Susan L. Connors

The Ballyclare Irish Dancers

Welcome and I hope you enjoy the website. I am the Director of the Ballyclare Irish Dancers of Binghamton, an adult group of Irish Dancers who perform throughout the area at nursing homes, church functions, community parades, etc. The group is made up of ladies from the Broome County area who wish to carry on their Irish heritage by performing at community events and festivals throughout the year.

The group performs a lot of traditional dances - Glencar Reel, Four-Hand Jig, Fairy Reel, Walls of Limerick, Siege of Carrick, Siege of Ennis, Haymakers Jig, Stack of Barley, Gay Gordons, etc, and we choreograph our own dances, such as the Connors Reel, Roan Inish Reel, Dance of the Ladies, Clare Jig, Hyatt Reel, Cooney Reel (named after Rita's grandfather), Slip Jig, the Travelers Reel and the Dublin Reel (choreographed in Dublin, of course). So if you get the chance, come out and see our group perform some time!

As part of my dance instruction, I teach ceili dances at the AOH Hall on Monday evenings in January. This is in preparation for the Hibernian Parade Committee's Dinner Dance held each February. In May 2005, I taught at P.J. O'hare's Restaurant in Susquehanna, PA. In July 2005 in East Durham, my friends from Connecticut, Joe and Maureen, exchanged wedding vows. At their wedding reception, they asked me to perform a dance, I chose my favorite, the Slip Jig. I met them a few years back in East Durham at the Irish Festival and we bonded immediately and have a wonderful friendship. I’ll be teaching a few dances at a family reunion in July, and at Andy’s Golf Weekend at Gavin’s. I instructed again this year at the Irish Weekend at the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, NY and have been invited back to instruct at the fall weekend. I’ve also assisted dancer Neil Reagan on the Cruise of Irish Stars, and now Andy Cooney has me instructing Irish Dance Workshops on his Cruise of Irish Stars, I'll be back instructing on the cruise in 2008, I hope to see you there! Some of the music I use can be found on Brendan O’Sullivan’s CD, “Big Bad Box” or Matthew Fisher’s CD, “Reed between the lines”, but most you will find on Paddy Noonan’s “New Irish Dance Party”.

You can call me for information/bookings at (607) 727-2262 and if you get the machine with Irish music playing, you'll know you've got the right number, so leave me a message! If you prefer, you can send me an e-mail.

In my spare time, I am Irish/American Entertainer Andy Cooney's assistant. In addition to being a liaison to the promoters and providing promotional material, helping with his newsletter and updating his mailing list of over 30,000, traveling with the band and selling the merchandise, I now manage six websites for Andy, please check them out - Andy's Official Website, Official Fan Club Site, Cruise of Irish Stars as well as a Yahoo Users Group, MySpace and Facebook websites. Through all of this work, I have met some wonderful entertainers and fans who have become some of my best friends, so thank you Andy. If you are interested in going on Andy’s Cruise of Irish Stars 2010, click here, we sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida January 30-February 6 to the Eastern Caribbean aboard the Costa Atlantica. I will be selling merchandise for all the bands and giving dance instructions, hope to see you on board…

Being a part of the Irish Community is something I enjoy. I was co-host of the Irish Radio Show with Stu Fralick which was heard in the Binghamton area on 1360-WYOS on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00. As Past President of the County Board and Division 2 of the Broome County Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, I do some traveling and attending meetings and conventions where I get to meet Hibernians from all over New York State and the United States. I was honored at the Hibernian Parade Committee's Dinner Dance in 2005 with the Community Service Award. Can you guess what band played at the dance and who the chair of the dinner dance committee was? Hey, I've got to keep my boss in business, don't I? Seriously, as a member of the Hibernian Parade Committee, it was my pleasure in working hard to bring one of the largest St. Patrick's Day Parades in upstate New York. For 5 years, I had the pleasure of bringing to the area such stars as Andy Cooney and His Band, Dermot O'Brien, Deirdre Reilly, Pat Marnane, Aideen O'Donnell, Noel V. Ginnity, Emer Hartnett, Seamus Brett, George Casey, Odette Woods and Irish Dancers for an Irish Christmas Concert. Over the past few years, I had the opportunity to travel/work for some of these stars in Andy Cooney's Classic Irish Christmas tour and his Forever Irish tour.

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Updated April 21, 2009