Letting go the desire to express
Choreographic primers used to be dull enough reads. Compulsory reading for unimaginatively titled courses, like Dance Composition, they rarely led aspiring ...
Business end of the ballroom boom
The figures don’t lie. Strictly Come Dancing is the world’s most successful reality-television show and has been sold by BBC Worldwide to more than 35 international ...
Confidence and sure-footedness
Much of what happened in dance during 2011 gave hope for the future. But some of what happened gave fear for the past. Emerging choreographers came of age, ...
Bí Ullamh
Years ago, as a boy scout the motto Bí Ullamh was drilled into me. It’s the Irish for “be prepared” and although it didn’t turn me into a overly cautious ...
Rubato-ing all the way to the exams
There’s a musical term called “rubato”. It’s an Italian term that literally means “robbed time”, in other words that you can “borrow” time from one ...
Touch Me
Sixteen years ago, the mention of cosy homesteads, happy maidens and athletic youth was greeted with hoots of smug derision during David Bolger’s dance Reel Luck . ...
The Smell of Want
You are what you pay when it comes to theatre seats: whether scrimping to afford a squinty seat in the gods, or splashing out so you can lord it in a plush box. The ...
Did Beyoncé step on a dancer’s toes?
Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Andy Warhol, Twiggy and Diana Ross were some of the inspirations for Beyoncé’s music recent video Countdown . But two ...
Gardenia
Throwing off constraints is one thing; using new-found freedom is another. The personal histories revealed by the cast of Gardenia – both in the programme notes ...
![2011_Rian_High_Res_22[1]](http://michaelseaver.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011_Rian_High_Res_221-150x150.jpg "2011_Rian_High_Res_22[1]")
Rian
Sean Ó Riada's importance within the Irish cultural landscape is under continuous debate. There might be consensus that he brought Irish traditional music from the ...
Behind every great answer is a great structure
In my job, heroes are like buses: you spend a long time waiting for one to come along and then two arrive at the same time. This was the case a couple of weeks ago when ...
Seekers
The company might be called 50% Male Experimental Theatre, but Seekers is a pretty conventional piece of physical theatre. Examining our hectic lifestyles and constant ...
Reading to get away from it all
September is here, so it’s time to get cracking on study plans and reading lists. Of course, the end of summer also means the end of summer beach reading, indulging in ...
Scribbling in the margins
Maybe it’s because of my day-job, but you’ll never find me with a pen in my hand if I’m reading a book. Playing every day in an orchestra means a large turnover of ...
Correcting a blind spot about Irish Ballet
In 1963 the Arts Council made a decision that defined not only Irish ballet’s future but also its past. Faced with the prospect of funding two ballet companies, Joan ...
Another Old House
I felt envious reading my blogging colleague caowrites describe her old family home. I too spent time in an old house this weekend, but it was far less relaxing ...
Putting the foot down in the name of Flamenco
IT MIGHT have humble origins in the south of Spain, but flamenco is now a global cultural pursuit. While the haughty-faced dancer with twirling wrists, staccato heels ...
Who Are We?
Holidays over, I’m back to work with a bang this week. The orchestra is taking part in a festival of music by the American minimalist composer Steve Reich. Along with ...