COLLABORATORS
Amy Cummins
Amy is 24 years old and has been dancing her whole life. She has just returned to Dublin, having been invited to train at Broadway Dance Center in New York City, completing their Professional Semester program. She most recently choreographed ‘Finding Nemo’ (Irish Premiere, 2025), ‘Singin In The Rain’ at the Helix (2024) & Dublin Panto (2024, 2025, 2026).
Amy performed as a professional contemporary dancer at The Laois Dance Platform 2024 and East Coast Dance Arts Festival 2025 (Arts Council Ireland), alongside performing as Charley in ‘how do you remember me?’, at the Smock Alley Theatre’s Scene and Heard Festival 2024 .
Amy also won best overall contemporary performer at Irish Dance Intervarsities in the Cork Opera House. She is a part of the faculty at Taaffe Training College & Fly Dance Studio Dublin, and also had the amazing opportunity to teach the cast of Riverdance, at the Gaiety Theatre in 2025. Amy is so thrilled to be teaching at this event!
Sean Taaffe
Sean Taaffe is a highly respected choreographer, educator, and creative director, widely recognised as one of the leading choreographic voices across the UK and Ireland. He is the Director of Taaffe Training, where he is committed to developing versatile, technically strong, and industry-ready performers through high-level professional training.
Sean currently runs four associate training programmes across the UK and Ireland, providing dancers with access to elite-level training while maintaining strong links to industry expectations. He is also the founder and director of Ireland’s newest and most exciting full-time professional training college, based in Dublin, which has quickly established itself as a hub for emerging talent.
Alongside his work at Taaffe Training, Sean is a Jazz Tutor at Shockout Studios, working closely with dancers in a professional training environment. He also hosts top international choreographers through summer and winter intensive programmes, offering dancers invaluable exposure to a wide range of styles, techniques, and professional insight throughout the year.
Sean has worked professionally for many years within the commercial dance industry, performing and choreographing across cruise lines, stage productions, and corporate events. Known for his approachable manner and strong eye for detail, he remains deeply passionate about mentoring the next generation of performers.
Zara Paolozzi
Zara started her dancing journey at age 3 when she took her first ballet class, before joining The Billie Barry Stage School where she trained in musical theatre, jazz and tap for the next 18 years. Alongside this, Zara continued her ballet training at Louise D'Arcy School of Ballet throughout the years before recently spending a summer in New York training at Steps on Broadway. Zara is currently furthering her professional dance training as a company member of Fly Dance Studio. Zara made her professional theatre debut in Beauty & The Beast (The Gaiety Theatre) as 'Swing'. Recent credits include Ensemble & Cover Cinderella (Rathwood), featured dancer 'Going Dutch' (Fox TV), performer 'ICE Awards' (National Convention Centre, Dublin). Furthering her love for music and movement, Zara has recently qualified as a rhythm ride instructor at Saint Studios, where she can express her creativity in a whole new realm. She also recently obtained a degree in Business, Economics & Social Studies (BESS) in Trinity College Dublin. Zara is so excited and honoured to share her journey, wisdom and love for dance at Dance Well Dance Strong, and hopes to inspire the next generation of performers to pursue their passions with resilience, curiosity, and confidence.
Diarmaid O'Meara
Diarmaid began his ballet training at the College of Dance, Dublin and subsequently trained at Central School of Ballet, London supported by a Bank of Ireland Millenium Trust scholarship. During his performance career Diarmaid danced with Ballet Ireland from 2010 - 2015 and also worked with English National Ballet, Ballet Theatre UK and the Royal Opera. Diarmaid has been on the teaching faculty at Trinity Laban Centre for Advanced Training, Sylvia Young Theatre school and Bird College and is currently on the teaching faculty of Zona Dance in Donegal. Diarmaid holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Genetics, a B.A. (Hons) in Professional Dance and Performance, a Masters in Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership. Diarmaid has been a Creative Associate for the Creative Schools initiative since 2018 and serves as a trustee of the Irish National Youth Ballet. In Summer 2022 Diarmaid attended the Cross Threads programme at the Paris Opera Ballet school as part of an Arts Council Agility Award. Since 2025, Diarmaid has been the Dance Liaison Person for the Irish Board of Dance Performance.
