CEILI A Celebration

Review by Noah Witke Mele

Presented by the Seán Curran and Darrah Carr dance companies at Irish Arts Center,
Céilí celebrates traditional Irish dance with a pleasant modern twist. Three yellow rafters float
above the stage, a warmly lit and welcoming space flanked by six handsome wooden benches,
designed by Mark Randall.

Combined, the two companies feature seventeen excellent dancers,
who weave across the stage in the geometric patterns of Irish social dance with gleaming smiles
and boldly outstretched arms. Accompanied by the bright music of Dana Lyn’s fiddle and Kyle
Sanna’s guitar, the performance shifted seamlessly between raucous group numbers and
intimate duets.

Kilts abound in Amanda Shafran’s costumes but pants, dresses, and skirts are also
present in the cool neutral-toned outfits, along with a myriad of gentle textures and patterns that
bring out the depth and individuality of each performer. Similarly, the rigid and virtuosic
uprightness of step dance is often complimented by softer movements, spiraling into
contractions and balletic floor work highlighting the dancers’ versatility.

At one moment their feet are soft and lithe, and then–as another performer enters–the theater is filled with the crisp sounds of tapping. An unaccompanied duet stood out in the performance. Box Tops (1985),
choreographed by Tigger Benford and Martha Partridge, features two dancers sitting on large
wooden boxes, knees only inches apart, who–in the silence of the dark room–begin stomping,
patting, and clapping. As the playful and precise sonic choreography develops into dizzying
polyrhythms it is punctuated by pauses, where silence floods back, only to be expelled as the
torrent of sound grows ever more complex.

In the final number Curran and Carr join the rest of the dancers, swirling gracefully about
the stage in a tight grid, and are met with applause from the audience. Céilí certainly lives up to
its name, not only is it a delightful suite of dances that is a joy to watch, but it is surely a joy to
dance as well.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Noah Witke Mele