| Tell us about
Tony Comerford and his role in helping you become the dancer you are. Tony
Comerford, you have to know him. He was and is like a big brother, a best friend,
a role model, and you have to say that he helped raise me. I love him; he's always
known what to do or say to get me to see what has to be done, or do what I had
to do. He's got a hell of a story to tell; he's been around Irish dancing
his whole life, and it's been in his family forever too. I also think that if
you're lucky enough to have him as a teacher, you're ahead of the game. Who
have been the most important role models for you, whether in dance or other endeavors? My
inspiration comes from so many different places. And, to be totally honest, from
everywhere. Rhythm and movement and feeling all have to work together in whatever
degree they're called for. I am fascinated by Cuban, Brazilian, African, and Flamenco
rhythms -- they're beautiful. Hearing contra or timbales always sparks something.
And movement and style-wise, that's an endless list. I love rhythm tap,
and the old school is the greatest source of inspiration. Especially the people
who I can call friends, like Van Porter, Diane Walker, Guillem Alonso, the people
I admire like Jimmy Slyde, John Bubbles, Steve Conders, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson,
the Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and I love Sammy Davis, Jr. And
from there, the whole Rat Pack, that level of entertaining I can only pray for.
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy, wow. They could entertain and perform with
such class. Bruce Lee will always be more than a man to the world, and
his physical perfection as much as his philosophies mean a lot to me. Classical
and Jazz dancers will always have my utmost respect, I think they're amazing.
And I love Michael Jackson: that energy and style, it's definitely his own. And
musically, Eric Satie made me want to learn to play the piano. The feelings that
he captures in his music in amazing. But all these people and ideas make
me want to be me more than anything else. We'd love to hear
about your time in Riverdance! What are your best memories? Riverdance
is a great job for any dancer who gets the chance to be a part of it. I got that
chance, and while I was there they were good to me. Yeah, I was younger and a
lot different then, and I now know that I wasted too much time being pissed off
about things that I could not control. And that got in the way of me enjoying
what I should have: the fact that I got to dance every day, because that was my
job and what I loved to do, to be a part of something great, and see a lot of
really great places. I remember one year we spent the whole winter in Florida.
That was three years ago now, so I can't speak of how the company is now,
so I won't. But while I was there, I made some great friends that I still keep
close to me, and the company even made this documentary about me and a dear friend,
Kerri Houston, called "Riverdancers: Bad Boy and the Hometown Girl". Riverdance
with CBC wanted to do a special spot on the Canadians in the cast, which then
ended up being specifically on the two of us. It was hilarious, and still gets
played on TV a lot. I remember when the crew came to do the filming while
I was at home, there was this scene on a beach in Vancouver and we had brought
my dog along to maybe be in it. She just didn't like the director, and wasn't
shy about it. She actually tore his shorts. And she was a big dog; it was weird
at first, than we laughed about it. Tell us about working with the
incomparable Seamus Egan and Solas in DoDG. Celtic Café favorites! Seamus
Egan and Solas are incredible musicians, that much is obvious. The music and arrangements
that they put together for the show were some of what I think are the best pieces
of music I've ever heard. I hope someone's told them that. What are
your career aspirations once you think you've had enough fun dancing around the
world? Career aspirations? I wanna be a rock star! No, it's such
a hard thing to talk about. I used to want to be huge. Rich and famous.
Because I thought I deserved it. I was wrong, and I don't anymore. Now, I just
want to be okay. I want to know what I can do, and what my limits are, and what
I'll have to do to break them. I know that I'm a dancer, and I think that no matter
what happens or where I go or end up, God willing, I'll keep dancing. Right now
I wander, finding pieces of what I want to become along the way. One day I hope
I figure it out. What would be ideal, for any dancer, would be to get to
the point where you can stop doing what you have to do, and start doing what you
want to do. Because, seriously, to choose this as a profession means it's a job.
If it can be creatively satisfying that's awesome, but it still has to pay the
bills, and put food on the table. We have a CelticCafeDANCERS group
on Yahoo, as you are aware, and it has grown very large with many Irish dancers
of all ages and levels of expertise joining us. What kind of advice might you
offer them, taking into account the career opportunities that have opened up in
recent years? I remember something that Tony said to me once and
it stuck with me. He said, "The only thing that is definite is that nothing is
definite." Probably the only piece of advice that I can offer of any use
is to fight. Fight until you can't fight anymore, then get up and fight some more,
and when it's over, turn around and see what you've learned. When everyone else
is tired, and sitting down, be the one to stand up. Be the first one in the studio
and the last one to leave. Maybe more importantly, stay honest with yourself.
Especially if you choose to go professional. In shows there are parts, and if
you're not right for it, then you have to go out and find the one that you are
right for. Don't waste time: you have to look back before you go forward.
