{"id":32554,"date":"2026-04-09T12:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=32554"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:05:04","slug":"chelsea-hoy-named-co-artistic-director-of-trinity-irish-dance-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=32554","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea Hoy Named Co-Artistic Director Of Trinity Irish Dance Company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Chelsea Hoy and Mark Howard<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This week I\u2019m bringing news of one of the most sensational Irish dancing companies in North America, don\u2019t miss them when they come your way. Yes, you heard it here and that is the Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) whose Founding Artistic Director\u00a0Mark Howard\u00a0stepped onto the stage of The Auditorium in Chicago during Act Two of the company\u2019s 35th Anniversary home season celebration and revealed the ultimate surprise in front of thousands.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea Hoy, TIDC\u2019s Associate Artistic Director for the past eight years, dancer, and co-choreographer, was reintroduced to an ecstatic audience as the company\u2019s\u00a0Co-Artistic Director. At age 30, she has become one of the youngest artistic directors in the performing arts industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard welcomed Hoy to the stage following a short video that teased a full-length public television documentary that is in the works, celebrating the company\u2019s trailblazing legacy and major milestones of its 35th year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough I\u2019ll be doing this for the next couple of decades and my best work is certainly ahead of me, it\u2019s time to share the artistic director role with this level of talent. Chicago – you have no idea what you\u2019re in store for in the coming years,\u201d\u00a0shared Howard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Auditorium, for the first time, the screen behind them revealed an updated TIDC logo, with the byline evolving to read \u201cArtistic Directors Mark Howard & Chelsea Hoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The audience and backstage crew and dancers erupted into cheers as the stunned Hoy humbly accepted the prolonged applause before taking her place to begin a particularly powerful performance of the piece \u2018Push\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough Chelsea often speaks in soft tones, there is a great power to her. Chelsea forces the room to lean in, ever closer in order to hear her wise beyond her years words. So, we lean in and have all been richly rewarded for it.\u00a0\u00a0She is a game changer for our company and The Irish Dance vibrant and expanding arts scene,\u201d\u00a0shares Howard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says Hoy,\u00a0\u201cThe legacy of Trinity Irish Dance Company \u2013 as a trailblazing force for our cultural form and as an authentic community for artists to evolve \u2013 is deeply important to me. Mark created his own movement genre, a bold vision that altered the landscape of Irish dance.\u00a0\u00a0He has an uncanny ability to create what\u2019s new, what\u2019s next, what\u2019s fresh and I\u2019m thrilled to realize new dreams together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoy has found her power through Irish dance since age six. She first became enraptured with TIDC at just nine years old when her aunt brought her and her sister to see the company in Beaver Creek, CO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After training and teaching at the Wick School of Irish Dance in Denver, Hoy moved to Chicago in 2013 to attend Loyola University Chicago and began creating and performing with TIDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoy showed immediate leadership from her first tour of Japan, connecting with each artist. Hoy and Howard have been partnering to revitalize the organization and enchant audiences for the past 12 years, expanding on TIDC\u2019s international reputation as the most innovative and forward-thinking Irish dance company in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dynamic choreographer, performer, activist and organizational leader, she is proud to join Howard at the forefront of evolving this cultural form with integrity and innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primarily a female company since inception, this equal billing of leadership is representative of TIDC\u2019s longstanding celebration of women who bring the thunder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her relative youth, Hoy has helped shape and co-choreograph significant TIDC works – celebrated as both dancer and choreographer at prestigious institutions from Chicago to Tokyo, including Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival and The Joyce Theater NYC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days after her announcement, Hoy traveled to New York to choreograph and perform a work at the 2026 Uptown Rhythm Dance Festival (part of the \u2018Women Move the World\u2019 series) at the 92nd Street Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trinity Irish Dance Company continues to gain acclaim and momentum as they advance Howard\u2019s distinctive movement genre of \u201cProgressive Irish Dance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their 35th Anniversary Season alone brought Irish dance to places it\u2019s never been before \u2013 from the Museum of Contemporary Art to Jacob\u2019s Pillow, making TIDC the first full program of Irish dance to be presented on the Ted Shawn Theatre stage there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIDC allows Irish dance to grow and transform for contemporary audiences while maintaining a strong connection to its ancestral roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Celebrated by critics and audiences around the world as an international treasure, TIDC continues to forge new traditions as it expands the possibilities of this cherished and historic art form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critical Dance writer Jerry Hochman, reviewing the recent Joyce Theater performance wrote\u202f\u201cIf you haven\u2019t finalized your plans for the next few days, or even if you have, stop what you\u2019re doing and beg, borrow or steal a ticket. They\u2019re that good, and that much fun to watch\u2026these dancers perform with a level of youthful and engaging enthusiasm that\u2019s both contagious and intoxicating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Kennedy, reviewing the same performance for Broadway World praised the company for presenting\u00a0\u201ca stunning program of groundbreaking dance\u201d featuring \u201cawe-inspiring talent\u201d\u00a0and recognizing the \u201cexquisite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1990, TIDC is the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, Howard\u2019s innovative movement genre that \u201cushered in a new era for Irish step dance, one which led directly to commercialized stadium tours like \u2018Riverdance.\u2019\u201d (Chicago Tribune).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since inception, TIDC has always been an art-driven company that uniquely celebrates Irish dance through a performing arts lens. They seek higher ground by allowing the form to morph and evolve with integrity while keeping a clear lineage to the ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considered an international treasure by critics and enthusiasts worldwide, TIDC continues to carve new traditions as they push the boundaries of a traditional and beloved art form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIDC\u2019s 35-year history is one of unlikely successes and unexpected evolutions: the rise of an ambitious young Irish dance coach to an internationally celebrated choreographer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard founded the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance at the age of 20, coaching and choreographing the first world championship gold medal winning team for the United States in 1987 and ultimately bringing home America\u2019s first gold in all team categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trinity\u2019s competitive dominance garnered national and international media exposure, including regular appearances on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Their meteoric rise in the 80s led to the creation of a groundbreaking repertoire and the ultimate founding of the non-profit TIDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has been celebrated on many of the most prestigious stages around the world, from New York City\u2019s Joyce Theater to Chicago\u2019s Auditorium and Tokyo\u2019s Orchard Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIDC is touted as the most toured foreign dance company of Japan. Their ever-evolving diverse repertoire continues to redefine what is possible for Irish dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrated as a company \u201cwhere women make the form their own\u201d by The Boston Globe, TIDC sends a clear message of female empowerment through a blend of percussive power and aerial grace that consistently presents males and females on equal footing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe women of TIDC don\u2019t only get to make noise,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Co-Artistic Director Chelsea Hoy.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re expected to make noise.\u201d versatility \u201cof the dancers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on TIDC visit trinityirishdancecompany.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Share this:<\/h3>