reAwakening
Celebrating 100 years of Irish freedom
By Kaely Monahan
Jan. 27, 2013 Atlantic Steps performs at the Berkley Performence Center, Boston, Mass. Photo Courtesy of Téada.
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and the Valley is already gearing up. The Musical Instrument Museum is hosting the wildly popular Irish band, Téada. Known and loved for their Irish Christmas in America show and Atlantic Steps, the band, led by founder and fiddler Oisin Mac Diarmada, is bringing its newest show, reAwakening, to Phoenix.
The performance is celebrating 100 years of Irish freedom with two evenings of traditional Irish music, song and dancing March 10 and 11. Joining the band is Séamus Begley, who is renowned in Ireland for his songs, as well as his witty stories and jokes. Pianist and Irish step dancer Samantha Harvey will be lending her talents. And Brian Cunningham from Connemara Ireland will be exhibiting the sean-nós style of Irish dancing.
Cunningham is hailed as “one of the most exciting dancers to emerged from Ireland in recent years,” and the Michael Flatley of the “sean-nós” style, according to the show’s press release and his website, respectively.
Coming from a family of dancers who have kept the old style of dancing alive through the centuries, Cunningham began dancing at the age of 5. The Cunningham family has performed with numerous Irish music greats such as The Chieftains, Dé Danann and Altan.
Cunningham spoke to GetOut ahead of the reAwakening show to explain the sean-nós style and the story behind the tour.
“Sean-nós is a Gaelic word for ‘old style.’ So it’s old style dancing you could say,” he explained. “It came long before Riverdance or Irish step dance.”
This was the type of dance that people did in the countryside. The original Irish dance was looser, freer and welcomed improvisation. According to Cunningham, this style has its origins in Connemara in the west of Ireland and it was passed on from father to son, mother to daughter.
“I never went to any workshops or classes. I learned it from watching,” Cunningham said. “It was in my family for many years — going back a couple hundred years. I heard stories from 200 years ago.”
In those early days, people would take down doors or use other wooden surfaces to dance on. They would create taps for their shoes by adding small nails in the wooden soles of their boots.
“When they would be dancing at night time in the cottage and the fire was going, there was no electricity — only candlelight — you could actually see the sparks off the flagstone floors from the clips on the boots,” Cunningham said.
During the years of English occupation Irish culture was suppressed. Traditional forms of music, singing and dancing started to disappear, but in remote pockets of the country, particularly on the west side, traditions were able to survive and were passed down through the generations.
“The English did not want the Irish to do this,” he said, referring to traditional dance. “It had (nearly) died out. It’s only in the last 20 years that it’s made a serious revival.”
In 1916, there was the Easter Rising. Until that point, Ireland had been under English rule in some form since the 1100s. After roughly 800 years of English occupation, a nationalist movement formed. On April 24, 1916, rebel leaders, which included the celebrated Michael Collins, stormed strategic locations mostly in Dublin. One of those places was the general post office, which you can visit today and see the bullet holes from the shoot out that occurred there.
Ireland officially gained full independence in 1922, but many Irish nationals and descendants of Irish immigrants point to 1916 as the year Ireland earned its independence.
“I’m a big fan of Michael Collins,” Cunningham said. “The Irish Republican Army, they fought hard for Irish freedom. And that’s a huge, huge celebration in Ireland right now — and all over the world, I guess, for anyone with Irish roots.
“We got our artistic flourishing of the Irish music in the last hundred years, and it’s just growing. And in the last 20 years especially Irish culture, music, song and dance and film, it’s just getting international beyond Ireland.”
ReAwakening is about celebrating the resurgence of Irish culture brought about by Irish Independence. The performance will showcase all the old styles of Irish music, song and dance. Cunningham likened it to being invited to someone’s house dance back in the old days.
“We’re trying to take all the old stuff and bring it back in a natural way. We want to do the old Irish tradition — the old Irish culture justice. It’s free; it’s natural; it’s from the heart.”
Behind the performers there will be a screen on which archival photos and footage from Ireland will be projected, which add another link to the past. For those of Irish heritage, the evening will be a moving experience where the full gauntlet of emotions will be felt. The history of Ireland will be there, without the frills and flair of some other Irish shows.
