Director and Producer Brent Pace of Pace Live Productions with Executive Producer and Assistant Director Ceili Moore have put together a commercial entertainment and loosely tried to attach it to the history of Ireland. “Tried” being the operative word. Although I was asked to attend the show and write a review of it, upon arrival to the theater I was surprised to find that there was no program, no way for me to know who was performing in what role or capacity. There was not even a QR code with a program attached as is sometimes the case. It would seem the cast is unimportant and that the reviewer is to focus on the construct of the show rather than the personalities inhabiting it. So be it. This is badly done and does a great disservice to the hard work of the cast in delivering this show.
Cian Walsh and the ensemble in “A Taste of Ireland” – Photo by Chris Hardy.
Let me say at the outset that I have had some experience in choreographing and directing Irish Dance having worked with Mark Howard and the Trinity Irish Dance Company of Chicago. It is possible to marry Irish Dance with other forms such as Contemporary and Modern. “A Taste of Ireland” does not do this. Instead, it relies on the uncredited dancers to supply all of the various types of movement that the choreographers think will wow the audiences. Unfortunately, while all of the dancers have backgrounds in competitive Irish Dance (and they are all excellent in this format) they have little if any experience in contemporary or modern, jazz or ballet. This was made painfully obvious in the port-de-bras and lack of follow through in the body during the moments infused with jazz or contemporary movement.
“A Taste of Ireland” – Hurling featuring Mitchell O’Hara and Brittany Pymm – Photo by Chris Hardy.
I want to say here that the dancers were fantastic at the sections of the show where Irish Dance was featured. In groups or solos they were clean, the footwork exacting and powerful. However, they fared less well when rolling to the floor in order to accomplish a sexy head roll with a back attitude leg in a suggestive pose. This made the whole event seem amateurish. Truly this show is at best suitable for a Universal Theme Park or even a Disney Cruise. There were moments when it devolved into a mere recital. It is by no means a theatrical spectacular worthy of the heritage of “Riverdance” or “Lord of the Dance”.
“A Taste of Ireland” – Acapella featuring Mitchell O’Hara and the ensemble – Photo by Chris Hardy.
Part of the “History” of the show was a series of projections on the back scrim ostensibly telling us what period in Ireland’s history was being performed. This proved far too vague to actually attach the choreography to, as there was little in the movement to suggest the particular dates and events on the projections. This was exacerbated by the costumes for the show, of which there were many. All of them out of synch with the projections and certainly out of touch with the history. My case in point was the slide which tells us of the invasion of the Vikings into Ireland. Here the men wore black shirts and black leggings with a shredded part of a kilt, just the suggestion of a kilt I should say, along with various leather harnesses and arm bands one buys at Chi-Chi LaRue’s Sex Store and Dungeon Wear in West Hollywood. For the women there was an over abundance of sequins and short skirts meant to be sexy but only succeeded in raising my eyebrow in wondering why the history of Ireland needs to be filtered through Las Vegas glitz in order to be palatable to today’s audiences? This was most strongly felt when we got to the Great Famine and the women wore pajama tops with black booty shorts and held their stomachs as if they were going to be sick. This was all the Great Famine brought out in the creators of this show? Either they are incredibly naïve or they wanted a quick money maker by billing this as “A Taste Of Ireland” for an American tour. Unfortunately, not all Americans are ignorant of the Irish History nor are they unaware of the incredible struggles the Irish have gone through for hundreds of years for their independence and the price it has exacted. The History of Ireland deserves a much more serious focus which dance companies such as Mark Howard’s Trinity Irish Dance in Chicago is doing. Pace Live is far off the mark. I cannot tell you the performers names, nor the musicians, and I am sorry for that as they delivered to the best of their ability this weakly organized and overly glamorized show.
For more information about the Alex Theatre, please visit their website.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Male ensemble in “A Taste of Ireland” – Photo by Chris Hardy.
