| | | DRUID |  Druid
promises to be a spectacular stage and musical sensation, featuring five of Ireland's
finest male vocalists coming together in a dramatic celebration of Ireland's music
culture.
Backed
by an 11-piece orchestra, Druid is performed by Ciaran Nagle (Riverdance, The
Three Irish Tenors), Tony Norton (La Scala, The Three Irish Tenors), Eoin Brady
(National Chamber Choir), Simon Morgan (Anuna, The Drawing Room Opera Company)
and Brian Dunphy (Riverdance, The Three Irish Tenors).
Druid opened in
the Mahony Hall of The Helix, DCU on Friday, March 17. Click on the image to read
more, and click here for a larger
version of the Druid poster. Check
back soon for the Druid feature at the Celtic Cafe. •
• •
| | | | GAELFORCE
DANCE ON TOUR! |  It's
been way too long since fans have had the chance to see Gaelforce Dance,
but the good news is that a new world tour kicked off in Talinn, Estonia, on March
8!
Our comprehensive coverage about Gaelforce begins with the auditions
for new dancers, with much more to come in the way of photos and interviews. Click
on the image for the very beginning, and check back regularly for the coming installments.
•
• •
| | | | DARREN
HOLDEN MOVIN' OUT! |  Former
Riverdance lead singer and "Piano
Man" Darren Holden is starring in the national tour of the Tony award-winning
Broadway musical Movin' Out, where Billy Joel recently surprised
him and the audience, performing some of his own songs. Click on the image to
go to DarrenHolden.com to learn more! While there, be sure to check out his song
in aid of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Kudos, Darren!
Darren
recently performed at the US-Ireland Alliance event "Oscar Wilde:
Honoring Irish Writing in Film" honoring Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan
and David Holmes, during Oscar week in Los Angeles. Click
here for information on that exciting event, emceed by Jean
Butler, of Riverdance fame.
• •
•
| | |
| HANDS
ACROSS THE WATER |  A
benefit for the children of the tsunami, The CD release of Hands Across the
Water on Dec. 20 brings together those in the world of Celtic music with their
counterparts in American roots and country, including Vince Gill, Altan, John
Prine, Maura O'Connell, Rodney Crowell, Paul Brady, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Sharon
Shannon, Alison Brown, Lúnasa, Jim Lauderdale, Pauline Scanlon, Jerry Douglas,
John Cowan, Jon Randall, Darrell Scott, Máirtín O'Connor, Ciaran
Tourish, Blue Merle, The Duhks, Danu, Mindy Smith, Solas, Tim O'Brien, and more.
Kudos to Compass
Records and organizers John Cutliffe
and Andrea Zonn for a most worthwhile
project. Click on the image to go to HandsAcrossTheWater.com to learn more! •
• •
| DRONE
ON!
The High History of Celtic Music |
 Winnie
Czulinski has written this book about "The High History of Celtic
Music" in not only a most informative and engaging manner, but one that
seems ideally suited to those of us who came to "Celtic culture" as
a result of Irish dance shows like Riverdance and Michael Flatley's Lord
of the Dance, which she includes in her coverage.
Click
on the image to read an excerpt from the book at Amazon.com to get a delightful
taste of her writing style, and watch out for our full feature on this terrific
tome and a contest, coming SOON!
•
• •
| |
CORA SMYTH & BREDA SMYTH |
 Cora
and Breda Smyth, sisters from County Mayo who have won over 40 All-Ireland
titles, are long-time favorites of the Celtic Cafe for their years of touring
with Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames.
They come from a family with not only a strong musical tradition -- brother Sean
Smyth is a founding member of the fantastic group Lúnasa
-- but all three are medical doctors!
Cora
and Breda have just recently collaborated on an exciting self-titled album which
represents the music they've loved and shared together. Learn more about it by
going to CoraSmythBredaSmyth.com by clicking on the image above. See
Cora's fiddling burning up the stage in Celtic Tiger!
•
• •
| | THE
ESSENTIAL CHIEFTAINS |  This
new release is a 2-disc set containing 35 tracks spanning from the Chieftains'
4th LP in 1965 through 2002's "Down the Old Plank Road" -- with an amazing
line-up of guests!
