For the last year and a half, Patrick O’Neill has served an important role in the Concord Academy community as the dance teacher. Not only does O’Neill teach many dance classes that feature a variety of dance styles and cater to students with different dance experience, but he also plays a vital role in putting together multiple major productions at CA.
O’Neill grew up in Rochester and Buffalo, New York, with three siblings. Aside from dancing and teaching dance, he also enjoys being outdoors, going on hikes with his dog, and participating in physical activities such as ice skating and sports. O’Neill was exposed to dance at a young age, as his mother is a dance teacher. Growing up, he competed in dance competitions and learned a variety of dance styles, including tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, and modern. O’Neill explained, “When I was a child, [dance] gave me a sense of freedom that I didn’t feel like I had otherwise.” As he grew up, the challenge that dance provided him further developed his passion. When he was a senior in high school, O’Neill quit learning dance, and he intended to study forensic science in college instead. Thus, he was initially hesitant when he applied to New York University for dance, but when he was accepted on the spot during his interview, he decided that it was an amazing opportunity he just had to accept.
O’Neill is also involved in dance outside of CA. Last summer, he taught in Kingston, New York, with Melissa Beerstock, the studio owner of the Ballet School of Kingston and Artistic Director of the Catskill Ballet Theatre. He loves this studio and plans to go back this summer, as it resembles what he remembers of his amazing experience learning dance growing up. Additionally, O’Neill enjoys taking dance classes through the Boston Ballet. He explained, “When you're so used to being the teacher, it is really nice to be the student again. It feels really good to learn.”
O’Neill originally found out about the opportunity to teach at CA through Michael Bennett, the head of the CA Performing Arts Department, as O’Neill and Bennett went to college together. At that point, it had only been a year since O’Neill had moved to Kingston, so he was initially unsure about whether he wanted to move again. After meeting some CA faculty members during his interview and hearing amazing things about the school, he decided to take the opportunity. O’Neill recalled how he had never seen the school or dance studio in person before accepting the position, and how he absolutely loved the beautiful dance studio when he saw it for the first time.
O’Neill loves teaching at CA and said, “It is a wonderful place to work and live.” O’Neill says that his favorite memory from his time teaching at CA was the opening night of met·a·mor·pho·sis, a production put on by the CA Dance Project in the fall of 2024. O’Neill had just started teaching at CA with a group of students he had never met before and immediately jumped into working on the production. This made the experience a “metamorphosis,” or major transformation, both for him and for the dancers who had to adapt to his teaching style. O’Neill said that the opening night of the production was a beautiful moment that he will forever cherish, as he got to see all the hard work from the dancers come together into a beautiful production.
A piece of advice that O’Neill has for aspiring dancers is to always try as many new experiences as possible, because going into another studio and getting to experience a different teaching style is very valuable. O’Neill emphasizes the importance of always thinking of oneself as a student and always approaching things with the intention of learning.