Our Tutors
Shane Holohan
Shane started training in acrobatic gymnastics at the tender age of 25. From there he became heavily involved in Gymnastics for All (GFA) as a coach education tutor and went on to become the first National Development Officer with Gymnastics Ireland. He was GFA National Squad Director for two years, choreographing group displays, combining gymnastics, costume, music and lighting. Just last year Shane was an International Evaluator at the FIG World Gym for Life Challenge in South Africa.
Shane moved across into the World of Aerial in 2009. In 2013/14, he attended the Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal where he took their High Performance Teacher Training Programme, specialising in Hand to Hand, Doubles Trapeze, Russian Bar, Banquine and Aerials. In 2013 he set up Taking Flight and grew the studio at the Chocolate Factory, just behind the cinema on Parnell Street. The studio then moved and became full-time at it's Phibsborough location, where it is to this day.
Shane completed a PhD in Arts Practice in the University of Limerick, where he considered how best to support and develop circus artists in building a creative practice. Securing an Irish Research Council Scholarship, he was able to work and collaborate with three international circus schools (ENC, Montreal; DOCH, Stockholm; and NICA, Melbourne); and co-developed a doubles trapeze act with Aisling Ní Cheallaigh and Ronan Brady. Using his learning from this 4-year academic piece of work, he continues to develop Taking Flight's professional development programme: EXPLORE - CREATE - PERFORM.
Hannah Gumbrielle
Hannah Gumbrielle is an arts worker and multidisciplinary aerial artist passionate about inclusive teaching practices and making circus accessible. She trains and teaches a range of skills across cocoon, trapeze, counterweight, harness dance, and wall running.
Coaching since 2017, she graduated in circus instruction with École Nationale de Cirque in 2019 and studied Inclusion and Exclusion in Circus Stockholm University of the Arts in 2021. She piloted Circus Club in collaboration with St. Michael’s House, running circus classes for children with disabilities and additional needs in collaboration with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and early intervention specialists.
Most recently, Hannah performed her autobiographical show Malignant Humour, exploring the death defying circus act that is cancer treatment. It debuted at Scene + Heard festival to a sold-out crowd, and since she has been featured on the Oliver Callan Show, RTÉ, Ireland AM, and The Independent. Malignant Humour ran for 8 sold-out and increased capacity performances at Smock Alley Theatre as part of Dublin Fringe 2024 and garnered five stars from The Irish Times and three Dublin Fringe nominations.
You can learn more about her work at @gumbrielle or gumbrielle.com
How long have you been with Taking Flight?
11 Years
Apparatus Specialties: Cocoon, Trapeze, Harness
Monika Palova
Monika is a Dublin-based performer and tutor, with focus on solo and duo aerial rope, fabric and hair suspension. She completed professional aerial training in London, followed by further training in Barcelona to extend her knowledge of dynamic skills on rope. Her practice focuses on creating intricate flow and sequences, and delving into exploring her limits through durational and physically challenging performance. Her comprehensive technical understanding and passion for sharing allow her to attend to aerialists of all levels, and help support their development in the direction they desire. She also works with children with intellectual and physical disabilities as part of Circus Club, a collaborative project between Taking Flight and St. Michael's house. She performed at the Dublin Fringe Festival, Scene + Heard Festival, Culture Night, Hi Pony (Beyond the Pale Festival), BriColage (Festival of Fools), Antika, Wild Roots Festival and many other events.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial?
Reading psychology books, walks in nature with my dog, hiking, sea swimming, crochet :)
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 10 years (7 years as a tutor)
Apparatus Specialties: Rope & Silks
Sean McIlraith
Sean is an aerial artist and acrobat from Cape Town, South Africa, with a passion for combining physical performance with intimate storytelling. A graduate of Rogelio Rivel Circus School in Barcelona, she has performed across Ireland and parts of Europe over the past five years. In 2023, Sean co-created, directed, and performed he first full show RED LINES with Monika Palova at the Dublin Fringe Festival, earning acclaim and being nominated/winning awards for Best Overall Production and Best Lighting. Sean is also dedicated to social circus, working with children from underprivileged backgrounds and with disabilities. Her work blends the abstract and familiar, exploring the deeply human through live performance. Although aerial is her primary focus, she has moved into hand to hand, group acrobatics and acro-dance in the last few years.
