Hi dancers, and welcome back to The Reel Deal! Today’s post is a fun little intermission from some of the typical content to talk about professional Irish dance shows!

While I’m in Ireland for the semester, I knew I wanted to take the opportunity to see an Irish dance show here. I’ve seen Riverdance twice, once during its tour in the States and once at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, but I hadn’t seen any other professional Irish dance shows until now. Last Sunday, October 13, I had the chance to attend the Irish music and dance show Celtic Steps in Killarney. I was especially excited to see this show because the cast is quite young. In fact, many of the dancers are around my age, and I know a lot of them from following their competitive careers.

To attend the show, I traveled to Killarney in County Kerry for the day. The INEC Arena in Killarney has been the venue for Worlds for the past three years, so I’m pretty familiar with the city. I spent the day visiting my favorite spots, had a nice dinner, and then went to the show. The venue for Celtic Steps is at the Killarney Race Track, and the performance started at 8:30 pm. Since seating was not assigned, I made sure to arrive right when the doors opened to secure a good spot. I ended up in the second row, right in the center, with an unobstructed view of the stage.

The show offered a little bit of everything: hardshoe, softshoe, competitive style dancing, sean nós (old style) dancing, live music, and singing. One of the musicians also served as the narrator throughout the performance, explaining different types of Irish tunes and the distinctions between various dance styles. With this broad mix, it’s easy to see why the show is so popular among tourists. It provides a great introduction to traditional Irish dance and music, and you could easily walk away having learned a lot!

What stood out to me the most was the casual, lively atmosphere of the show. Unlike Riverdance or other formal productions, Celtic Steps allowed photography, even flash photography, and actively encouraged audience participation. The crowd was invited to clap, sing, and even dance along with the performers. The dancers and musicians joked with each other on stage and cheered each other on, which made the show feel really engaging. The audience loved it! Almost everyone was clapping along to the music, tapping their feet in their seats, and cheering on the performers. The whole experience felt upbeat and joyful, making it such a fun evening.

The show features a cast of world class dancers and musicians, including some of the biggest names from CLRG. I was most excited to see 3x World Champion Emily Rose Colangelo and Irish Open Champion Holly Duffy. To me, Emily is the perfect balance of power and grace. She dances with so much strength, but makes it look effortless. Holly is incredibly elegant, with such light footwork and poise. I was so glad they were both performing the night I was there, and I got the chance to talk to them after the show! The other dancer who blew me away was Mark Clifford. I didn’t know who he was before the show, but he was amazing. His hardshoe footwork was incredible. He did these double clicks where he jumped probably two feet off the ground and just stuck in the air: the clicks were at least two seconds apart. While those three stood out to me, all of the dancers were fabulous, and each brought something unique to the stage.

The dancers appeared multiple times throughout the show, mostly in small groups of 2-4, though there were a few numbers where the full troupe of 8 dancers performed together. While the cast was small, it allowed each dancer a chance to showcase their individual skills. The hardshoe performances included treble reel steps, contemporary set dance pieces, sean nós hardshoe, and an a cappella section. The female dancers performed softshoe numbers, including both reels and slip jigs. It was a great display of power and elegance, blending traditional steps with modern footwork. My only complaint was that each number felt quite short since the show aimed to present so many different styles. I would have loved to see some of the dances last longer!

The musicians were just as vital to the energy of the show as the dancers were. There were five musicians playing throughout the entire performance, using instruments such as the piano, beatbox, button accordion, Irish wooden flute, tin whistle, and guitar. There was also a singer who performed three songs: an Irish poem, a Scottish folk song, and a cover of a song by U2. One of the standout moments was a bodhrán (Irish drum) demonstration from one of the musicians and one of the dancers who also plays. Some of the male dancers came out and matched the beats of the bodhrán with their hardshoe rhythms. It was a really cool blend of music and dance.

I always love the chance to attend an Irish dance show because I’m usually in the group on stage! It’s rare for me to be in the audience, and getting the chance to watch from the other side reminded me of the joy we bring to others through our performances. It was especially touching to see how the audience had come from all over the world. There were people there from New Zealand, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Canada, the US… and probably a few more that I’m forgetting. And everyone was there to share in the same experience and celebrate Irish dance and music together. Music and dance are really powerful ways of sharing culture and community. It was really fun to be sitting amongst people who were watching Irish dance live for the very first time. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the entire experience and hope I get a chance to see the show again someday! It was fun, memorable, and in one of my favorite cities in Ireland. If you ever visit Ireland, you absolutely have to make a trip to Killarney.  And if you do, I highly recommend seeing Celtic Steps!