For more than 25 years, Alicia Guinn has danced, taught, performed, and consulted with festivals and events throughout North America, including Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. She also taught weekly sean-nós dance classes in Seattle for a decade, and was a founding board member of Sean-nós Northwest in 2009. She served as Sean-nós Northwest’s Dance Director for a decade, working with world-class dancers and musicians to shape the festival’s staff, concert, dance program, curriculum, and teaching approach.

Alicia’s journey in Irish dance started in 1997 when she rounded up a group of international exchange students to visit a local set dancing class in Portrush, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was the beginning of a lifelong exploration of Irish dance, community, and the meaning of tradition.

After that first set dancing class, Alicia spent a year traveling throughout Ireland studying set dancing at classes, workshops, céilís, and festivals. While living at home in the U.S, she has often traveled in Ireland and the U.S. to study set dancing with teachers like Pat Murphy, Tony Ryan, Mick Mulkerrin, and Séamus Ó Méalóid. With extensive experience set dancing in Galway and Clare, Alicia has a particular love for “battering” and steps for set dancing.

While living in Galway City in 2001, Alicia had the opportunity to start studying sean-nós dancing. She attended Pádraic Ó hOibicín’s classes in An Spidéal as well as weekly classes in the Crane Bar, Galway featuring many dancers and teachers from Connemara. In the past decade, the Devane family and Seosamh Ó Neachtain have been particularly influential to her style and approach to dancing and teaching. With steps learned directly from important dancers in Ireland, Alicia’s teaching style reaches beyond teaching steps to the cultural background and context of our dance traditions.

Alicia’s old-style step dancing repertoire includes steps learned from Patrick O’Dea, Jackie O’Riley, Annette Collins, and Kevin Doyle. Alicia’s knowledge of céilí dancing and two-hand dances comes from dancing at céilís, weddings, and house parties.

With decades of professional experience in Early Childhood Education, Alicia brings her knowledge of play-based and experiential learning to her dance classes. She relies on these tools to create new, innovative approaches for teaching traditional Irish dance. Alicia promotes lifelong learning, guiding students in exploring traditional dance to expand personal growth. She creates learning communities that empower students to take risks, build confidence, and develop creativity.