Ger Elebert
Ger Elebert is a psychotherapist and counsellor working in Dublin. She holds an honours degree in psychotherapy and counselling and is fully accredited with the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Ger runs a full time private practice at 30 Mountjoy Square in Dublin where she offers a safe, confidential and non-judgmental therapy service to adults. Ger also holds a degree in cell biology and molecular genetics and a masters degree in biomedical science - a field she worked in for 16 years and applies her knowledge, experience and professionalism from her previous career to her therapeutic work. Ger sees psychotherapy as a means of bridging the gap between physical and mental health and wrote her honours thesis on this topic with a focus on the connection between stress and physical disease.
Ger studied Ballet and dance from age 6 taking all grade exams in ballet. She taught ballet for a couple of years before becoming a psychotherapist. The psychological impact of dance on mental health and well being is of huge interest to Ger professionally and personally.
Shannon Byrne
Hi I'm Shannon the founder and owner of Rebound Injury Clinic and Performance Centre and I also work alongside Taffe Training college to assess their dancers prior to commencing their TY and Full Time programmes. My main role when working with the dancers at Taaffe is to highlight anything that may be a potential risk for a future injury and fix it before it becomes a problem!
I have treated a range of clients from athletes to desk workers, for a wide range of injuries. Over the last 5 and a half years I have worked with elite runners, professional boxers and MMA fighters and many high level athletes. However, my true passion has always been helping dancers fulfill their full potential through specific training to build strength, stability and flexibility. Injury prevention is a key focus in my work, like any sport there are risks with certain types of movements and injuries that we as Sports Therapists see repetitively in certain sports. Working with such a large range of dancers across different genres I have seen quite an extensive range of injuries but there have been some that are incredibly common. I have used this data to help the dancers I work with avoid the common injuries in their genre because let's face it - the prevention is always better than the cure! It means less time out of practice and rehearsal and more time on the stage or competition floor which is what we all want.
I have a BSc in Sports Therapy which is a fancy way of saying I spent 4 years learning everything I could about the human body and then I spent another 4 years teaching and lecturing students through the same programme. Now I prefer to share my knowledge directly to the sources who need it to help with their performance - like the dancers and parents I'm excited to meet with and chat to at Dance Well Dance Strong.
Samantha Lyons Artistic Director, The College of Dance, Dublin
Samantha Lyons is an accomplished dance educator, choreographer, and arts leader with more than twenty-five years of experience in professional dance training and performance. As Principal and Artistic Director of The College of Dance, Ireland’s leading foundation-level conservatoire for dance, Samantha has shaped the landscape of contemporary dance education in Ireland. Under her leadership, 100% of the College’s auditioning students over the past decade have secured places at internationally renowned institutions, with over two-thirds receiving full or partial scholarships.
A graduate of London Contemporary Dance School, and a Level 6 ISTD Dance Pedagogy holder, Samantha combines strong pedagogical knowledge with a strategic approach to leadership. Her extensive experience as a performer, choreographer, and educator gives her a unique perspective on the training needs of young artists and the evolving demands of the professional dance world.
Samantha’s performance and choreographic career includes collaborations with acclaimed choreographers and companies such as Stephen Koplowitz, Cois Céim Dance Theatre, Dublin Youth Dance Company, and RTÉ Television. Her original choreography has been presented in both the UK and Ireland, with her work Struggle receiving critical acclaim in Dance Europe Magazine. She has also choreographed for large-scale productions including the televised 2014 Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade and music videos such as All Tvvins’ Thank You.
Her career reflects a lifelong commitment to advancing contemporary dance education and performance in Ireland and beyond.