ABOUT US

 Proudly teaching Dance since 1989

The Goode School of Dance was established in 1989 by Rachel Goode and trains students in Classical Ballet and Modern Theatre Jazz from 3 years old. Classes are held in a friendly atmosphere encouraging good posture, confidence, musicality, creativity and a love of Dance.

 Meet our Team

Rachel Goode

Director  
A.R.A.D., R.T.S, B.R.S.dip

Rachel began dancing with Vonnie Goulding and then continued her vocational training with Cynthia O’Dunlaing. She furthered her training with Dublin City Ballet and danced in many of their productions. She danced Clara in Nutcracker and the doll in Coppelia.

Rachel at age 15 won an Irish Arts Council scholarship to train at the Ballet Rambert, London. She graduated with their diploma. She danced professionally in London before returning to Ireland to open her first school in Galway in 1989. When Mrs Goulding retired Rachel took over her school in Dun laoghaire.

Rachel is a fully qualified teacher of the Royal Academy of Dancing ( Ballet) and The Imperial society teachers of Dancing (Modern) and continues her learning through on going CPD courses each year.

Rachel is delighted to be celebrating 30 years of teaching and is so proud of all the
students that she has taught, many of them have continued their dance training abroad.

Emma Hayward

Artistic Director
MSc, BA Hons, ISTD CDE, AISTD Dip, RAD RTS, Pilates Institute Dip

Emma trained at Northern Ballet School, UK where she graduated from the Professional Dancer Course before performing, choreographing and teaching in the UK & Europe.
She is a fully qualified teacher in Ballet (RAD & ISTD), Modern Theatre Dance/ Jazz (ISTD) and Fitness Instruction (OCR, NTC & Pilates Institute). Emma holds an MSc in Dance Science & Education (Edinburgh University), a 1st class BA Hons in Dance Education (Durham University) and is currently undertaking a Higher Education lecturer qualification at Trinity College, Dublin. She has also completed numerous CPD courses including; Conditioning & Injury Prevention for dancers, Alexander Technique, Developmental Psychology & Child Protection.
In Greece, Emma ran her own school, taught at the American University and worked with Arts Authorities establishing dance departments and a regional youth company. In Ireland, Emma is a Dance & Academic tutor at Bray Institute of Further Education (BIFE) on the BTEC Higher National Diploma in Dance course and she is also Subject Specialist Lead Internal Verifier for the BTEC National Diploma course.
Emma has worked with Rachel since 2006 and is Artistic Director of the school.

Deirdre O’Riordan
Deirdre O’RiordanR.A.D. RTS, BA (Sci)
Deirdre trained with Patricia Joan McCarthy in Dublin and continued her training with the Metropolitan School of Dance where she gained her RAD teachers certificate with Distinction. Deirdre also gained a BA at Trinity College, Dublin. Deirdre is a fully qualified teacher of the Royal Academy of Dancing and has been working with Rachel since 1998.
Philippa Morgan
Philippa MorganBaBE, LRAD, ARAD, RTS
Philippa grew up in the Lake District where she began her training at a young age. She then moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dance, on the Ba (Hons) Ballet Education Program – on completion Philippa also received her Licentiate for the Royal Academy of Dance. Philippa has worked in Perth, Western Australia, where she taught Ballet and Contemporary in both private and vocational dance schools. During her time in Australia, Philippa was part of the RAD Regional Advisory Panel of WA where she took on various artistic roles. Philippa is also a qualified Pilates Instructor. Philippa started working with The Goode School of Dance in 2018
Rachel Tracey
Rachel Tracey
Rachel Started dancing at the age of 4 with The Goode School Of Dance. She was a member of the Irish National Youth Ballet and attended The College Of Dance then furthered her training at Laine Theatre Arts Graduating with a National Diploma in professional Dance Trinity College London. Most recently Rachel has taken her certificate in ballet teaching studies in R.A.D under the mentoring of Rachel Goode. She is also qualified as a fitness barre instructor.

Rachel has travelled the world performing with P&O cruises. She has also performed in The Gaiety Theatre, Cork Opera House, The Helix, Croke Park, The Aviva stadium, 3Arena and The Mansion House along with TV and Film featuring in Penny dreadful, Ripper street, Love Hate, Little Women and Mrs. Browns boys D’movie.

