Karoliina Hirvonen (TCRG) - Jyväskylä, Tampere, Helsinki
Karoliina is the first and only dancer in Finland to have completed the Irish dance teacher qualification exam (TCRG). She is also one of the most sought-after Irish dance teachers and dancers in Finland.
Irish dance has been a very important part of Karoliina’s life for almost 20 years, but her repertoire also includes ballet, jazz dance and contemporary dance. She first became acquainted with Irish dance when she found the Lord of the Dance DVD in the library, and was immediately sold. To this day, Karoliina loves different Irish dance shows more than anything else, and in her free time she works on show choreographies, which her students also get to participate in!
Karoliina has a lot of competition and performance experience. She has competed all over Europe, and has also gained valuable competition experience from the All Scotland Championships and RCCEA Mainland European Championships. She has also completed all 12 Grade Exams with distinction. Karoliina completed the TCRG exam in the fall of 2025 and in November she became Finland’s first certified Irish dance teacher (TCRG).
As a teacher, Karoliina is strict about technique and rhythm, but at the same time encourages her students to dare to experiment and use their creativity. The dance classes are always relaxed and everyone is always considered as an individual.
She also works as a choreographer and artistic producer for the Fusion Irish Dancers group.
Laura Merisaari - Helsinki
When Laura tried out Irish dancing for the first time in 2012, she immediately knew there was no return. Since her childhood she has been doing different dance styles from ballet to jazz dance. However, little by little Irish dancing superseded everything else, including any additional free time. Laura was attracted by the discipline of the dance and the possibility to outdo herself in every single practice. In the end the elegance of the dance fascinated her; even though the hands don’t move, she felt she was able to diversely express herself through the dance.
Earlier Laura’s teacher in Finland has been Therese Rooney (TCRG) and now she is practicing with Tereza Bernardová (TCRG) in inSpiral Dance Company. In addition, Laura has gained a lot of experience from abroad by dancing in different dance schools. In 2016 Laura danced under London based Irish dance school Maguire O’Shea with Deirdre and Michael Maguire (TCRG) as her teachers. In 2017 Laura danced under Elaine Kavanagh (ADCRG) in Dublin. During her time abroad, she has had the change to practice with some of the best dancers in the world, which has been an eye-opening experience.
Laura has been competing regularly from the very beginning of her Irish dancing career, reaching Open level in only a few years. The biggest achievements in her career have been 1st place in Nordic Feis (2015), 1st place in Ramstein Feis (2016), 2nd place in RCCEA Mainland Europe Championships (2016), 12th place in Irish Nationals (2017) and 1st place in Helsinki Feis (2017). Laura was also the first Finnish solo dancer to compete in the over 21-year-olds category in the CLRG World Irish Dancing Championships (2017). Laura has performance experience from several shows and private events. Most recently, solos at the Irish Festival Tampere in 2022 and 2023.
Laura wants to pass on all the experience she has gained so that everyone would be able to outdo themselves and achieve their dreams. Laura wants to foster the joy of dancing in every class and encourage her students to pursue their dreams. There is no shortcut to success but hard work, positive attitude and strong team spirit will bring you far.
Heidi Aaltonen - Helsinki
Heidi started dancing ballet at the age of nine and continued dancing over ten years. In 2000 she fell in love with Irish dance and never looked back. Over the years she has been taught by several teachers, including: Anne Reid (Belfast, NI), Soili Stenroos, Francis Ward (TCRG), Lotta Virkkunen, Therese Rooney (TCRG) and now Tereza Berdanova (TCRG).
Heidi has gained experience by competing at All Ireland Championships (solos), Worlds (team) and other competitions all over Europe, being the Nordic Champion in 2012. Currently she performs with the Celtic Spirit Irish Dancers and teaches workshops under inSpiral.
She is a demanding, but enthusiastic teacher, wishing to give her students both the correct technique and a love for dance.
Rosanna Kataja - Helsinki
Rosanna started Irish dance in 2017 and there has been no looking back since. She began training with Valentina Voronova and Anna Barriscale (TCRG), and later continued under Tereza Bernardová (TCRG). A pivotal period in Rosanna’s dance career was dancing for Goulding School of Irish Dance with Deirdre Goulding Blomberg (ADCRG), Kelly Lordan (TCRG), Shannon Considine, Jacqui Dacey, and Caroline Goulding in Massachusetts, USA during 2021-2024 while she was studying at Harvard as an undergraduate.
Through her training, she has gained competitive experience across two continents, multiple countries, and US states. Her competition highlights include New England Oireachtas (2023), RCCEA Oireachtas (2024), Worlds Ceili (2025), and North American Irish Dance Championships (2025).
Rosanna’s favorite things about Irish dance are the endless opportunities to improve, the rewarding feeling of success when you make progress, the support from a tight-knit community, and having a cool party trick skill at hand. In addition to dance, she loves strength training and barre.
As a teacher, Rosanna brings her unique and international perspective to Finland. She is passionate about teaching proper fundamentals from the beginning while ensuring that everyone can fall in love with Irish dance and have fun.
Vilma Kivinen - Helsinki
Vilma’s fascination for Irish dance began in 2005 when she became interested in the culture of Ireland. However, she only started Irish dancing a few years later. Over the years, dancing has turned from a hobby to a way of life, and it has become more purposeful and ambitious. From the beginning, Vilma has been fascinated by Irish dance due to its rhythmicality, technical precision, and endless challenges, but also due to the joy and feeling of accomplishment it gives. Her teachers over the years have been Tiina Murtola, Nelli Sinisalo, Karoliina Hirvonen, Laura Merisaari, Therese Rooney (TCRG) and Tereza Bernardová (TCRG). Vilma has also attended several workshops given by both foreign and Finnish dance teachers.
Vilma has been competing for several years both in solo and céilí competitions, and she feels that competitions have pushed her to surpass herself, in addition to the good results, important memories, and new friends she has gained. Vilma has taken part in CLRG World Championships in London in 2014 and in Glasgow in 2016 with céilí teams, and these have been some of the most important moments of Vilma’s life. Vilma has also competed with céilí teams at the RCCEA Mainland European Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. In addition to competing, she is also progressing through her grade exams.
Vilma has studied basic studies in dance pedagogy at the University of the Arts Helsinki and has also studied positive pedagogy and coaching. Vilma has been teaching in Helsinki since autumn 2017. In teaching, she wants to consider everyone’s strengths as a dancer, the importance of learning and succeeding together, and good technique and muscle fitness.
Nelli Sinisalo - Tampere
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.