REHEARSALS -- FINAL WEEK
Monday, February 27th - I was able to pay my next visit to the Gaelforce rehearsals, and found everyone in fine form. Sarah was back dancing, although she said she was waking up at night with cramps in her hip, which must be very unpleasant. Otherwise, the troupe seemed to be all in one piece, apart from the standard dancers' problems of blisters and pain from rock-hard, over-stressed muscles.
Richard Griffin, the choreographer, was very pleased with the progress. Now they had the whole show learned off, this final week could be devoted to polishing all the fine details, honing the steps, and even adding new ones just to make some moments more impressive. I could see how far the dancers were developing, looking more and more high quality. Everyone was concentrating hard and totally focussed on making it all the best possible, yet there was still an air of 'craic' and fun throughout the troupe. Richard was still easy and relaxed and laughing with the dancers as they worked. Obviously, he is a past master at balancing the position of authority with camaraderie, and it has created a wonderful atmosphere in the company.
I was keen to hear who had been selected to understudy the four lead roles, as the last time I visited, Richard had preferred not to say, although he was fairly decided on the candidates. He explained that he had to take into consideration who would look right dancing opposite who, and that made the choice more tricky. On stage it would not work if one of the leading ladies towered over her partners, or even if the two male dancers were miles apart in height. Character and style also were important. If they need to use an understudy because of injury, it could mean switching two or more of the leads to keep the balance right in many respects. Luckily, Richard has a strong troupe to select from. He told me he had chosen Gili Ben Ari and Stephen Brennan as Dermot and Johnathon's understudies, and Heather Gordon and Yi-Han Hsiao as the understudies for Kristyn and Jordan.
Richard seemed as enthusiastic as I was about the selections, and pleased that dancers from unexpected places were included. He likes how Irish dance has spread so successfully and we are now finding stars all over the world. They will give a very international appeal to the show, and of course it will be wonderful to be able to give them chance to perform lead roles when the show goes to their home countries - and Gaelforce is already scheduled to head to Taiwan later this spring! The US is bound to be on the horizon, as demand seems to be vigorous, and I hope a tour that includes Israel comes up very soon as well.
Almost there!
I was only able to spend a short time at rehearsals that day, but returned on Friday, March 3rd. I arrived mid-morning, with the action in full swing, save for one very frustrated dancer who was sitting it out with an ice pack on his ankle! Poor Tom Conroy had been practicing for the upcoming World Irish Dance Championships at the end of the previous day's rehearsals, and his foot had turned over badly. No broken bones, but enough that he could not walk on it, let alone dance. He had known enough to ice the injury at once and to rest the foot on a chair as much as possible, which the physiotherapist said had saved him from long-term damage - it was not until Friday afternoon that the physiotherapist arrived to see and treat the ankle, so it was a long and anxious time for both Tom and Richard: there are no extra dancers in the troupe right now, and the male dancers particularly are all vital!
Richard had planned a nice stress-free day, he told me, as they were performing a special 'rehearsal preview' that evening, for the hotel staff plus troupe families and friends! He had intended to polish the numbers all day, thinking everything was set, but without Tom, he needed to re-arrange some big line-ups, and even put Dermot into the space when he would normally not have been on stage at all - which of course meant that Dermot had to learn new dance steps in a heartbeat as well! To me it seemed a daunting task indeed...
However, Irish dancers are not stars for nothing, and Dermot soon showed why he is a champion: soon the pieces were back up to speed again, as if he had been there all along. Tom sat watching, prompting occasionally about placing, but going crazy with not being able to get up and take part. He told me he never cares how much pain he has to deal with, if he could just dance! His hands were moving all the time, going through the steps to keep them sharp in his mind while he couldn't practice. Luckily, the physiotherapist confirmed he had not broken anything, nor torn ligaments or muscles, only wrenched them all badly, and he had strapped up the ankle and directed Tom to continue his ice treatment and stay off the foot for a day or two. He could walk a little, carefully, gradually flexing the ankle more and more, but no dancing. If things went well, he would only be out a few days. At this news, Richard breathed a large sigh of relief!
The musicians had arrived for rehearsal that day: the second fiddler, Bernadette NicGabhann (Ella Haluk, musical director, will be the lead fiddler), Kieron, the whistle and flute player, and Liam Brady, the box (accordion) player. They settled to rehearse in an upstairs lounge, away from the dancers. I paid them a quick visit to take some photos, but then left them undisturbed. They were in full session, and as always, I marvelled privately at how Irish musicians can pick up pieces and play instantly as if they have been practicing together for ages.
That evening, I stayed on late to see the show. They had just received some new costumes from Germany: slick, classy black dresses with just a touch of glitter, and wonderful long fingerless black lace gloves. There was also a new wedding dress for Kristyn, ivory silk satin with silver and gold glittery trim, very stylish! Two of the girls had brilliant red satin dresses to contrast with the black, which added a nice flash of colour to the line-up. These new costumes would be used for the opening wedding scene and for the finale, and in between, for tonight, everyone would wear their own black outfits, pants and T-shirt, or shorts or skirts with black tights [US: pantyhose] and black tops.
The performance was difficult for everyone, as the marquee had very poor lighting, the stage was totally open so all the offstage movement of dancers was visible, the singer was missing (not arriving until the next day) and the soundtrack was incomplete. The musicians were there, but had no microphones for their instruments, so their music could not be heard over the recorded backing tracks! They were not able to be more than mime artists on the stage, which they did with humour and remarkable success. Richard had announced at the beginning the problems that would occur, so the audience understood and took it all in very good part, but I did sympathise with the cast as it must have been frustrating to have to deal with all the problems at this first performance.
Despite it all, the dancers were wonderful, and even after the long day of rehearsals, their energy bounced from the stage and the joy of finally showing the routines to an audience glowed on all their faces. The steps had a fresh fire, and suddenly the sense of Opening Night could be seen and felt. The atmosphere from that stage in Tallinn, Estonia is set to be electric next week!
The audience loved the show, down to the smallest of them - a 3-month-old Labrador-spaniel puppy named Spanner, who sat on his owner's knee, captivated by the taps all evening! Among the crowd too was a special visitor, a friend of many in the cast, Arlene Cooke from the Celtic Tiger troupe. She was previously a member of Dance of Desire, and knew some of the Gaelforce troupe from that time. I first met her through that show the summer it was resident in Dublin. She looked lovelier than ever, and it was very good to see her again and catch up. Like all the dancers, she can't wait to be back on tour again when Celtic Tiger returns to the stage in April. Meanwhile, she was very impressed with the Gaelforce show, and couldn't believe how fast the dancers had learned all their routines to such high standard.
After the show everyone was offered refreshments in the bar, and the dancers had fun giving their version of the Oscars: awards voted on paper earlier, in such categories as Best Joke, Slimmer of the Troupe, Best Member of Hotel Staff, Best Dance Couple, Sexiest Male and Sexiest Female Dancer, Loudest Troupe Member . . . . The list was long, the 'trophies' were beer with Coke-bottle tops as 'medals', and the announcement of the winners caused much laughter and teasing. Although the camera batteries had long since run down and I could not take any more pictures to record the fun, I stayed much longer than intended, but finally had to leave for home. It had been a very interesting and enjoyable day, and now in my possession I had the schedule and tickets for the next exciting part of the adventure, our departure for Estonia on Monday night! Yes! I will be travelling with the troupe to Tallinn, so the Celtic Cafe coverage of the rebirth of Gaelforce Dance can be completed!
So stay tuned for the report of that journey and the Opening Night of Gaelforce Dance on Wednesday, March 8th!
Author: Ann Margaret Keller
Editing: Louise Owen
