About
Sarah Armstrong Rhodes, TCRG and owner of AIDA
Sarah Armstrong Rhodes, TCRG is the instructor at Armstrong Irish Dance Academy. She discovered Irish dance at a Celtic Festival she went to when she was twelve. She fell in love with the dance form and started taking classes recreationally. After a year, she started assisting in the studio's beginning Irish dance classes and found her passion for teaching. Sarah started teaching recreational classes through her local Parks and Recreation programs. As Sarah continued to dance, she quickly progressed to the studio's top level class and was encouraged to pursue competitive Irish dancing from her teacher.
In 2014, Sarah started studying to take her TCRG examination - a process in becoming a certified teacher - and sat her exam in September 2015. In December, she received her results and her dream of becoming a TCRG came true - she had passed the exam.
In April 2016, with a new baby 3 months old, Sarah pursued her dream and opened her own dance school, bringing a certified Irish dance school to Winchester.
When she isn't teaching, Sarah enjoys being a mom to her two girls, Eden and Hazel, and has recently started teaching part time as an elementary teacher at Independent School of Winchester. Sarah loves gardening, knitting, sewing, and being outside. She has 2 dogs, Rufus (who is a big goofball), Sun-Ra (who is a little goofball), and a kitty named Ginny - all are rescues! She loves to inspire others to find their dream - be it opening a business, starting a community garden, helping a new mom learn to babywear, or make a new goal for themselves.
Sarah's goal is to help mold students into dancers who have humility, dedication, tenacity, and a true passion for this unique dance form in hope to one day present them for competition. She truly believes that dance helps better each child into confident, graceful adults. Sarah's role model is Fred Rogers and thinks of him quite a bit when teaching. She believes strongly that we all are responsible for our children's future by helping continue his legacy - the legacy that all children need to be treated with respect, love, and care.
EVERY student who walks into our doors will be supported and encouraged by our teachers. We are committed to preventing discrimination in our studio and will continue to provide a welcome and safe environment for ALL our students.
"The thing I remember best about successful people I've met through the years is their obvious delight in what they're doing, and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they're doing, and they love it in front of others."
- Fred Rogers
Isabella Stocco, assistant teacher at AIDA
Isabella Stocco started dancing at Armstrong Irish dance Academy at the age of eight. She quickly fell in love with the dance form and decided to dedicate much time and work into each class! She started attending competitions in 2018 and to this day continues to enjoy, showing her love of dancing to the judges. when Isabella was offered a teaching assistant job at the studio, she eagerly accepted, and she enjoys every moment spent with the wonderful students at Ida. In the future, she hopes to continue sharing her love of Irish, dancing to all the students she has the honor of teaching. Isabella looks up to Sarah and hopes to be as good a dancer and teacher as she is one day. When and if you find Isabella not dancing, she loves to run, draw, hike, and take her siblings on adventures.
