudson Stage Company's production of “Stones In His Pockets“ and the Lite Theater Company's production of “King Stag“ and has coached actors for performances at The Producer's Club.

She and her Irish step dance partner, Niall O'Leary, have performed their duet act in a variety of locations ranging from Disney World to the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. They are featured dancers in “Absolutely Irish!“ a PBS documentary directed by Academy Award winner Paul Wagner with a cast of the finest traditional Irish musicians led by Dr. Mick Moloney. Carr has performed with Banshee, an Irish Women's Arts Collective, featured in a BBC documentary.

She and her Irish step dance partner, Niall O'Leary, have performed their duet act in a variety of locations ranging from Disney World to the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. They are featured dancers in “Absolutely Irish!“ a PBS documentary directed by Academy Award winner Paul Wagner with a cast of the finest traditional Irish musicians led by Dr. Mick Moloney. Carr has performed with Banshee, an Irish Women's Arts Collective, featured in a BBC documentary.

She has had the privilege of performing with many renowned musicians including: Mick Moloney, Natalie MacMaster, Andy Cooney, and Arlo Guthrie & The Vanaver Caravan. Carr has performed on NBC's “The Today Show,“ and New York 1. She can also be seen tapping away in “The Guru,“ a feature film starring Heather Graham. Carr's own work is the subject of a New York University Master's Documentary entitled “Reel Steps“ and she choreographed the film “Right Foot/Left Foot.“

Carr teaches in both the Dance and Irish Studies programs at Hofstra University and has been a Guest Artist at Manhattanville College, Adelphi University, and Queensborough Community College. She frequently conducts Arts in Education programs through Young Audiences New York, Young Audiences New Jersey, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and Folk Feet. Carr has twice been chosen as an Artist in Residence for the Yard's educational programs in Chilmark, Massachusetts.

Carr is a respected dance scholar and has presented research papers at the Congress on Research in Dance, the World Dance Alliance, Dance Research Forum Ireland, the Popular Culture Association, and NYU's Percussive Dance Symposium. She has given guest lectures at Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, Sarah Lawrence College, Hunter College, NYU's Ireland House, Montclair State University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Texas Woman's University, St. John's University, Ramapo College, Ballet Tech, Union County Vocational and Technical School, Kingsborough Community College, and the Toledo Ballet.

Carr is a frequent contributor to Dance Magazine, Dance Studio Life, Dancer, and The Dance Insider. She has also contributed a chapter to “Close to the Floor: Irish Dance from the Boreen to Broadway“ published by Macater Press.