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Tell me about the first dancers from your school that moved on into the show world.

Well, that's a difficult question to answer, because they always moved on - as even I did, when I was growing up.

We were talking earlier in this interview about how things have changed with Eurovision and how there's so much show-dancing..... In Ireland we have these Irish stage shows in the major hotels dotted around Ireland (not just in Dublin), and you always had Irish dancers featuring prominently on these shows. Tourists throughout the summer months would come to visit Ireland, and so all these different hotels and venues put on big Irish shows.

So the show dancing aspect of it has always been here. But now this has grown and spread throughout the world. Since I was a young child, I have danced in many such shows.

 

 

 

Cameraman Kevin McNamidhe films Colm O'Se during filming of Step by Step III
 
I was thinking more in terms of some of the dancers from your specific school that went into the big shows whose names would now be known round the world.

Yes, of course. My own dancers have gone into many shows, including the main shows ... they're all lovely, and they're such good ambassadors for Ireland, and I'm very, very proud of them and what's happened with their dancing. How they can go out there in the world and hold themselves, it's magnificent! Hats off to them, they are just such gracious kids. There are too many to name them all here.

And also, I have to say a big 'thank you' to the likes of John McColgan and Moya Doherty, who gave our young people a chance to go out and show off our wonderful Irish dancing to the world. Moya and John, Michael Flatley - who I think is the best 'show dancer' in the world - Bill Whelan, Ronan Hardiman... the wonderful musicians and singers, as well as our dancers - they were all so beautiful and perfect, all lovely dancers.

But the lovely thing about John, Moya and Michael Flatley, was that the dancers were well chaperoned and well taken care of. The protection and environment they are given is excellent... they were well looked after as young dancers. The discipline is incredible, and it shows.


Colm O'Se, Joan Rafter & Claire Smyth
filming Step by Step III
John brought me to London to the opening of one of the shows, and I saw them all backstage and they were all like children, waving at me from their dressing-rooms, and they were so excited to see somebody that they knew from Ireland, and I was nearly crying looking at them.
 


Claire Smyth, Joan Rafter & Shereen Dolan
on the set of Step by Step III

 The turnover of dancers in the shows must be fairly high, given the strain dancing at that level must put on the body. Is the demand from the various shows now more or less constant?


Yes... in February I was at the All-Ireland dancing championships in Ennis in County Clare, and there on the actual event programme were full page adverts for auditions--To Dance on the Moon, auditions being held in such-and-such a room in the Templegate Hotel, and another big page, 'Auditions being held for Gaelforce...' The young people were queuing up for these auditions; the demand is certainly there.

 
And they are being compensated well? They're not being exploited?

They are definitely being well compensated and it's a lovely thing to see, because their Mums and Dads put so much into them when they were much younger as of course they did themselves, as they still do.

As I said previously, in the top shows the dancers are given an excellent environment - they are taken care of and they get to travel the world performing. Some of my own dancers' parents have been very concerned when their child first goes to sign a contract and travel abroad. I was very happy to be able to tell them that they don't need to worry. Just look at how well the beautiful young dancers have fared over the years - speaks for itself!
 
But there still is as much interest in being a champion?

Oh, very much so. very much so. The numbers are huge at competition level, and still growing.

For example, last year in San Francisco at the American Nationals, and again this year in Toronto, there was a large percentage increase in numbers competing. Just looking at the numbers of competitors year over year, it's definitely growing .


Claire Smyth, Joan Rafter & Shereen Dolan
on the set of Step by Step III
 
Do you fear it all evaporating like a passing fashion, or do you think it is so solidly established that it will continue for a long time, and go on growing and evolving?

Irish dancing is not a passing fashion, and it will continue to grow and evolve, absolutely, yes. As I said earlier, the competition numbers are consistently on the increase!

Next year, the 32nd World Irish Dancing Championships - which is the pinnacle of Irish Dancing competition - will be held in Glasgow, Scotland. This is the first time ever that the Championships will be held outside of Ireland .

