New York Irish Center’s Annual Summer celebration: youth, Irish roots, culture, heritage, and arts. Through workshops in drama, music, visual arts & dance, we explore the oldest of Irish legends and folklore.
Jenny Green - DRAMA: Actor and Producing Artist Jenny Green has been working with children for more than twenty years, primarily with pre-teens. Jobs have included after-school activities in Central Park, a leading early years development program and work as a Teaching Artist. As well as tutoring, mentoring and general childcare, Jenny has also created and led a children's theatre festival in Greenwich Village. She is a great believer in child-centered learning and creative play, encouraging imaginations and free expression within a nurturing and safe structure. Before coming to New York to train as an Actor, Jenny was a Broadcast Journalist for the BBC, where she created various program strands and short films. And her production company, The OPTimistiks, has devised, produced and presented a variety of new comedies for stage and screen.
Hannah Bailey - MUSIC: Hannah Bailey is a music and chess tutor to kids of all ages. Using storytelling as a foundational tool in her teaching practice, she strives to nurture creativity through fun and engaging lessons. In Australia, she toured with a children’s pantomime theatre company playing the roles of Pinocchio and Puss in Boots, and also assistant directed many junior musical productions. Since graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts’ three-year conservatory program in New York, Hannah has worked as an actor and singer on projects with The Irish Repertory Theatre, Netflix, and Bard City NYC. Hannah is also a songwriter, musician, and self published poet!
Laya Ballesteros - ARTS & CRAFTS: Layahas taught art for over 20 years! She has taught children from ages 3 to 14 in a variety of community settings. In 2007, Laya moved to NYC and founded an elementary art program in Brooklyn which she ran for 9 years. She later worked at the British International School in New York City as the lower school art teacher and most recently at St. Paul American School in Hanoi, Vietnam. Laya’s expertise in curriculum development and teacher mentoring has fostered environments where creativity meets emotional learning. The programs she has managed emphasize the integration of social and emotional learning, laying a foundation for students to explore artistic expression as a means of self-discovery and advocacy.