Meehan Productions will showcase a cultural display of Irish music and dance in the Sean-nós dance performance called An Damhsa, to take place on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 2 p.m. The performance will be held at Friendly House Community Center in Northwest Portland.
Sean-nós dancing is a traditional style of step dancing from the West coast of Ireland. It is performed in an improvisational way in which steps are danced close to the floor. There is a close connection with the steps and the rhythm of music played.
An Damhsa was written by Phil Meehan and Melia Tichenor. The story will take the audience on a beautifully narrated Journey from Ireland to America and back again. The show will feature Sean-nós, Irish, Cape Breton, American Clogging, Tap and Modern dance.
The performance was created due to a generous Neighborhood Arts grant awarded to dancer Maldon Meehan on behalf of the Regional Arts and Cultural Council (RACC). RACC is a Portland based arts organization whose mission is to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of community life.
The show has been created and directed by Maldon Meehan. Maldon graduated with an advanced degree in Irish dance from the University of Limerick’s Irish World Music Center. For the past twelve years she has been teaching and performing traditional Irish dance in America and abroad.
The project will include dancers from Portland and afar. Featured dancers include Maldon Meehan, Kieran Jordan of Boston, Massachusetts, Shannon Dunne of Washington, D.C. and Alicia Guinn of Seattle, Washington. Portland’s Johnny Connolly Band will provide traditional music on accordion, flute, guitar, banjo and bodhran.
In addition to this performance, the grant will allow Maldon to teach a 6-week Irish dance course at Friendly House Community Center. The classes will be on Thursdays, Sept. 18- Oct. 30. Youth classes (ages 6-14) will be held at 6 p.m., and adult classes (15-up) will be held at 7 p.m. There will be a student recital held on Friday, November 6, 2008 at 7 p.m.
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AN DAMHSA IRISH DANCE SHOW
THE PLAYERS
MALDON MEEHAN, Creator, Director, Dancer, Choreographer
Based in Portand, Oregon, Maldon Meehan teaches and performs Irish Set, Sean-nós and Céili dance. She holds a BA in Irish Studies from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and a Masters of Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick, Ireland. Maldon has taught and performed in the United States, Canada and Ireland. Maldon’s studied sean-nos dance with Mick Mulkerrin and Mairead Casey, Roisin Ni Mhanin and Pádraig Ó hOibicín. Maldon placed 3rd in the 2005 Comórtas Chóilín Sheáin Dharach, a sean-nós jig competition held annually in Ros Muc, Co. Galway and competed in the nationally televised 2005 Oireachtas in Cork city. In 2005 dance partners Ronan Regan and Maldon released an instructional DVD of Sean-nós dance (Irish old-style dance). Today the DVD has been sold in more than 17 countries.
www.SeanNosDance.com
KIERAN JORDAN, Dancer, Choreographer
Kieran Jordan lives in Boston where she works as a performer, teacher, and choreographer of Irish dance. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kieran has a BA in English/Irish Studies from Boston College; an MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from the University of Limerick, Ireland; and the TCRG certificate for teaching Irish dance. As a solo performer, Kieran has developed a musical and expressive style, incorporating traditional Irish dance technique with various other styles – sean-nós Irish dance, Cape Breton step dance, and modern dance.
www.KieranJordan.com
SHANNON DUNNE, Dancer, Choreographer
Shannon Dunne is a professional dancer, performer and teacher based in Washington, D.C. She has danced with DC companies Catscratch Theater, Synetic Theater and the Tin Cup Tappers, and was a 2001 WATCH Nominee for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. As a traditional Sean-nós Dancer she has performed at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, ICONS Festival, Comórtas Chóilín Sheáin Dharach, UWM Sean-nós Festival, Brookdale Community College, Dance DC, and Clearwater Folk Festival. Shannon is on faculty at Joy of Motion Dance Center, and is the Director of the Slan Abhaile Dance Project. She has traveled to West Clare and Connemara to study with Mick Mulkerrin and Mairead Casey, Aidan Vaughn and Roisin Ni Mhanin. In America, she dances as part of “American Women in Sean-nós Dance” with Maldon Meehan, Alicia Guinn and Kieran Jordan. She is a four-time recipient of Folk Arts Grants and a 2008 Dance Fellowship from the DCCAH and NEA. She tours nationally with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. She holds a degree in Medieval History from the University of Notre Dame.
ALICIA GUINN, Dancer, Choreographer
Alicia Guinn currently teaches sean-nós, set, and céilí dancing in the Seattle area. She is one of only a handful of dancers teaching sean-nós dancing in America. Alicia started dancing as an adult while living in Northern Ireland in 1997. Since then, she has studied set and sean-nós dancing in Galway, Ireland, taught Irish dance workshops for festivals across the United States, and had the honor of dancing on stage with traditional musicians like Johnny B. Connolly, and Liz Carroll and John Doyle. Her sean-nós style incorporates steps learned directly from Galway dancers including Pádraig Ó hOibicín, Róisín Ní Mhainín, Máire Áine Ní Iarnáin, Rónán Regan, and Seosamh Ó Neachtain.
www.Myspace.com/SeanNosSeattle
JOHNNY CONNOLLY, Musician, Music Director
Johnny Connolly has generated a reputation as an accomplished button accordionist of the highest order. Johnny's talents have paved the way across continents and provided him opportunities to perform and record with many internationally-renowned artists including Kevin Burke, the Chieftains, Patrick Ourceau, and Aidan Brennan. His first solo CD, entitled "Bridgetown," on the highly esteemed Green Linnet Records label has earned critical claim and brought Connolly to the forefront of the younger generation of traditional Irish musicians.
www.MySpace.com/TheJohnnyConnollyBand
JOHNNY CONNOLLY BAND MEMBERS
Hanz Araki (flute, whistles, vocals) www.HanzAraki.com
Dave Cory (banjo, guitar, bodhrán) www.MySpace.com/MrDaveCory
Cary Novotny (guitar, vocals
Show Information:
Maldon, Meehan’s An Damhsa Irish Dance Show
Saturday September 6, 2008 at 2pm
Friendly House Community Center 1737 NW 26th Ave., Portland, Oregon
Come support local dancers preserving traditional Irish culture.
$7 (ticketsoregon.com), $9 door
Author: Press Release
