top of page

When the Music Starts, I'll Know

A collection of 13 conversations with women who are lifelong dancers and musicians

We are honored to share this collection of conversations with artists whose work and artistic commitment we’ve long admired. When we began this project, we wanted to know about the paths dancers forge to sustain a lifelong practice. How do artists who are community builders also nurture their creative work? What does it mean to rely on your body as your mode of expression? How is identity tied to artistic practice over the course of a lifetime?

​

In the last year and a half, we spoke with 13 women who are lifelong dancers and musicians. These interviews, at times funny, poignant, and thoughtful, are full of the sustaining power of a creative calling. It was a real pleasure to simply spend time in conversation. We found ourselves drawn to the stories and anecdotes that underscored how dance is intrinsically woven into identity and belonging. Between the lines, we heard echoes of quiet moments of sacrifice, and the gift of finding sanctuary. There is a geography of dance in each person’s life and a sense that movement and music are essential in their experiences.

​

Like many creative projects, this one has been brewing in small ways for a long time. Through informal conversations over the years with other artists, we’ve seen so many ways that people build a path for their creative work. We want to thank everyone who has so generously shared their thoughts and stories with us over time, and especially all of the many, many people who build, sustain, and take part in the communities that teach and sustain us.

​

We are thrilled to share the recordings of these conversations, and encourage you to take your time to hear each person telling their stories in their own voice. Alongside each audio recording are photos shared by each artist.

 

This work was supported by a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.

​

Rebecca & Jackie

April, 2026

Interviews

Maureen 0 title image_edited.jpg
Maureen Doyle

Brought up in Irish culture, music, and dance from a young age through her mother, Margaret, and the Irish-American community, Maureen Doyle carries with her the tradition of old-style step dancing into the present. She frequently performs with her brother Kevin Doyle, a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. A lifelong Rhode Islander, we sat down at her home in Barrington to talk about her family’s Irish identity and her surprise at seeing her dancing career enter a new chapter in her 60s after Kevin received the award.

Aubrey 4 - Summer 1987.jpg
Aubrey Atwater Donnelly

Dancer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist Aubrey Atwater Donnelly is known for her performances as part of the nationally-touring American folk music duo Atwater~Donnelly. Aubrey began dancing in her late 20s, discovering flatfooting almost by accident, and found that dance readily became part of her creative practice. One of Aubrey’s most enduring inspirations was Jean Ritchie, whose artistry and integrity continue to inform her relationship to tradition and community. In our conversation at her home in Warren, RI, she reflected on the arc of a long and multifaceted creative life.

Adrienne Hawkins

Award-winning jazz dance choreographer Adrienne Hawkins is the Artistic Director of internationally-touring Impulse Dance Company, Co-Artistic Director of Bass Line-Motion, and opened and ran Impulse Dance ‘the studio’ for 10 years, alongside a prolific international teaching and choreography career. She has been a beloved teacher and mentor to generations of dancers, with a particular eye for the nuances of how the body moves and a willingness to say what’s important. Our conversation at her home in Boston spanned her path in dance, the challenges of being confronted by racism in the field, and her insights into what it means to be a dancer.

Lisa 1.jpeg
Lisa Chaplin McAllister

Lisa Chaplin McAllister is a lifelong Irish dancer who for decades has been carrying on a Boston institution and family business, the O’Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance. Following a successful competitive Irish dance career, including North American Champion in 1981, she joined her mother, the legendary Rita O’Shea, becoming a full-time teacher, adjudicator, and mentor to generations of dancers. Lisa, now also joined by her own daughter teaching, reflects on the importance of family, community, tradition, and change that she sees every day in her work.

ali - title image PC-Rich Ferri.jpg
Ali Kenner Brodsky

Choreographer Ali Kenner Brodsky creates dance for live performance and film, and was recognized with a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Choreography in 2022. She is a founder and producer with Motion State Arts and works to create opportunities to present and uplift regional artists. We spoke with Ali at her home in Dartmouth, MA about her creative process, the emotional pull of her work, and the challenges of balancing all aspects of an artistic career.

Becky 1 - 2061 - Photo Credit Cory Marie Podielski.jpg
Becky Hill

Becky Hill is a percussive dancer, choreographer, and caller whose work bridges Appalachian traditions with contemporary performance. Her work includes close collaborations centering musical conversations, as well as dance for festival stages. She completed her M.F.A. in percussive dance at the University of Maryland, and now works as a Programming Manager for the National Council for the Traditional Arts. We spoke with Becky over Zoom about the unique challenges, and spaces to explore, within traditional and percussive dance.

Eileen 1 - title image.jpg
Eileen Armstrong

Irish dancer Eileen Armstrong found her way back to dancing as a parent, and has always loved learning and mastering technique and movement. Dancing growing up was a family affair that deepened their ties in their Irish-American community. In her competitive days as a teenager, Eileen qualified and competed at the Worlds level, and continues to study and perform locally today. We spoke at the Canadian-American Club in Watertown, MA about the community surrounding dancing, technique and athleticism, and that flow state when “you can infuse your character” into the steps.