 

Ronan McCormack, Colm O'Se & Anthony Fallon
on the set of Step by Step III
 And the whole new world of the shows, is there a danger of that being a passing phase, where the shows will lose their appeal and it will all die again?


Show dancing will remain as popular as ever at it's current levels and will continue to grow and evolve - it just was never established before at such a popular level worldwide. Now it is established, and a level of demand will remain over the coming years.

So I don't think the shows are going to lose their appeal; it's here to stay. If you'd asked me that question three years ago I'd have said 'I'll give it another two years', but it's getting bigger and bigger... splinter groups are just mushrooming everywhere. Everyone wants to see this.

 
Michael Flatley played around with Flamenco dancing with the Chieftains.

Yes, he did, that's right. And I love Flamenco dancing - and what a beautiful dance couple they made! Michael Flatley and Maria Pages together, superb! Now that lady knows a thing or two about 'style'! I love Flamenco dancing - it's magnificent.

I remember seeing Michael dancing with the Chieftains at the Special Olympics event held in Dublin during the mid-eighties - incredible .

Ronan McCormack, Colm O'Se & Anthony Fallon
on the set of Step by Step III
 
Was the show world something you always thought would come one day or was it a total surprise?
"As anyone will see when they watch, the standard was so magnificent then and it is even better now."

No, it's not a total surprise and I did think it would come but I didn't know how it would eventually arrive - as we now know, during the interval of a Eurovision song contest! I thought probably, if I was to sit down and analyse it many years ago I would just have said it's going to evolve and it'll go on and on.

I certainly feel that I was one of the teachers in Ireland who would have been pushing to take the dancing to the highest level we could take i, and that's one of the reasons I produced the 25th Anniversary [World Championships 1994 video]: to show the world where we were going. As anyone will see when they watch it, the standard was so magnificent then and it is even higher now .

 
You have also produced highly acclaimed teaching videos for Irish dance. How did that come about? Tell me a little about them.

Well, the first one was done in 1994, before the Eurovision, before that wonderful moment when Michael and Jean came onstage and turned the whole world upside down.

That [the video] was done two weeks before the Eurovision. This was not a teaching video, but a documentary of the 25th Anniversary of the World Championships.

Literally all of the Riverdancers, and all the Lord of the Dancers, back lines, even the stars, the leads, after Michael and Jean, were all on that video. There's a very good interview with Colin Dunne, and Jean Butler in costume, Gillian Norris, Bernadette Flynn, Breandan de Gallai... Sorcha McCaul, Pat Roddy, Colm Hayes, Eileen Martin, Colm O'Se... so many! They are all on that video before the Eurovision.

And then when the world saw what happened with dance I was getting lots of emails: 'Where can we learn to dance? What can we do?'


Anthony Fallon & Claire Smyth
on the set of Step by Step III

So I decided "Okay, I'll teach you to dance", and I went into the studio and produced Step by Step Volume One, my first teaching video. It was a great success, even more than I had expected it to become. That was very enjoyable and a great achievement for me.

And then they wanted to learn how to dance in the hard-shoes, so I created my next video, "Step By Step Volume II", which is the nearest thing you were going to get to 'show dancing'. That's how the series of videos started. The world just seemed to fall in love with the show dancing at that point, and I continued on making instructional videos and CDs from there.
 
How many videos do you have to date?

Olive dancing
on the set of Step by Step III

I have produced and directed eight videos in all, and most of these have a music CD to accompany it with the music from each video.

To learn Irish Dancing, I have the "Step By Step" series of videos: Volume I - Learn to dance basic steps in the light shoes, Volume II - Learn to dance in the hard shoes, Volume III - (Brand new!) Learn to dance the traditional Irish set dances.

Before I completed Volume III, I produced a four-video series that teaches all of the Ceili dances - The Complete Ceili Collection - all 30 of them! I'm very proud of this box-set in particular - it's a big achievement because it was such a big production.

We filmed during the 2000 World Championships, using world-championship standard teams that also competed in the Worlds 2000! So not only is this a fantastic instructional set, it's a celebration of ceili dancing itself.

