Eilis Rochez-McKenna, ADCRG
- “I used to think that my crowning achievement was dancing at the World Dance Championships. Now I realize that my dancers’ dedication and achievements are what I find truly rewarding. Whether they are entertaining or competing, my dancers give 110% each time they put on their costumes.”
Eilis Rochez-McKenna is the principle instructor for the Rochez Academy of Irish Dance. She began dancing at the age of 6, and has studied with dance teachers from the US, Canada, England, Ireland and Scotland. Her love for Irish dance and Irish culture lead her to begin to teach dance 15 years ago. In 1994, she opened her own school. She is a certified Irish step dance teacher and adjudicator (judge at competitions) through An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha and a member of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America.
As her students do now, she competed all over the world while dancing, and among her many awards, placed 3rd at the Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas and 6th at the North American Championships. Her experience of that high level of achievement is one of the things that motivates her to push those dancers who express a desire for such success. The Rochez Academy has had dancers compete in the Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas, the North American Irish Dance Championships, the All-Ireland Competition, and the World Irish Dance Championships.
Eilis and her husband, Matt have recently welcomed their third child into a home full of dance music, soccer balls and lots of laughter.