“One of the reasons this tour is happening is because we want to tell that story; we want to show that natural side, the wild side; and at the same time entertain people while telling them the story,” Cunningham said.
That story being the history of Ireland, it’s people, and their fierce pride for their country and independence.
“You’re getting the real stuff. This show is true to the Irish tradition.”
The performance is celebrating 100 years of Irish freedom with two evenings of traditional Irish music, song and dancing March 10 and 11. Joining the band is Séamus Begley, who is renowned in Ireland for his songs, as well as his witty stories and jokes. Pianist and Irish step dancer Samantha Harvey will be lending her talents. And Brian Cunningham from Connemara Ireland will be exhibiting the sean-nós style of Irish dancing.
Cunningham is hailed as “one of the most exciting dancers to emerged from Ireland in recent years,” and the Michael Flatley of the “sean-nós” style, according to the show’s press release and his website, respectively.
Coming from a family of dancers who have kept the old style of dancing alive through the centuries, Cunningham began dancing at the age of 5. The Cunningham family has performed with numerous Irish music greats such as The Chieftains, Dé Danann and Altan.
Cunningham spoke to GetOut ahead of the reAwakening show to explain the sean-nós style and the story behind the tour.
“Sean-nós is a Gaelic word for ‘old style.’ So it’s old style dancing you could say,” he explained. “It came long before Riverdance or Irish step dance.”
This was the type of dance that people did in the countryside. The original Irish dance was looser, freer and welcomed improvisation. According to Cunningham, this style has its origins in Connemara in the west of Ireland and it was passed on from father to son, mother to daughter.
“I never went to any workshops or classes. I learned it from watching,” Cunningham said. “It was in my family for many years — going back a couple hundred years. I heard stories from 200 years ago.”
In those early days, people would take down doors or use other wooden surfaces to dance on. They would create taps for their shoes by adding small nails in the wooden soles of their boots.
“When they would be dancing at night time in the cottage and the fire was going, there was no electricity — only candlelight — you could actually see the sparks off the flagstone floors from the clips on the boots,” Cunningham said.
During the years of English occupation Irish culture was suppressed. Traditional forms of music, singing and dancing started to disappear, but in remote pockets of the country, particularly on the west side, traditions were able to survive and were passed down through the generations.
“The English did not want the Irish to do this,” he said, referring to traditional dance. “It had (nearly) died out. It’s only in the last 20 years that it’s made a serious revival.”
In 1916, there was the Easter Rising. Until that point, Ireland had been under English rule in some form since the 1100s. After roughly 800 years of English occupation, a nationalist movement formed. On April 24, 1916, rebel leaders, which included the celebrated Michael Collins, stormed strategic locations mostly in Dublin. One of those places was the general post office, which you can visit today and see the bullet holes from the shoot out that occurred there.
Ireland officially gained full independence in 1922, but many Irish nationals and descendants of Irish immigrants point to 1916 as the year Ireland earned its independence.
“I’m a big fan of Michael Collins,” Cunningham said. “The Irish Republican Army, they fought hard for Irish freedom. And that’s a huge, huge celebration in Ireland right now — and all over the world, I guess, for anyone with Irish roots.
“We got our artistic flourishing of the Irish music in the last hundred years, and it’s just growing. And in the last 20 years especially Irish culture, music, song and dance and film, it’s just getting international beyond Ireland.”
ReAwakening is about celebrating the resurgence of Irish culture brought about by Irish Independence. The performance will showcase all the old styles of Irish music, song and dance. Cunningham likened it to being invited to someone’s house dance back in the old days.
“We’re trying to take all the old stuff and bring it back in a natural way. We want to do the old Irish tradition — the old Irish culture justice. It’s free; it’s natural; it’s from the heart.”
Behind the performers there will be a screen on which archival photos and footage from Ireland will be projected, which add another link to the past. For those of Irish heritage, the evening will be a moving experience where the full gauntlet of emotions will be felt. The history of Ireland will be there, without the frills and flair of some other Irish shows.
“One of the reasons this tour is happening is because we want to tell that story; we want to show that natural side, the wild side; and at the same time entertain people while telling them the story,” Cunningham said.
That story being the history of Ireland, it’s people, and their fierce pride for their country and independence.
“You’re getting the real stuff. This show is true to the Irish tradition.”
Originally published March 7, 2016 on GetOutAZ.com