All this didn't just come from nowhere; the people that came before you have their
own ways and experiences, and there's always something to learn if you're willing
to listen. There will always be other jobs, other shows, and if you work hard
enough and long enough, and explore enough, things will find you. I never used
to believe that things happen for a reason, but now I do. There was a time
when I gave up on everything, I just stopped. I didn't know if I could do it any
more. But it was something that I had to do. I just lived, tried things that I'd
never done before because there wasn't time, or any number of dumb reasons. I
had a house to myself and I just enjoyed living for a while. Then one night I
was sitting in my chair with my cat, Kato, and I looked up to whoever was listening,
and said "Give me the chance, I'll do the work." The next day the phone rang,
and three days later I was on a plane to London. And here I am again. Do
you think it's possible to have TOO many Irish dance shows on the world stage
at one time? People will always want to be entertained, and performers
will always need to perform. So, I guess as long as there's something to see,
and it's worth watching, people will keep coming. There are too many other variables
that affect whether a show is a long-term or a short-term success, but I think,
quite simply, if there are too many, then there won't be any more. But
I can't be the judge of that. Can there be too many musicals, or tap shows, or
operas? Or bands, singers, musicians, artists, and writers? Who are
some of the dancers you admire and why? What "styles" of Irish dance do you gravitate
towards? There are so many that I admire, some of whom you might
never have heard of. When I was growing up, a guy named Philip Brady was one of
my heroes. He was an old student of Tony's; he influenced me a lot. He could jump,
and he moved so fast and far, he made me want to fly. So I kept that: I wanted
to fly. That was when I was just a kid. Now he's one of my closest friends,
and his whole family. It's this whole Western Canada thing, we're like family.
And in my own classes, Zeph Caissie (we joined Riverdance together), we
pushed each other so far, and did some great things. All the guys that
I competed against, because we had an incredibly difficult age group. They were
more than just competitions, they were like fights, and at the end of it, we would
all go out and party like rock stars. The guys in North America, we used to call
each other to make sure we would be at the same competitions: Brent and Graham
Wood, Jimmy Riordan, Billy O'Hara, Emmett MacCormack, Arthur McComish. And all
the English and Irish guys like John Carey, Dennis McDermott, Conor Smith, Conor
Holmes, Christopher Doyle, Colin Ryan, and Peter Harding. There are so many. Colin
Dunne, the stuff that he comes up with, you look at it and think, "How the hell
did you think of that?!"-- and not only that, but the way he does it, wow. Jean
Butler, with that incomparable grace, and her wingspan of legs that go on forever.
Ryan Carroll, a Canadian in Riverdance, has got feet like a typewriter.
As for styles, they're all so different. I don't know if you could say
I gravitate toward any. If anything, I'd say any one similar to mine, whatever
that means. Sorry. What do you like to do when you are on tour, assuming
that you have the time? I read a lot while on tour. I like learning
as much as I can in the fields that interest me: languages, history, ancient civilizations,
theology, and philosophy fascinate me. I can never seem to get enough. My favorite
book is "Foucault's Pendulum", by Umberto Ecco. It's an incredible piece of work,
I'm not even sure how many times I've read it. It's just too entertaining. I
learned how to read Chinese, and speak German (I felt like I had to; it would
be rude to come to another country and expect everyone to speak your language).
I practice and exercise a lot. I feel like it's a dancer's professional
responsibility to keep the product at a certain standard, and on tour it's dangerously
easy to get out of shape because of all the traveling. That, and the reality that
if you stay stronger than you have to be, you will always be able to protect yourself.
Do you like trying to see the sights wherever you travel? I
like seeing what's around me when there are things to see. Europe has so much
soul, and each country has its own groove. You would really have to see and feel
it all to really take it in, and there's so much of it. To me there are
a couple places that really stand out, like Budapest -- it is such an incredibly
charming and stylish city that celebrates its history in such an amazing way.
Paris -- I think everyone should know what La Louvre is like, and what the inside
of Notre Dame smells like. Hamburg rocks, Switzerland is sexy, and Scandinavia
is cold, stylish and full of beautiful people, but cold. What is
your philosophy of life? I don't know if I have any one philosophy
on life. I think there are so many that need to be observed and tried, or at least
made aware. However, there are a couple of things that I know. I know that
the easiest way to get back to where you were without retracing your steps is
a circle. I believe in the concept of Yin-Yang and admire Buddhism. I think that
one of the toughest things about life isn't getting what you want, but wanting
it after you get it. And that hard work, staying honest (especially with
yourself) and remembering what's really important in life will always pay off
in the end. By the real things I mean the stuff that money can't buy, and no one
can give you: your family, health, faith in something, and love. And although
taking care of yourself is never bad, helping other people for the right reasons
always feels good. Back to Part
I of the Interview To the Review of Fire
of Dance
Interview: Bernadette
Price
Editing: Louise Owen
Original Web Design: Alexander Servas
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