Got
any newsy tidbits?
Let us know. E-mail them to: bernadette@celticcafe.comWe
started the "Buzz" section here at the Celtic Cafe as a means
of sharing some of the news and information posted to our associated mail lists,
which are devoted mostly (but not exclusively) to Irish dance and Celtic music.
For more detailed information, and to join in the discussion about "anything
Celtic," please sign up for our main list, large and very international.
Click on the following to learn more: Celtic
Cafe Yahoo Group • • •
Please
note:
A new page for Cafe Buzz items will appear approximately
every two weeks. The current page can always be reached through
the link from our main page at CelticCafe.com
Scroll
to the bottom of this page for links to the previous Cafe Buzz pages.
•
• •
October 31 SAMHAIN,
EVE OF THE CELTIC NEW YEAR Samhain, pronounced "Sow'
en" (sow rhymes with cow) heralds the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Many
celebrate this time of year as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, and carved-out
pumpkins are seen everywhere. Note, there were no pumpkins in the Old World, so
the custom was to hollow out turnips, or rutabagas!
The
website of Trigallia, an important Celtic festival in Italy, is offering
a bit of fun in the form of a Halloween game, using pumpkins! Click
here to check it out. The site is in Italian, but you can click on the
words "Per scaricare il gioco (496KB) clicca qui" to launch the
game. Check out the wonderful (and amazing!) photos from the
Trigallia 2003 festival by clicking
here. We will be bringing you much more information about Italy and the
Celts in the coming months, including a focus on the magazines there devoted to
Celtic culture. Considering that the Celts had such a strong presence in that
region (northern Italy, Austria and Switzerland) in the form of the Hallstatt
and La Tene cultures, it's not surprising that there are so many Italian fans! Official
site: Trigallia.com •
• •
October 27
CELTIC DANCE FUSION AT THE OLYMPIA THEATRE - Oct.
27 The McCormack-Fay School of Irish Dancing celebrates
its 40th Anniversary with a show entitled Celtic Dance Fusion at the famed
Olympia Theatre in Dublin on Monday, Oct. 27, 2003. The two-and-a-half
hours of Irish dance, music and song includes over 200 dancers. Founder
Grainne McCormack can readily name over 50 former pupils who are now successful
teachers and 10 who are adjudicators in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, U.S.A.,
Australia and even Saudi Arabia. Grainne's record of 8 "All-Irelands"
was broken by her son Fergal Fay, who won his 10th "All-Ireland"
in 1994 at the age of 21. Dearbhla Fay, Fergal's sister, shattered that
record by winning 13 All-Ireland and International Dance Championships, bringing
the family total to 31 All-Ireland Gold medals. Dearbhla is coming home from the
Riverdance tour in China in order
to participate in this very special anniversary performance. Scroll down to the
Oct. 15th Cafe Buzz entry for "Riverdance at the Great Wall of China"
and click
here for an enlarged photo showing Dearbhla in the front row. The
music will be as first-rate as the dancing, as Grainne's husband Martin
Fay, who was a founder of the Chieftains, joins a group of Dublin-based
musicians to perform on what is sure to be a most memorable evening. Congratulations
to the McCormack-Fay School for forty great years!
Click
here for more detailed information about Celtic Dance Fusion at
the Olympia Theatre. •
• •
October 24 THE
WEXFORD FESTIVAL OPERA Why are we buzzing an OPERA festival?!
Well... If you're anywhere next Wexford, Ireland, this coming Sunday night, you
will know why! Hie thee to The Barn! Well, that is the White's Hotel
in Wexford, where Celtic Cafe favorite
Michael Londra is teaming up with Brian
Kennedy to provide some mighty fine late night entertainment. Michael
took over for Brian in his Riverdance on
Broadway role, and both have been very busy since those days! As Celtic
Cafe regulars know, Michael is now the Music Director of RadioCelt,
which we absolutely love! If you haven't yet listened, you're in for a treat.
Check it out at RadioCelt.com. Click
here for our feature about Michael when he was our Artist of the Month
last April. From the Wexford Festival Opera website:
"Wexford is one of those festivals that everybody has always heard about.
For over fifty years the Irish coastal town has been seducing the world with wonderful
productions of rare opera presented as part of a unique festival. The warm and
vivacious welcome, the narrow and ancient Viking streets and the tiny, atmospheric
Theatre Royal add to pleasures which include over forty daytime events as well
as the eighteen evening performances of three major productions. Opera is the
beating heart of the Festival, and the Wexford company of artists, drawn from
all over the world, participate in many of the daytime events as well as in the
main productions at night." See the websites of two of
those artists at MichaelLondra.com
and BrianKennedy.co.uk The
official Wexford Festival Opera site: WexfordOpera.com •
• •
October 22
RONAN HARDIMAN One of
the Celtic Cafe's favorite folks has a brand new website! Check out the wonderfully-revamped
RonanHardiman.com, complete
with several terrific video downloads. The
Irish Tourist Board should link to some of those, as the tempation to
book a trip to Ireland sets in immediately upon viewing some of the commercials
for which Ronan has composed the music. Check out especially the cheesy Mitchelstown
ad (no, really!) on Ronan's Showreel, not to mention the one for Ireland's National
Lottery, among others! In fact, we even have a feature about the Ballygowan
ad from some time ago... click
here to see that. Click
here to read our in-depth Celtic Cafe interview with this genius composer
whose work we first fell in love with on the Lord
of the Dance and Feet of Flames
soundtracks, continuing on through his solo projects such as the Solas
and Anthem CDs. "Pure"
is the new release by the young New Zealand singing sensation Hayley
Westenra, and Ronan's "Heaven" is included on that CD.
