Owner/Director

Maureen Berry, B.F.A., T.C.R.G., the Owner/Director of the Teelin School of Irish Dance and Director of the Teelin Irish Dance Company, grew up in the highly competitive world of Irish Step Dancing with her sisters, Eileen & Kathleen.  The New Jersey native became a champion Irish dancer at a young age and went on to compete in Ireland for the World Championships.  Maureen has held a T.C.R.G.  teaching certificate since 2000 from An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha (the Irish Dancing Commission).  She learned button accordion from her father, Michael Berry, and also competed in the All Ireland Championships for Irish music.  (Maureen is currently on a mission to make the accordion a "cool" instrument.)  At the age of 16, Maureen began studying Ballet, Jazz, Tap & Modern dance at a Performing Arts High School, and then went on to receive her B.F.A. degree in Dance Performance from Towson University.  Maureen joined Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble as a full time performer in June 1997 and toured all over the world, including Great Britain, Finland, Africa, Canada, & most States in the USA.  Because she likes to drive her bright yellow truck as much as possible, her current teaching and performing schedule still keeps her traveling quite a bit.

Business Manager

Kathleen Berry Young was born and raised in New Jersey with her two sisters. She moved to Maryland in 1998 and currently lives in Parkville with her husband, Will, and their young son, Dylan, and their two pugs.  Kathleen studied Irish dancing with the Peter Smith School of Irish Dance in New Jersey for 10 years and has been teaching Irish Dance since moving to Maryland.  Kathleen is also the Business Manager for the Teelin School of Irish Dance.  Additionally, she is the Director of the Essex Senior Center Director, and has been a senior administrator with Baltimore County Government since 1998.  Kathleen is an honors graduate from Stockton State College, where she received a B.S. in Public Health and a Certificate in Gerontology.  Interesting assignments include having served as the State Director for the "Ms. Maryland Senior America Pageant" in 2003 and 2004.

Assistant Instructors

Eileen Berry Narvell was born and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey along with her two younger sisters, Maureen & Kathleen.  She began Irish Dance lessons in 1982 with the well-known Peter Smith School of Irish Dance.  Eileen competed in many local and national competitions. She also qualified many times for the World Championships.  For many years Eileen and her two sisters danced at Radio City Music Hall (along with many of the current Riverdance stars), the Garden State Arts Center, and volunteered performances at numerous nursing homes and senior centers.  Eileen moved to Maryland in 2002 when she began teaching for the Teelin School. Eileen also taught Irish Step Dancing for the Havre De Grace Parks and Recreation Program.  Eileen currently works full time at Endoscopic Microsurgery in Bel Air. She resides in Havre De Grace along with her husband, Lorin, and their dog, Bailey.  Eileen enjoys dancing to bad 80's music when she is out with her sisters.

Molly Nilan has been an assistant/substitute teacher for the Teelin School of Irish Dance since 2004.  Molly danced for the Butler Academy of Irish Dance in upstate New York for thirteen years, and one year for Inis Ealga in Dublin, Ireland.  The excitement of traveling to feiseanna was a large part of Molly’s life growing up, and she competed throughout the US and Canada.  She placed in several Regional, National, All-Ireland, and World Championships in solo, ceili, and figure dances, including a second place World Championship medal for Ceili Dancing.  Before joining Teelin, Molly was an assistant teacher at the Butler Academy for twelve years and at the O’Neil-James School of Irish Dance for one year.  Molly is a VPN Integration Consultant with AT&T, and she and her husband, John, have four young children.

Katharine Mackey was born in New Jersey and moved to Ellicott City at the age of seven.  A few months after the move, she saw friends Irish dance in a school talent show and decided to sign up for classes.  She has danced with Maureen for ten years and is an original member of the Teelin Irish Dance Company.  Outside of Teelin, Katharine dances in her high school's Senior Dance Company and takes other types of dance classes.  She is currently a senior at Wilde Lake high school, and plans to attend college next year, majoring in elementary education. She is the oldest of four siblings, and enjoys dancing with her sister and mother, who are also students at Teelin.

Other Dance Instructors

Lisa Calderwood grew up in Sandy, Utah, where clogging is a very popular form of dance.  Clogging has been (and remains) a major part of her life!  She is a multi-gold medalist from the 2003 AAU Junior Olympics in clogging, has toured several parts of the world with the BYU-Idaho Folk Dance Team, and is a member of the All American Clogging Team. Lisa owned her own clogging studio in Utah before moving to Maryland in 2004 so that her husband could pursue his education at the University of Maryland Dental School.  Lisa and her husband are also proud parents of a handsome baby boy who was born in the fall of 2005!

Kate Newhouse is a dance artist who has a passion for teaching and studying all genres of dance. Dancing now for over 20 years, Kate holds a B.A. in dance from DeSales University in Center Valley, PA, where she studied under the direction of Vincent Brosseau.  Kate grew up in Baltimore County, MD, and first gained her dance foundation at Kinetics Dance Theater and then Ballet Royale Academy (Institute of Maryland), where she later served as a student teacher/assistant choreographer.  During her high school years, Kate continued to study under the direction of Donna Harrington-Piedel and was accepted into the arts magnet school, Carver Center for the Arts and Technology, where she studied ballet, modern, and dance academia under Amanda Thom-Woodson, Elizabeth Ahearn, Ken Skrzesz and Jayme Klinger Host, all faculty of Goucher College.  Kate choreographed modern and contemporary ballet works for the student company, Inertia.  She also performed with Inertia’s parent professional resident company, Surge.  During Kate’s senior year, guest modern choreographer Amy Marshall conducted a two week intensive workshop, culminating in an original dance, Askew in which Kate was a featured dancer.  All these experiences solidified her love of dancing, teaching and choreographing.  Kate now teaches in the Baltimore/Washington area to give back what was generously given to her by inspiring others with a love for the art of dance.