Tampere - Teachers

Nelli started Irish dancing in 2004 at Ahjolan Kansalaisopisto under the instruction of Lotta Virkkunen. Her first contact with Irish music and dance was, however, already in 1992, when she was part of a folk-dance event Pispalan Sottiisi. Two Irish families were performing at the event, and Nelli got to try Irish dance with them. Nelli started dancing when she was 3 years old, and continued with Finnish folk dance for 10 years until her passion for amateur theatre starting consuming too much time to continue both.

In the summer of 2007, Nelli moved to Dublin, Ireland, attended classes with Mary Beth Taylor (TCRG), and started her competitive career at the City of Dublin Championships in March 2008. She also attended classes given by Ronan McCormack (TCRG, Riverdance) for one autumn gaining more experience and new points of view into Irish dance. During 2011-2014, Nelli danced and taught under Therese Rooney (TCRG) in Scoil Rince Rooney Finland. She has competed successfully for the last couple of years in, e.g., Nordic Feiseanna in Stockholm and Tampere and the RCCEA Mainland Europe Championships in both solo and group dances.

Nelli is an encouraging teacher, and she challenges her students to do more difficult things in order for them to progress as dancers and to prepare them to learn more each year. She emphasises overall conditioning of the body, and practicing technique is also a big part of her classes.

Nelli is also taking show- and musical dance classes.