CATHERINE MARAFINO BRICE

Choreographer, Dance Teacher, Caller, & Sales Director

Catherine Marafino Brice is an Irish step dancer living in Annapolis, MD. She specializes in sean nós dance, old-style Irish step dancing, and has studied American tap dance and flatfooting. Fusing these influences together, she has created her own style of improvised percussive dance that is lively and unique.

Catherine began Irish step dancing and tap dancing as a child, and as a teenager learned from Emily Oleson and Matthew Olwell of Good Foot Dance Company.  During college, she built a small repertoire of American flat-footing and clogging steps, and learned a handful of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island patterns from Helen Bergeron.  She also learned many of Dan Furey's set dances from Michael Tubridy. Catherine has a long love-affair with traditional steps, but she is most impressive for her ability to improvise them.  Among dancers in Washington and Baltimore, she is highly regarded for her aptness to devise new dances that are musically and choreographically entertaining.

Catherine enjoys ceili dancing and has started calling dances in the Annapolis, Baltimore, and DC region. She is a regular caller at the monthly Baltimore Family Ceili and the Annapolis Crabtown Ceili. She founded the Annapolis Ceili Club in 2023, which is a club for people to learn basic ceili dances and popular set dances in a fun and stress-free environment.

Catherine holds an MSN from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and works as a NICU nurse in Annapolis and Baltimore.  She is the merchandise director for the New Century American Irish-Arts Company, and a past programmer for the Washington Folk Festival.  She teaches old-style Irish dancing classes at her home studio, Pendenny Studio, which she shares with her husband, Peter Brice.