NTIF 2007

The North Texas Irish Festival 2007 was a blast. Preparing for and performing during the St. Patrick’s season has kept me busy so I haven’t been blogging much but things are slowing down so look for the updates to increase.

For Susan and I NTIF started out with a workshop held by Claire Zucker on clogging. It was very Sean Nos-like and quite a fun workshop.

From there we performed with the Emerald School (lots of video taken there), ran a dance workshop where we taught several figures from the Kilfenora Plain Set and followed up by calling the three-hour ceili to close out the festival day.

On Sunday we performed again with the Emerald School and then followed up by wandering around listening to music and shopping.

One new group (to us anyway) that we look forward to hearing more from is Sliabh Notes.  They definitely play music that makes our feet want to start moving around.

More pictures and video are available in our gallery.

Irish Dance Wiki open

We’ve opened up the Irish Dance Wiki which aims to become for Irish dancing what Wikipedia is to general information.

Everyone is welcome to contribute and fill out information on schools, dancing venues, stores, books, videos, etc as they’re related to Irish dancing.

At the moment there are a large list of schools in the South USA area and links to organizations, resources and venues of interest to Irish dancers.

The wiki is open for editing so feel free to add information about your school, class, store, pub, band, etc that either caters directly to Irish dance or welcomes dancers.

October 19th set dance workshop

Connemara Set turn the ladyThe set dance workshop held by Maldon Meehan and Ronan Regan is over and was great fun.

They spent two hours showing us the basic steps for the Connemara Set and running us through the figures after which they gave us a demo of Sean Nos dancing to show us all what the footwork is really supposed to look like!

Ronan also played fiddle for several of the figures and while we learned the footwork which was great to listen to and helped to keep us on track at a speed slower than the CD. I’m sure our neighbors wondered just what was going on 🙂

Afterwards we hung out for a while and talked while enjoying some of the goodies brought by various attendees.

It was a great workshop and we’re looking forward to seeing them again one day. If you get a chance to attend a workshop with them definitely don’t pass it up.

A few more pictures are available in our gallery.

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October 19th set dance workshop

Maldon Meehan & Ronan Regan will be in the Plano, TX area Thursday, October 19th and have offered to teach a workshop on the Connemara Set and steps that go with it. If you haven’t seen set dancing and the fancy footwork that can be added to spice it up, take a look at this video showing some of the Clare Plain set.

You won’t be expected to dance like that by the end of the workshop, but you will learn the figures in the Connemara Set and basics of the steps that go with it. It’s a lively and quite popular set.

The location for the workshop has not yet been determined and depends entirely on how many people can attend and what studios are available. It will most likely be held in the Plano area. The workshop will run from 7:00 – 9:00pm and will cost $15 per person.

If you are interested and can plan to attend the workshop please contact us as soon as possible so we can determine how much space we’ll need. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn a fun dance from two talented instructors; don’t miss it!

If you know someone who might be interested in this workshop, please pass the word on.

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2006 Denton ceili pictures and video

Some pictures and video from the September 16, 2006 Denton Ceili are available in the gallery.

It was a fun ceili hosted by the Denton Celtic Dancers and played by the Lone Star Ceili Band and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one.

Continue reading 2006 Denton ceili pictures and video

Set dancing in Glor

I’ve recently been going through some tapes Susan and I made on our last trip to Ireland, pulling out the set dancing and making web-friendly videos.

The video below is of some set dancing in Ennis, Ireland at Glor on April 27, 2003. Unfortunately we don’t have much video or any photos of the dancing (we were kinda busy) but we do have the sides dancing the third figure of the Clare Plain set. We also have the tops dancing it but if I share that part Susan and Catherine (Sherer-Bishop) will probably kill me.

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Update for the O’Flaherty retreat benefit, 2006

Irish music fiddle playerAs mentioned here, there’s going to be a benefit for the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat at the Trinity Hall Pub on September 22. It’s shaping up to be a hot (indoors) night.

Funds raised from this benefit will help offset the cost in bringing to Texas some of the most accomplished traditional players from Ireland and the US to teach. The retreat is produced by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society, a non-profit organization, and sponsored by the Southwest Celtic Music Association and Trinity Hall Restaurant and Pub. Thanks in advance for all of your support!

The following people have committed to play that night:

  • 5 p.m. Trinity Hall Session Players
  • 6 p.m. Irish Rogues
  • 7 p.m. Jigsaw
  • 8 p.m. Behan
  • 9 p.m. Beyond the Pale
  • 10 p.m. Shift (formerly Busker’s Gate)
  • 11 p.m. Rogers, Hicks and Alfonso
  • 12 a.m. Spriggan

Admission is free, there will be a raffle drawing for prizes and proceeds from meals purchased at the pub will be donated to the retreat.

Several of us are going to be there throughout the night and so there will also be some dancing. Come on out and have some fun!

Continue reading Update for the O’Flaherty retreat benefit, 2006

2006 O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

It will be held October 27-29, 2006 in Midlothian, Texas, just 30 minutes south of Dallas, at a comfortable camp and conference center there.

There will be classes in fiddle, flute, harp, uilleann pipes, tinwhistle, bodhran, guitar, piano accordion, button accordion, piano, concertina, harp, mandolin, tenor banjo, bouzouki, singing (English and Gaelic), dancing and our staff includes some of the best players in the Irish tradition, including John Carty, Daithi Sproule, Jerry O’Sullivan, Randal Bays, Shannon Heaton, Roger Landes and others. Online registration in now underway.

For more info, please visit the retreat website at http://www.irishtradmusic.org/oflaherty.htm.

Continue reading 2006 O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

O’Flaherty Retreat Fundraiser Sep 22, 2006

There will be a fund raiser for the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat at Trinity Hall Pub starting at 6pm and going until the pub closes.

Please mark your calendars and plan to be there to support the retreat!

Bands that have confirmed include Irish Rogues, Spriggin, Jigsaw, Beyond the Pale, and the Trinity Hall Session Players.

Should be wonderful night of Irish music and dancing.

Pictures from Trinity Hall Aug 26, 2006

Pictures and video are online from the Saturday night dancing. It was a great evening with good friends, good music and good beer.

We had thirteen dancers show with most being from our Wed class and a few Scottish folk and step dancers thrown in for good measure.

Come on out next time, all are welcome.