Pure has just gone GOLD in the UK and 4 X Platinum in New Zealand, and
is currently at Number 1 in the UK Classical Chart, and at #9 in the pop charts.
We're sure that Ronan's magic touch has something to do with that! Learn
more at Ronan's official site: RonanHardiman.com •
• •
October 20
RETURN TO CAMDEN TOWN - Oct. 24 to Nov. 2 Return
to Camden Town, a festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance,
is now in its 5th year. While most of the festival is based at the London Irish
Centre, it has now spread to include several satellite venues. The ten days of
concerts, ceilis, set dancing, workshops, sessions and talks have gained a high
international profile, and this year's line-up includes: Danú,
Karan Casey and Niall Vallely, John Whelan, The London Lasses and Pete Quinn,
Johnny Connolly and Charlie Lennon, Mick Mulkerrin and Mairéad Casey, Sliabh
Luachra (reunion featuring Brian Rooney, John Carty, Michael Hynes and Mick Casey),
Teáda, Four Courts Ceili Band, Brendan McGlinchey, Colm O’Donnell,
Aidan Vaughan, Liz and Yvonne Kane, Christy
O’Leary (Ex Boys of the Lough) and Bert Deivert, Curly Sullivan (album
launch), Mick Mulvey (album launch), plus more to be announced. Besides
all the talks and workshops for adults, there is also a strong focus on children,
including ceili and set dancing workshops, and even an "Introduction to Irish
Music for Children" workshop. Learn more about this exciting festival
at the official site: ReturntoCamden.org •
• •
October 17 A
UNIQUE THEATERICAL EVENT: BALOR We are delighted
to announce that there is a a new production to look forward to: BALOR,
with the Creative Team spearheaded by the great Breandán
de Gallaí, former Principal Dancer with Riverdance,
and the talented Joe Csibi,
former Musical Director at Riverdance. Balor is an ancient
myth, originating from Gaoth Dobhair, Breandan de Gallai's home town in Northwest
Donegal. Breandan has long felt that it had the potential to become the backbone
for a show, whether it be a musical, ballet or opera. Some feel that Balor the
Show may capture where Irish dancing may have weaved its way into the world stage
had Riverdance not came along when it did. This is the fourth time that Breandan
has been involved in bringing the ancient story of Balor to the stage (as an actor
first and later directing it as a drama). It is a fascinating emotion-driven story
interpreted through the fusion of ballet, Irish dance, and martial arts,
accompanied by a filmatic score. Balor is going into pre-production early in the
new year, and is scheduled for debut in the summer of 2004. From
the Balor World website: "Joe
and I wanted to develop a dance form that would have the dramatic scope to deliver
this story through ballet and contemporary dance styles, but give all the excitement
and energy of the Irish hard shoe discipline. We have seamlessly fused dancers
with experience in other dance forms on the same stage, to tell the story as stage-actors.... With
the dramatic highs of Macbeth, the sultry moods of a Midsummer Night’s Dream
and the sensuality of Salome, the music has a film score feel in the vein of a
thriller or horror. The dancing is integral to the overall musical effect and
has been worked into the score to form part of the percussion. The dramatic score
and daring choreography makes Balor distinctive and unique among theatre events." Journey
into the theatrical world of Balor at the official site: BalorWorld.com •
• •
October 16
CAPODANNO CELTICO 2003 - Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 A
spectacular Italian castle in the heart of Milan is the setting for a very special
3-day Celtic festival, celebrating Samhain. Castello
Sforzesco, founded in 1300, is one of the most important structures in
Milan, and the most famous cultural and performance place in Italy. See the official
site at www.milanocastello.it
for more about the castle. The site is in both English and Italian. It
is rather fitting that as the home of the former Dukes of Milan, the festival
will feature a couple of former Lords -- Daire
Nolan and brother Cian
Nolan, who danced lead roles in Lord
of the Dance for many years. Also performing is Michael Dillon,
and they are a highlight of the Saturday, Nov. 1 day of the festival, as is none
other than Celtic Cafe favorite Moya (Maire)
Brennan. Her site is at MoyaBrennan.com.