The
Essential Chieftains (RCA Victor/ Legacy/SonyBMG), draws from their output
on Columbia in the 1970s, Claddagh in the '80s, and RCA Victor in the '90s and
2000s, as personally selected by original founding member Paddy Moloney,
with over a dozen guest stars ranging from James Galway, the Corrs, Carlos Núñez,
Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, and Béla Fleck, to Sting, Elvis Costello, Marianne
Faithfull, Van Morrison, Alison Krauss, Jackson Browne, the McGarrigles, and many
others; compiled by Jerry Rappaport and Paddy Moloney, with scholarly liner notes
written by Nashville's Robert K. Oermann. Click
on the image above for more information, and Click
here to go to the Chieftains' official site, where you can find tour information,
including Carnegie Hall on St. Patricks' Day! •
• •
| |
QUAGYMYRE'S NEW CD |
|
 Of
Cabbages and Kings is the latest release of the band Quagmyre of Toronto,
Canada!
Click
on the image to go to their official site to learn more. Hint: You'll encounter
the amazing Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, brothers who perform with the Chieftains
when they're on tour, and the lovely Cara Butler, who dances up a storm
with them! •
• •
| | |
|  Keltika
Magazine, a very fine publication in Italy, features articles of great
interest to us, however the articles are in Italian only!
Click
on the image to read about the current issue of Keltika, and click
here to go to their Music Column Editor Alfredo De Pietra's own
website.
Click
here to see a larger version of the Keltika cover. Click
here to go to the new Keltika website! Click
here to go to Alfredo's special corner of the Celtic Cafe's Music section,
with some of his interviews and reviews... with more coming soon! | |
DANCE
SPECIAL FEATURES!
| Click
here for some of our Dance features,
including interviews with some of the best dancers on the world stage today.
•
• • | |
OLIVE HURLEY ON DVD |
 Olive
Hurley's videos "Irish Dancing Step by Step, Vol. 1 & 2" have
helped thousands of Irish dancers around the globe perfect those steps!
Now
available on DVD, they're great for everyone, and especially fun for those of
us who aren't Irish dancers, but admire the talented performers in the Irish dance
shows we love, and wouldn't mind learning a few steps in our own living rooms!
Click
on the image above to learn more about the premier Irish dance instructional
tapes at Olive's own site "LearnIrishDancing.com" or OliveHurley.com.
Click here
to go directly to the page which offers sound and video clips of the new DVDs! Click
here for our Celtic Cafe feature about this marvelous woman! •
• •
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LORD
OF THE DANCE: MY STORY | |
 Michael
Flatley is the seminal figure of an artistic revolution that led to a new
era of dance theater, which in turn led to the formation of the Celtic Cafe community.
We have long awaited the autobiography of the Lord of the Dance, and unsurprisingly,
it turns out to be as controversial as the man himself.
Click
on the image of the book cover to read the Celtic Cafe's review of "Lord
of the Dance: My Story," released on March 7 by Touchstone, a division
of Simon & Schuster. The UK release, simply entitled "Lord of the
Dance," arrived at bookstores on April 7, from Macmillan's Sidgwick
& Jackson division. Click
here for Michael's upcoming book signing events. Want
to discuss the book or his shows like Celtic Tiger, and be informed of media appearances?
Join our CelticCafeFLATLEY e-mail group by clicking
here. Scroll down to the MIKEroCosm link for our Celtic Cafe microsite
for even more. Interested
in all the Irish dance shows, Celtic music, books, etc.? Sign up for our main
Celtic Cafe mail list/Yahoo Group! Click
here to get an idea of the information posted to our Celtic Cafe community.
| | |
| 
Visit our Celtic Cafe
microsite devoted to Michael Flatley and his work, and connect up with
fans from all over the world! Here
you will find information about anything connected to Lord of the Dance
and Feet of Flames, and if it's not in the MIKEroCosm itself, you'll be
able to find other great sites through our LINKS page there! Click
here to go to our CelticCafeFLATLEY discussion group, where you
can browse messages related to Da Man and his Lord of the Dance troupes. Click
here for information about his newest show, Celtic Tiger. Click
here for the feature about Michael Flatley, receiving an award at the
ICCUSA's Celtic Ball,
here for our feature about him and his Lord of the Dance troupe at the
Monaco Red Cross Gala, here
to read about Michael with Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and here
about his participation in the Boxing Debate at the UCD Law Society. Recent features
include University College Dublin's special honorary degree ceremony (Dr.
