Category: News

On Friday, November 29, 2019, Foley Academy participated in the Reston Holiday Parade in Reston Town Center. This was our 2nd time participating in the Reston Holiday Parade, and the dancers did a wonderful job performing at the grandstands along the parade route! The weather was great, so there were many spectators lining the streets to watch the parade. We had a great group of dancers representing Foley Academy, all of whom attended extra practices to learn our parade choreography. In addition, our wonderful parents helped carry the Foley banners and they marched with us as we danced down Reston Town Center’s Market Street. For pictures, check out our Picture Gallery.

We had many exciting performances this Fall! On Saturday, September 21, Foley Academy performed at the SVES 40^th Birthday Party. The weather was great, and the dancers were able to enjoy the food trucks and games after their performance! The following weekend, September 28, we performed at the 2019 Reston Multicultural Festival. This is our 2^nd time performing at this event, and the dancers love being able to perform on a raised stage in front of a large crowd. For this year’s performance, Sineadh Fada played traditional Irish music for the dancers. It was a great combination! On Saturday, October 19, 2019, we participated in the Herndon Homecoming Parade. This was our first time dancing in this parade, and we had an amazing time! The theme for the parade was “Into the Future” and not only did our dancers dress for the theme with futuristic sunglasses, but also the Foley mobile was transformed into a spaceship! We are looking forward to doing this parade again next year! For pictures, check out our Picture Gallery

We performed at two wonderful events this summer. The first was at Chantilly Library in July. We performed for a lovely audience and then provided a 20 minute lesson to the kids in the audience. The second performance was at the 2019 Alexandria Irish Festival at the end of August. This is one of our favorite events because of the amazing organizers, and there is always a lively audience and a large stage for the dancers. We will certainly continue to perform at this festival for many years to come! Visit our picture gallery to see snapshots of our dancers from the events.

We had several fun performances around Reston this Spring, which included the Reston Children’s Center Carnival, the 2019 Taste of Reston, and the Reston Station Summerbration with Sineadh Fada. We lucked out with beautiful weather for all of these outdoor shows! Check out our Picture Gallery to see how much fun our dancers had! We hope to be able to return to perform at these events next year!

On April 22, 2019, all classes officially moved to the Foley Academy Dance Studio! During the Spring Break, Ms. Shannon and Mr. Jacob finalized the studio renovations so that we could make our move before our dancers returned to classes from the break. Our studio is located in Reston at: 11260 Roger Bacon Dr., Suite 102. This is a convenient location in the center of Reston. We are now near the Dulles Toll Road, Wiehle Metro Station, many restaurants, and within close proximity to shopping centers and Reston Town Center.

Our new studio features a sprung 30×40 dance floor, Harlequin dance mats, four storage closets, a bench for dancers and parents, water bottle holders, and a picture wall! We hope everyone enjoys our new space!

We look forward to our dancers filling our new studio with positive and creative energy! Thank you to all of our dancers and parents, and Mr. Jacob, for making this possible!

On Saturday, April 6, 2019 we performed at Reston Founder’s Day. This event is held annually at Lake Anne Plaza to celebrate the anniversary of Reston’s founding with the Reston Historic Trust and Museum. Our dancers performed on the plaza in front of the beautiful Lake Anne. We showcased our Ceili routines, as well as a lively Treble Reel to finish out our show. After our performance, our dancers enjoyed cotton candy and the remaining performances.

Pictures from our show can be viewed in our gallery: Picture Gallery

Our St. Paddy’s Day celebrations started with the Old Town Alexandria St. Patrick’s Day Parade (March 2). The weather turned out to be perfect parade weather, so there were many spectators lining the streets to watch the parade. We had a great group of dancers participate in the parade, all of whom attended extra practices to learn our parade choreography. In addition, our wonderful parents helped carry the Foley banners and they marched with us as we danced down King Street.

The Alexandria Central Rotary Club Sips for Saints event (March 8) was our next show. This fundraiser was located in the beautiful Atrium Building in Old Town Alexandria. We had a great group of dancers brave the snowy/rainy weather that evening to represent our dance academy. After our show, the organizers invited us to stay for the remainder of the event and enjoy samples from the food vendors. It was a lovely evening!

Our St. Paddy’s weekend was a whirlwind of shows that began on March 15 at Paddy Barry’s Irish Pub. This is one of our favorite performance venues! The casual atmosphere and upbeat crowd provide great energy for our dancers to really put on a fantastic show. We even had a fun Treble Reel number that really got the crowd cheering!

We were back out to dance again early on March 16 at Reston’s Regional Library. Our dancers performed a variety of soft shoe routines, both solos steps and group choreography, and then we gave a 30 minute Irish Dance lesson to the audience members. We had an amazing turnout of people who came to watch our show and participate in our lesson – we actually ran out of seating! This was also a wonderful event for our first time performers to build their confidence!

After we finished our show at the library, we headed over to Kalypso’s Sports Tavern at Lake Anne Plaza. We did two shows here – one inside and then one outside. The weather was wonderful, so it made for a great outdoor performance. Our dancers also enjoyed getting pictures with the Lake Anne Leprechaun!

We wrapped up our Saturday lineup with a show at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Chantilly. We were the pre-dinner entertainment for their Irish Night. The dancers were able to perform on a raised stage, which was great for the audience to see the intricate footwork in both soft and hard shoe. After the show, many of our dancers and their families enjoyed the Irish themed dinner at the church.

For St. Patrick’s Day, we had three shows scheduled. The first was at Fair Oaks Sunrise Assisted Living. This was another great performance opportunity for our first-time performers. The event organizer said that we were “the highlight of the weekend! The residents were talking about the dancers all weekend!” It was wonderful to be able to entertain the residents and bring them joy with our dancing.

Our second show for the day was at the In Step School of Dance. They had an afternoon tea fundraiser to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Our dancers put on a show before tea was served. The attendees enjoyed watching our dancers showcase their skills and were impressed by their dedication and talent. We received many compliments on our routines and the dancers’ ability to memorize the different choreography!

Our final St. Paddy’s show to conclude a fun weekend of dancing was back at Kalypso’s Sports Tavern. This time, we performed our entire show outside. The weather was wonderful and there were many people enjoying the outdoor seating for dinner. We did a variety of 3 and 4 hand routines, as well as a crowd-pleasing Treble Reel in our hardshoes. This was the perfect spot to end our celebrations – back in Reston with the dancers having fun performing for the crowds in front of the beautiful Lake Anne.

Pictures from all of our shows can be viewed in our gallery: Picture Gallery