What do you like to do when not doing aerial?
When I’m not doing aerial, I love being outdoors in nature—whether I’m hiking, swimming, travelling, or exploring new places. I’m drawn to adventure and enjoy extreme sports like snowboarding, cliff diving, and trail running. I’m also a Pilates teacher, and I love the balance it brings to my training and daily life.
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 6 Years
Christina Offutt
Christina was raised in a Ballroom dance studio in Seattle. While searching for another form of movement art where a partner isn't a necessity, she came across Taking Flight. She's been happily flying ever since! Christina finds creative spark in finding ways to coalesce her love of theatre, dance, and circus skills into performance. She believes the technical challenges and strength training aerial and circus arts requires is one of the best ways of increasing self-confidence. She is thrilled to share this experience with students.
Lisa Carley
Lisa began practising aerial fabric and rope in 2017. She received an Athletics Ireland coaching qualification in 2009 and has continued to learn about fitness, movement and performance since. Lisa enjoys distance running and also practises tango, pilates, commercial heels dance, and barre. Following a teacher training course in Aerial Cirque, she began teaching aerial fabric in 2020 and joined the Taking Flight team in October 2022. In 2023, she completed a drama facilitator’s course with Youth Theatre Ireland and in 2024, she graduated from the Instructor Training course at Ecole National du Cirque, Montreal. She has recently completed a Pilates teacher training course with Pilates Teacher Training Ireland.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial?
Tango and commercial heels dance, running, and Pilates, I also love sitting on the couch with a book
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 4 years
Apparatus Specialties: Fabric & Rope
Chloe Commins
An aerial performance artist, who has performed regionally and internationally, her performance work is inspired by generational stories and personal experience.
A slave to the office for many years, in 2023 Chloe chucked in her finance job to follow her dreams. In which, she presented RESONANCE. An aerial theatre piece with takes inspiration from her experience growing up CODA (child of Deaf Adult)and includes ISL (Irish sign language) physical theatre and aerial hoop. She has had the opportunity to show this at the Scene & Heard festival Dublin, Festival of Fools Belfast and as a full length solo show at Dublin Fringe festival.
In 2024, she travelled to Vienna, Berlin and Italy as part of research and development for JANAS company. She was invited to partake in the judging panel for Dublin Fringe Festival. She also worked with companies such as Dead Centre, the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, and acted as an aerial advisor the show 'The Race' at the Ark theatre Dublin.
In 2025, She performed for Lunar New Year festival, High Pony BYTP , RDS christmas event and Teelings Whiskey. She completed Gaeity school of acting training, Theatre Lovett training and Youth Theatre Ireland training. She organised and facilitated the 'Elevate' aerial and theatre course with Taking Flight and The Holy Family School of the Deaf. She frequents the Dublin Drag scene as a resident artist with Haus of Wig. She is fluent in Irish Sign Language and holds a degree in Chinese and Business from DIT
What do you like to do when not doing aerial?
Researching aliens!
How long have you been with Taking Flight?
5 years
Apparatus Specialties: Silks & Hoop
Liam McGlinchey
Liam started aerial training in 2016, and quickly gravitated to Aerial Straps as his favourite apparatus. One of his focuses is on helping people with different abilities find ways they can safely and comfortably use the apparatus. As someone who has had rheumatoid arthritis for thirty years, he had to find his own way of performing many of the techniques and skills, and ways to train around injuries and physical limitations.He brings this personal experience to helping others overcome what may be perceived as a physical limitation on their aerial skills. Liam began his physical training with Martial Arts when he was 12, and was awarded a black belt when he was 17, he taught Martial Arts and Self Defence for 20 years. Liam started teaching Mixed Aerials as part of the Taking Flight internship programme in November 2021, and continues teaching Kids and Teens classes twice a week as well as a regular cirquefit conditioning class.
