ABOUT us

The name…

The Academy, Perth was founded as Scoil Rince Ni Ceide in 1996, by Samantha McAleer TCRG, in Woodvale, Western Australia. The school continued to grow and in 2005, became Scoil Rince Ni Ceide/Upton, when Lara Donelan (nee Upton) passed her TCRG exam and took on a teaching role. In 2018, our school was honoured and privileged to take on the name of our sister school The Academy (Edward Searle ADCRG and Byron Tuttle ADCRG), forming The Academy/ Keady Upton.

HISTORY…

The Academy, Perth started as a small school (Scoil Rince Ni Ceide), run from home. The space at home soon became too small for a rapidly growing class and the local parish priest was very interested in promoting a cultural art form among the community. With this, the school was formally set up in the parish centre at St Luke’s in Woodvale. As students began competing, we received a number of enquiries about classes South of the river, which saw the opening of classes in Cannington.

In 2005, former student, Lara Donelan, passed her TCRG exam and at the same time, the school changed it’s name to Scoil Rince ni Ceide/Upton, formally welcoming Lara as a member of teaching staff. Lara opened a branch of the school in the Perth Hills region in March 2015.

In 2009, the school was honoured to form an association with Edward Searle ADCRG and Byron Tuttle ADCRG, founders and principal teachers of The Academy, Mid-America. This saw the introduction of workshops, in which time we receive world winning tutelage and choreography.

In 2017, former student, Dhana Pitman (nee White) joined the teaching staff of the school after passing her TCRG exam on the 12th of December.

In 2018, Keady/Upton changed its school name officially to The Academy/Keady Upton and again to The Academy, Mid-America and Western Australia in 2020. In giving us their name, Edward and Byron have affirmed their belief in the standards, principles and teaching commitment of our school here in Perth. It also allows for students from our school to travel to the U.S. to train with Byron and Ed in the extended “off-season” here in Australia (October-February).

We are extremely proud of our association with these dedicated, committed and loyal teachers. Their success with their classes in America is testimony to their talent and constant hard work.