ABOUT US

Carlene began dancing at the age of four for her aunt, Patricia K. Lenihan, in Connecticut. Carlene is now the director of the Stillson School of Irish Dance, which remains the only certified school with An Coimisiun in the state of Maine. In Carlene’s 30 years of teaching, she has produced successful teams, figure choreographies, multiple New England Oireachtas Champions, top-ranking North American champion dancers, and World medal holders. Among these great achievements, Carlene is most proud of her four beautiful daughters. In the past fifteen years, Carlene has adjudicated across North America and Australia, including the North American Championships, Mid-Atlantic Regional Oireachtas, Southern US Regional Oireachtas and the most recent Southern England Oireachtas.  Carlene is a lifelong critical care nurse with over 38 years experience, and is now a licensed Nurse Practitioner.

Mairéad is the oldest daughter of Carlene Stillson. Mairéad began dancing at the age of two and performed in front of the White House lawn at the age of three. Over her competitive career, she placed 2nd at the New England Oireachtas, top 20 at the North American Championships and the All Ireland Championships, and qualified for numerous World Championships. Mairéad has spent the last ten years as a principal dancer and dance captain of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's production of Celtic Fyre. Mairéad is proud to have been part of the original cast of Rockin' Road to Dublin, where she was also the understudy for the lead role. In the fall of 2015, Mairéad was cast in the European tour of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games and went on to perform with the show on Broadway. Her proudest accomplishment is getting to perform the lead role of 'Morrighan' on Broadway in front of her family and the Stillson school. She graduated from the College of William & Mary with a degree in Psychology. Mairéad received her TCRG certification in the spring of 2016 alongside her sister Deireann, and is delighted to be a part of the teaching staff at the Stillson School of Irish Dance.

Photo by Brian Doherty

Deireann is the second daughter of Carlene. Deireann has been dancing with the Stillson School since the age of three and has enjoyed competing both solos and team dances as well as performing with various well-known groups such as Eileen Ivers, Cherish the Ladies and in Downtown Disney. Throughout her career, she has been a two time World Qualifier, a top nationalist, and placed in the top ten at the New England Oireachtas. Deireann attended and graduated from Elon University with the class of 2016, obtaining a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Finance. She now works as a Senior Internal Audit analyst at Albemarle based in Charlotte, NC. She enjoys splitting her time between her corporate job and working with the students at our studio in Maine. Deireann earned her TCRG certification with Mairéad in the Spring of 2016 and is enthusiastic about teaching all the talented members of the school.

Bridget is the third daughter of Carlene and has been a dancer in the Stillson school since she was 3 years old. She competed in solos and teams all over the globe and performed on stage alongside great artists like Eileen Ivers and Gaelic Storm. Through her competitive career, she was a national competitor, placed 3 times within the top ten at her New England regional championship and finally accomplished her goal of becoming a world qualifier at the age of 21. Bridget is a Marist College graduate where she studied Psychology and now works at  as an admission counselor at Boston University. She earned her TCRG in January of 2018 and looks forward to watching all the students grow and reach their goals!