Instagram: liam.mcglinchey
Betty Duffy
Betty has been an actress, drama facilitator and director for over the past twenty years. She has built a vibrant career in the arts over the past two decades with a focus on acting, facilitating, and directing. She is a qualified drama therapist which informs her “unique” approach to devised theatre and performance. She was a lead artist on Youth Theatre Ireland in 2019 and now in 2023 and continues to work closely with them.
Betty has a broad range of facilitation and directing experience with youth theatres and youth centres including cross-border work with Calipo Theatre Company. She has devised and directed pieces with varied groups of all ages, she directed the Dermot Bolger piece “Waiting to Be Found” for its debut on the Abbey Stage as part of the National Neighbourhood Project. She is an associated artist with Axis Theatre Ballymun and regularly facilitates youth workshops, adults’ projects, and performs and directs in Axis productions.
Betty most recently produced and directed sold out shows, Pure Medicine (Axis Theatre, The Dock), Malignant Humour (Smock Alley); has represented Ireland as an artist for Buzz Europe Network in Germany and has passionately been involved in mentoring different aerial artists for CREATE and devising/directing an ensemble piece within Taking Flight, Education and Performance.
Blá Lally
Bláithin loves to dance, perform, and to have fun doing it. She has a background in dance and music, having trained and performed ballet from the young age of 4, as well as other forms of dance such as Contemporary and Salsa. She found aerial almost 10 years ago, with Aerial Silks, Aerial Hoop, and Floorwork becoming her first loves.
She now enjoys sharing her love of Aerial with child and adult students at Taking Flight. Bláithín has performed in The Helix, at various studio showcases, and as a part of the CREATE 2023 Culture Night Performance. She views dance as an important means of expression without needing words. She loves using dance, aerial, and training to connect fully with her body and quiet the mind.
Julie O'Connell Kent
I, Julie, am an aerial artist who finds grounded movement up in the air. I have been exploring aerial rope and silks for eight (9? who knows at this point) years. I perform, mentor, produce shows, teach and collaborate with other artists both in Ireland and internationally. I love to explore the boundaries of what is possible in this beautiful artform. I focus all of my work through the lens of mindful movement and somatics, drawing on my experience as a Counselling Psychologist.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial?
I love to travel to new places, be in the sea and knit. Most of all, I love to spend time with my friends and talk about our feelings.
How long have you been with Taking Flight?
I have been working with Taking Flight since 2023, and have been attending as a student since 2019 :)
Apparatus Specialties: Silks & Rope
Philip Condron
"Philip Condron is an Irish action designer, stunt performer, and fight choreographer, and the founder of Condron Screen Combat Ireland. Self-made and internationally trained, he has spent over six years developing a modern approach to screen fighting that blends martial arts, cinematic action design, and camera literacy to create clear, emotional, camera-ready performances.
Philip’s work spans major international film and television productions including Vikings, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Northman, The Last Duel, Cocaine Bear, and Disney’s Disenchanted. In 2025, he was selected by a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team to play a featured antagonist opposite Dennis To in Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend, becoming the first Irish action actor to perform in a modern Chinese action film.
Invited three times to train at the Jackie Chan Stunt Team Action Film Camp in Beijing, Philip was recognised for his action design, cinematography, leadership, and ability to develop performers under pressure. His work and methodology have since earned recognition from leading international action designers and choreographers across Europe and the US.
Through Screen Combat Ireland, Philip trains actors and stunt performers not only in fight performance, but in action storytelling for camera, raising the standard of Irish action work while building the next generation of screen-ready talent. His focus is on longevity, as both a performer and a designer and on establishing Ireland as a serious contributor to modern global action cinema."