We understand that thanks to satellite television, fans in several European countries
will be able to enjoy these spectacular appearances! We'll post the details as
soon as we learn more. Meanwhile, click
here for the page at the official site that gives more information about
the Nolans. This festival is a very important event, and is
organized by Region Lombardy along with the City of Milan. See the official site
for the details: CapodannoCeltico.com •
• •
October 15
RIVERDANCE AT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA It
never ceases to amaze us how Celtic culture continues to spread all around the
globe, finding fans in countries one would have never associated with Irish dance
or Celtic music! The Celtic Cafe itself is a testament to this enthusiasm... we
have subscribers to our associated mail lists from all over the world, connecting
with one another over similar passions. Our Asian friends
include fans in Japan, Taiwan and Korea, but as Riverdance
is taking mainland China by storm, we expect to meet even more folks from that
part of the world, newly discovering this fantastic entertainment. See the amazing
photo alongside the page, of the Riverdance Liffey
Company on the Great Wall of China! We are so envious, and happy
for the talented performers who probably never thought that those dance lessons
they were taking when they were young would lead them to such exotic locales!
Click here for a wonderful group shot of those now quite grown-up dancers,
complete with photo ID. Photographer was none other than Julian
Erskine! Ireland's President Mary McAleese was
with Riverdance in Beijing, as part of a trade mission. She was one of 7000 appreciative
fans in the audience at the Great Hall in Beijing, which also included the president
of China, Hu Jintao. The Liffey is heading next to Shanghai, and then on
to Japan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Find out a lot more about them and the other
terrific troupes of Riverdance at the official site: Riverdance.com •
• •
October 14
KANSAS CITY IRISH FEST FUNDRAISER - Nov. 7 A
few weeks ago we had a Cafe Buzz item promoting the Kansas
City Irish Fest, which started out great! Click
here to read that. However... From the official
website at KCIrishFest.com:
Day 1 of the Festival a great success
It wan't 110
degrees, it wasn't storming, it was simply lovely... Day
2 of the Festival rather wet
It rained. And it rained. And it rained. Unable
to power up the stages due to the water, the festival was finally closed early
at 5pm. Day 3 of the Festival - what Day 3?
It just
kept raining. Over eight inches of rain later and Kansas City had experienced
one of its worst rainstorms ever on record. Beautiful Berkley Riverfront Park
was a mud bath and the festival was declared finished. Board
of Directors issue statement
"The rain-soaked volunteers at Kansas
City Irish Fest regret that we had to throw in the towel, for this year, on what
promises to be Kansas City's most entertaining and successful new festival. Berkley
Park, which looked beautiful and full of people on Friday night, by Saturday noon
looked like the Lakes of Killarney. In all that water was the heartfelt tears
of almost 600 planners, organizers and volunteers. To all the people who
came from the surrounding states, and even from as far away as Ireland, we are
so sorry. Thank you, sincerely, for coming to Kansas City, and we hope you will
come back again next year." The Celtic Cafe heard
from some folks who were there from out of state, and they agreed that except
for the bad luck on the weather, the festival is first-rate, and they will definitely
return. Naturally, the early closure created some financial problems, and there
is now a Fundraising Concert scheduled for Friday, November 7th at Drexel Hall.
Learn more and be sure to check out the raffle for the
trip to Ireland for two at the official website of the Kansas City Irish Fest:
KCIrishFest.com •
• •
October 12
MICHAEL FLATLEY AND THE ICCUSA'S CELTIC BALL 2003 The
Lord of the Dance has been honored yet again this year, this time by the
Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.A.
(ICCUSA), for his outstanding contribution to Arts and Entertainment. ICCUSA serves
over 8,000 members from both large and small companies in the American and Irish
business communities involved in the pursuit of international trade. The
event took place at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Wednesday, October
8th, at the Celtic Ball
2003. The Guests of Honor besides Michael
Flatley were Dermot F. Desmond, Chairman of IIU (International
Investment & Underwriters) Ltd., (Dublin, Ireland); Patrick J. Moore,
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation;
and Michael D. O'Halleran, President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Aon Corporation. The Keynote Speaker was The Honorable Mary Harney,
the Deputy Prime Minister (Tanaiste) and Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
(Ireland). Ms. Harney, as Minister, is responsible for the presence of about 600
U.S. companies, with investments in Ireland of forty billion euros. Click
here for our Celtic Cafe feature about the event, for more information
and many photos of the evening. Click
here for the CelticCafeFLATLEY
mail list/discussion group, the largest on the Web for fans of Michael Flatley,
where one can find all the latest news and information relating to Michael Flatley
and his professional endeavors. Official
Site for the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.A.:
ICCUSA.org •
• •
To see our Buzz for Sept. 14-Oct. 9, click
here.
To see our Buzz for August 26-Sept. 12, click
here.
To see our Buzz for August 3-12, click
here.
To see our Buzz for July 20-July 31, click
here.
To see our Buzz for July 6-July 19, click
here.
To see our Buzz for June 22-July 5, click
here.
To see our Buzz for June 8-June 21, click
here.
To see our Buzz for May 25-June 7, click
here.
To see our Buzz for May 11-24, click
here.
To see our first-ever Cafe Buzz items, click
here. •
• •
Feature: Bernadette
Price
Original Web Design: Alexander
Servas
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