As mentioned previously, my first video was the documentary of the 25th Anniversary World Championships, held in Dublin 1994. It was filmed just weeks before Riverdance exploded onto the scene, so it captures the mood of Irish dancing right at that crucial point in time.

It also captures all of the key showdancers that have performed over the years, in their traditional environment. So it turned out to be a very important documentary, everyone loves it!

So I have four instructional video releases, and also the World video..... and I am thrilled to announce that I have just released my new video, Step By Step Volume 3 - it released in early July. It features six young champion dancers, some of them from Riverdance, some from the Lord of the Dance, and one of my own dancers, and they show each of the dances when they are completely taught, in full costume.

On the video I teach in the same style as I did on the other videos. I teach how to do these dances, they're all the 'traditional 'set dances which are required to do your teachers' exams and potential teachers want to have them. It's also essential for teachers as a technical reference guide, and adjudicators, and anyone who wants to learn these dances, so it's very important.

These dances were handed down from generation to generation by the dance masters, and were very nearly lost - so it's hugely important that they were captured on film. I also released a CD to go with the video, with essential music. It's got some very bright reels and jigs and slip-jigs on it, so it's fun and the dancers really enjoy them .

 
And there will be faces the world will recognise which will give it all the more wide appeal?

Absolutely! Featuring are: Colm O Se, Joan Rafter, Ronan McCormack, Anthony Fallon, Shereen Dolan, and Claire Smyth.

These include four ex-Riverdancers, including Colm who was lead understudy in Riverdance for 6 years, and indeed danced the lead in many shows. Joan Rafter was also an understudy and danced the lead in the show on many occasions. Ronan McCormack also danced in Riverdance for 6 years, and he played the keyboards in the CD that compliments the video. A real musical talent!

Anthony won the World Championships in his category last year, and he just won the American Nationals in Toronto in early July - congratulations Anthony! Shereen and Claire are All-Ireland champions, and are currently dncing in the Jurys Doyle cabaret in Dublin, and will be touring America later this year - good luck girls! So all are very well known show dancers, national, and World champion dancers. We had such fun making the video, they made a great team and were an absolute joy to work with!
 
Across the world the Irish dance schools now teach many adult dance enthusiasts as well as the very young, yet here in Ireland the schools don't seem to offer any adult classes. Why do you think it is so different here? Is there no demand for it, despite that all forms of exercise and night classes, including other dance forms, seem to be booming?

I don't think that adults are not being taught. I get hundreds, and I mean hundreds of emails, and lots and lots of phone calls, people asking me 'will you teach Irish Dancing to adults?'

I think we just don't have enough hours in the day. I already teach adult students from abroad in University College Dublin during the summer season when my schedule is quieter.

If I had more time, I would love to open a permanent class just for adults. It's not possible at the moment though.
Anthony Fallon, Claire Smyth, Ronan McCormack, Joan Rafter, Colm O'Se, & Shereen Dolan
filming Step by Step III

But I do find time to teach more adults occasionally - I did workshops in Wales for example, both last year and the year before. It was a piggy-back thing when the chance arose. I was travelling to Wales to sing with the choir I am in, a chamber choir, and I had time during the day to work at a cultural exchange festival. The choir members themselves came into the workshops I was doing and they just went hysterical, they loved it so much! 'Olive, when you get back to Dublin, please open up a class!'

So yes the demand is there - I just think it's a time thing, and that teachers here are so busy - so I think it should definitely be shouted up on the Web: "All you teachers who have the time, please open adult classes too!" Incidentally, there are many teachers here in Ireland who do adult classes. The Irish Dancing Commission and other bodies have full directory listings .

 

How do you see the future of Irish Dance?

I see it going from strength to strength. It's getting bigger as we speak, all over the world.

While you and I are chatting here, e-mails are coming in to all the teachers, saying 'please come out here' or 'please can I have the video' or 'please teach me to dance', and so it's growing all the time, everywhere - not just in Ireland.

So I just see it going from strength to strength, and the changing face of Irish dance is showing strongly that we will keep the tradition along with the changes.

It's never going to fade!

Check out Olive Hurley's website at www.olivehurley.com