Rebecca McGowan

Rebecca McGowan is a dancer and teacher of traditional Irish dance in the Boston area. Drawing on the musicality of older-style step dance and sean-nós dance, the grace of soft shoe, and the joy of social dance traditions, Rebecca is interested in exploring step dance as music and making Irish dance lyrical and approachable.

She often performs with duet partner Jackie O’Riley; together they released visual album From the Floor (2019) and audio album Eight Feet Tall (2023). They were recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as Choreography Fellows (2022). Other projects have included directing contemporary step dance company Rising Step; reconstructing dances from the internet archive and exploring stylistic change over time; and developing Sound Shadows (2019) with Veronica Barron and Julia Friend, weaving shadow puppetry, dance, and song.

Rebecca has been on the faculty of the Catskills Irish Arts Week, Acadia Trad Festival, Pinewoods, O’Flaherty Retreat, CCE MAD Week, and others. As a child Rebecca began dancing with Clare Sullivan, and later with Kieran Jordan and the Culkin School, and she continues studying with master teachers and dancing socially at local sessions. She teaches non-competitive step dancing for adults in the Boston area.