Rachel is Delighted to be teaching and sharing her knowledge from the performing world with the students at The Goode School Of Dance as that is where her journey began and she will forever be grateful for the training she received from the school

Eimear Byrne
Eimear Byrne
Eimear Byrne –(BA hons Dance, MA Contemporary Dance Performance) is a dance artist from Ireland and works professionally as a dancer, teacher and choreographer working for the past 11 years in the dance industry. She was chosen to dance the female role in the repertoire of ‘Coupled Reflections’ by the Artistic Directors of Dance Theatre of Ireland, Robert Connor and Loretta Yurick in 2016/17. This was part of the ‘Live Archive Project’ curated by Emma Meehan in which the company’s (DCDT) 30 years of work was celebrated, this toured nationally in Ireland. Her most recent choreographic work ‘Renewal’ was performed both nationally and internationally in 2017/18 in both Ireland and the UK. She has also worked with choreographer Mihaela Griveva (Bulgaria) researching and training in Gaga influenced techniques and exercises while undertaking choreographic research labs with other professional dancers. She is currently engaged with ‘Two Can Do’ by choreographer, Bianca Paige Smith (USA), performing the work across Ireland and the US. This year ‘Two Can Do’ had performances at Gibney, Broadway, NYC (January 2019) Green Space Queens NYC and Art House Productions in Jersey City (June 2019). She completed an Irish tour of the award winning duet- ‘Two Can Do’ where she performed at Nun’s Island Galway, D Light Studios Dublin, The Hunt Museum Limerick and St. Peter’s Cork, Cork (August 2019).
She is the Contemporary Dance Tutor and Dance Course Coordinator at Bray Institute of Further Education and was selected two years running to be part of the prestigious Pushkin Trust project founded by The Royal Duchess of Abercorn.
Niamh O Flannagain
Niamh O Flannagain (Guest Teacher)
Niamh began dancing in Dublin with The Dunbar School of Dance & The Goode School of Dance. Following this, she was accepted into Tring Park School for the Performing Arts where she completed her professional training, graduating with Distinction in Trinity London’s Diploma in Professional Dance.

While in the U.K. Niamh was a member of Encore Dance Company and The National Youth Ballet of Great Britain. She performed multiple U.K. tours with the companies and performed at Sadler’s Wells & Royal Albert Hall.

Niamh joined Ballet Ireland in 2018 and since then has toured Ireland performing shows such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, & Minus 16. In addition to being a company member of Ballet Ireland Niamh has danced with Chrysalis London, WhyNot Dance Company and Merlin Productions. Niamh has also danced for TV advertisements and music videos. Niamh is a fully certified Stott Pilates instructor.

Niamh teaches alongside performing & began working with The Goode School of Dance in 2018. She is also involved in their annual Summer School. Niamh is also a teacher for the Ballet Boost Associates Programme in the U.K. & Northern Ireland.

Performance

The School produces a biennial show which is performed in the Pavilion Theatre and also holds a summer school every year with the highlight being the finale show. Performances have also been in the Olympia Theatre in Co. Dublin, the Town Hall Theatre & Leisureland in Galway and the Mermaid Arts Centre in Co. Wicklow.

View our gallery here.

Examinations

The school encourages students to take grade and vocational exams both in Ballet and Modern Jazz. Exams give the student a great sense of achievement. Examinations are organised and administered by theRoyal Academy of Dance (RAD) Examinations Board. The RAD offers an internationally recognised portfolio of examinations and assessments. Read more about exams here.

Achievements

The school has won Best Dance Group, Junior Cup and has come first in the duet category at the Irish National Dance Awards. Dancers have successfully auditioned to the Irish Youth Ballet Company and Dublin Youth Dance Company. Many students have successfully auditioned to continue their dance training in full-time schools in London and Dublin.

TESTIMONALS

 Parent Reviews

Would highly recommend the Goode School of Dance- excellent, experienced teachers, a knockout Ballet Show every 2nd year and expert tuition towards RAD exams. My 3 daughters wouldn’t miss a class!

Louise

I love seeing my daughter flourish in such a fun environment at the Goode School of Dance. The show was a massive highlight over her year which was spectacular! A very special experience for all involved.

Lucy