Mary 1 - title image.jpeg
Mary MacGillivray

Mary MacGillivray has spent her life steeped in Cape Breton music and dance, both at home in the Boston area, and on many visits to family and friends in Cape Breton. She formally learned to dance in her late 20s and then spent over 40 years teaching Cape Breton step dancing at the Canadian-American Club in Watertown, MA. Dancing came intuitively to Mary, and she speaks to the deep importance of knowing you’re a part of a community. We sat down with Mary in her office at the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brighton, MA about family, building and sustaining community, and the ways she followed her love of dance throughout her life.

Kieran 1 - Kieran at studio (photo by Holly Rike Improper Bostonian).JPG
Kieran Jordan

In Irish music and dance circles, Kieran Jordan needs no introduction, as an impactful teacher, performer, choreographer, researcher, and mentor to countless dancers. Coming of age in the 1970s, when competitive Irish dance was virtually the only visible arena, Kieran charted a groundbreaking course beyond it, expanding the form’s expressive, artistic, and cultural possibilities. Our wide-ranging conversation in her home in Dorchester, MA spanned the early “lightning bolt” moments that shaped her artistic direction, mentors she had along the way, and the faith and perseverance it took to create the role she now inhabits.

Tara 1 .jpg
Tara Lynch

For decades, Tara Lynch has been a steadfast driver of the traditional music community in Boston. Born in the Bronx to parents from Kilfenora, Co. Clare, Tara came of age musically within the Kilfenora tradition after her family returned to Ireland, learning from both her father Jerry and from Gus Tierney. When she moved to Boston in 1998, she found an immediate sense of home in the Comhaltas community, where the welcome, music, and example of Larry and Phyllis Reynolds became a profound influence on her musical and personal life. We sat down to speak with Tara in Milton, MA where she reflected on music, belonging, and the sustaining power of community across a lifetime. 

Alanna 2 w Regina Delaney.jpeg
Alanna Callendrello

Going out to any céilí around Boston, you’re likely to meet Alanna Callendrello, who welcomes many newer dancers into set dancing with her great memory for the dance sequences and intuitive sense for guiding people through them. Alongside her love of dancing, Alanna speaks to the importance of community and the kind of behind-the-scenes efforts needed to sustain it, which has led her to teaching and now stepping into the role of Chair of the local Comhaltas branch. We spoke about the changing landscape of the dance community that she’s seen beginning as a step dancer in childhood and into adulthood in set dancing.

Colleen 6 skating.jpg
Colleen O'Connor Thomas

You can tell Colleen O’Connor Thomas is a dancer by the way she carries herself. Colleen discovered adult classes at The Joy of Movement Center in Cambridge in her 20s, and proceeded to chart a dynamic path with determination and an independent spirit. She went on to teach disco, cheer for the New England Patriots, and stand at the early edge of the emerging fitness class movement. Decades later, she still leads hundreds of people each week in inclusive and rigorous strength-training and fitness classes at local YMCAs. Ever a dancer, she prioritizes choreography and quality of movement with an unmistakable vitality and flair. We sat down to speak with Colleen in Stoughton, MA, where she reflected on finding one's own path in movement and dance.

Cait 2.jpg
Cait Bracken

Cait Bracken has led a life intertwined with dance, as a source of joy, sanctuary, and connection across cities and countries. Born in Chicago in 1953 and raised in Co. Offaly, Ireland, her earliest memories of dance are in the home, learning from her sister Maureen. After working in Dublin and Saudi Arabia, she moved to Philadelphia, where as a young mother social dance became a refuge, drawing her into a welcoming community led by teachers like Mrs. Rosemarie Timoney. For many decades Cait has nurtured new generations of dancers, and she loves to dance and move - not just Irish dance - and not simply to execute the steps “correctly,” but to be with others, and find and make joy. We sat down with Cait in Stoughton, MA, and had so many laughs; we recommend listening to the full audio interview!

Magazine

Printed magazines will be available in June for purchase for $20

Thank you

All of the interviewees: Maureen Doyle, Aubrey Atwater Donnelly,
Adrienne Hawkins, Lisa Chaplin McAllister, Ali Kenner Brodsky,
Becky Hill, Eileen Armstrong, Mary MacGillivray, Kieran Jordan, Tara
Lynch, Alanna Callendrello, Colleen O’Connor Thomas, Cait Bracken

​

Regina Delaney, Bernadette Fee, Anita Bennis, Maureen Cathcart, Liz Hanley, Samantha Jones, Kristen Kelly, Diana Lempel, Marissa Molinar, Ruth Birnberg, Next Steps for Boston Dance, Live Arts Boston, Joey Abarta

 

Magazine Design: Victoria Verrecchia

© 2026 Jackie O'Riley & Rebecca McGowan
bottom of page