What do you like to do when you're not doing Stunt? Martial Arts
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 3 years
Órlaith Nic Aidhne
Órlaith is an aerial artist, primarily working with fast spinning aerial hoop - 10kg of solid steel gives a great adrenaline hit. Nurtured by the incredible aerial hoop community throughout Ireland, she balances aerial hoop and working with a weird apparatus no-one has ever heard of (the ‘infineight’, an ongoing mentorship / collaboration) alongside her tutor role within Taking Flight and working on whatever project or concept has taken her fancy.
In addition to performing in numerous studio showcases and events in Dublin, Órlaith has also taken part in the CREATE program and showings (2023 - 2025), Phizzfest (2025), the Emma Insley Cabaret at the Irish Aerial Dance Fest (2024) as part of a group hoop performance piece and the Creative Intensive at the Irish Aerial Creation Centre (2023). She has also worked as a producer for shows 'Feral Women' and 'How to Have Fun as an Adult' for the Scene + Heard Festival of New Work 2025.
Her approach and love for teaching aerial has been shaped through attending classes, workshops and intensives lead by industry professionals within the country and abroad, in addition to her own experience and learnings since she began as a hobbyist in 2018. Her teaching style is similar to her movement in the air - curious, energetic, dynamic. Órlaith is also continuously seeking more opportunities to grow as both a tutor and an artist, to share her drive and joy for aerial arts with others.
Apparatus Specialties: Aerial hoop, any non-traditional spinning apparatus and getting herself into knots occasionally on rope or trapeze.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial? Begrudgingly conditioning at the gym but more importantly finding good coffee, consuming fancy pastries, sinking more hours into gaming or reading and probably still listening to that one song on repeat.
How long have you been with Taking Flight? Began training at Taking Flight in 2023 and became a tutor in late 2024.
Darrell Elliott
I’m an aerial straps instructor who loves helping students discover their strength and surprise themselves with what their bodies can do. I focus on combining technique, conditioning, and creative play so that every class feels both empowering and fun. Whether you’re brand new to aerial or looking to refine your skills, I’m here to guide you safely, celebrate your progress, and help you grow as an aerialist at your own pace. My mission is to make straps accessible, approachable, and deeply rewarding for every student.
What do you like to do when not doing aerial?
Gym to build and maintain strength and gaming to unwind.
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 4 Years
Joshua Angelo Estrella
Josh is a non-binary, queer Filipino–Irish artist based in Dublin who champions diversity, equity, and inclusion within the arts sector. A versatile performer, they work as an aerialist, pole dancer, drag queen, and burlesque artist. Skilled across multiple apparatuses and disciplines, Josh approaches movement with the belief that everything is interconnected and that technique is transferable. They have a particular love for spinny, artistic sequences and are especially drawn to creating dynamic, high-energy performances that captivate audiences.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial?
Outside of aerials, Josh is a certified executive coach who loves supporting underrepresented minorities. They also co-founded Asians in Tech EMEA to help empower and connect Asian immigrants working in the corporate world across Europe. Josh thrives on collaboration and enjoys building meaningful relationships and projects that make the world a kinder, more inclusive place. They’re also a bit of a nerd for analytics, technology, AI, and finance.
How long have you been with Taking Flight? 3 Years
Charli Sweet
I have been a pole artist for nearly 10 years now and silks were my gateway into aerial around 2020 when I followed a friend to a class at CircusFit Shanghai. From there, I have performed in 4 countries and now I most often perform at The Sugar Club in Dublin 2, where I also host my cabaret shows.
What do you like to do when you're not doing aerial?
I love producing shows, reading and playing Dungeons and Dragons!
How long have you been with Taking Flight? As a teacher, 1 year, as a student, 3 years.
Apparatus Specialties: Pole, Flying Pole, Straps and Silks