Michael Flatley!), The Wild Geese organization's award to Michael for
his outstanding
achievements in promoting and preserving Irish culture and heritage, a focus
on his life in an episode of "Life of Luxury," hosted by
George Hamilton, and "Pushing
the Envelope" on behalf of the National Literacy Trust of the
UK. Join
us at the 'Cosm simply by clicking
here, won't you? We think you'll be impressed! And you would definitely
be impressed by Alexander Servas' original movie trailer "teaser"
for the MIKEroCosm. Click
here!
|
CELTIC PROGRAMMING
at WLIW 21
 Many
public television stations across the U.S. have been and continue to be responsible
for helping to create a huge interest in Irish dance and Celtic music, including
WLIW 21 of New York. We applaud their programming choices, particularly
during the month of March, when it seems everyone is on high alert for "Celtic
culture." Check WLIW or your local PBS stations to see specials like Celtic
Roots Festival; Live Concert of the Greatest Irish Artists: Gael Force; The Corrs:
Live in Geneva; Daniel O'Donnell: The Rock 'n Roll Show; Frank Patterson: Ireland's
Greatest Tenor - Ireland in Song; Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks "Rain,
Rain, Go Away" celebrating St. Patrick's Day; Spirit of the Emerald Isle;
and PATRICK: A dramatic portrait of one of the best-loved and least-understood
icons of world religion, St. Patrick, featuring narration by Liam Neeson, Gabriel
Byrne as the voice of Patrick, and commentary by author Frank McCourt.
Please
pledge support for your local public radio and television stations and these wonderful
programs. Click
here to go to WLIW.org to learn more!
•
• • |
| | TRISTAN
AND ISOLDE
A
Celtic Legend | Gwenno of Wales and Cornwall has many fans at the
Celtic Cafe due to her days travelling the world in Michael Flatley's "Lord
of the Dance." However, she's traded in her high kicks for high notes,
launching her musical career with Sain Records of Wales.
CoverDriveRecords
will be releasing a new single with Gwenno's vocals gracing the musical version
of "Tristan and Isolde" -- capturing the real essence of this
beautiful 6th Century Cornish legend. Click
here to go to the official site, and watch for our upcoming contest to
win the "collector's item" advance CD single.
Click
here for our Music section
and see other wonderful artists we've featured at the Celtic Cafe.
Click
here for interviews with luminaries in our Dance section. | | |
Join
the Celtic Cafe's Discussion Groups!
We
have a considerable number of Celtic Cafe e-mail discussion groups!
Please click here for more
information or enter your email address below!
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RIVERDANCE
The
Ten Years  Feb.
9, 2005 marked the Tenth Anniversary of the touring show that put Irish dance
on the map -- worldwide! Irish dance and music fans had much to look forward
to last March, including a new Riverdance program on public television
stations in the U.S., a North American tour, and a Riverdance CD that was
released on March 8! Click on the CD cover image above left to learn more about
the Original Cast Recording Tenth Anniversary Special Edition.
Learn
more about composer Bill Whelan by going to his official site at BillWhelan.com.
Go
to the Riverdance website directly by clicking
here.
•
• • CELTICA
MAGAZINE
 Celtica
Magazine of Italy
We just love knowing about magazines around the world
devoted to things Celtic, even if we can't read them! Unfortunately, Celtica
is just in Italian as is our dear "Keltika," but the Celtic music
on the CD that comes bundled with each copy of the magazine can be enjoyed in
ANY language!
Click
on the above image to go directly to their official site, www.Celtica.it
-- and click
here to read (in English) about the contents of the July/August edition
of this fine publication. At
Celtica.it you can even listen to samples of the great Celtic music that comes
bundled with the magazine!
Click
here for a larger version of the image above, the cover of the current
issue.
 Keep
up with what's new in the world of Irish dance, Celtic music and more by joining
our Celtic Cafe Yahoo Group!
Click
on the Celtic circle logo for "newsy tidbits" in our message archives
for "anything Celtic." Join
us and post your own, won't you? • •
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