Rhythms of Ireland

[graemek]

Hi Everyone including Comet & Paddy,
Marianne & I are booked to see the 5pm performance of this show this Saturday in Wollongong.

We're looking forward to it very much....Graeme

click below for full details.
www.ipac.org.au/eventdetails.aspx?eid=339

Here's an extract:
Rhythms of Ireland

"Traditional Irish rhythms, song and dance.

Saturday 27 October 2007

Saturday 27 October 2007

Direct from Dublin - 100% Live on Stage - ‘The Rhythms of Ireland’

Choregraphed by 4 times WORLD IRISH DANCE CHAMPION, ex lead male dancer of “RIVERDANCE” AND “LORD OF THE DANCE”, Director of “MAGIC OF THE DANCE” Michael Donnellan.

FOLLOWING THE HIGHLY-SUCCESSFUL AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SELL OUT WORLD TOUR AND BOX OFFICE HIT OF EUROPEAN FRINGE FESTIVALS, IRELAND’S MOST CELEBRATED AND ELITE COMPANY OF DANCERS AND MUSICIANS, THE RHYTHM’S OF IRELAND, WILL PREMIERE THEIR AWE-INSPIRING AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN AUDIENCES.

THE RHYTHMS OF IRELAND ARE THE SOUND AND THE SPIRIT OF THE EMERALD ISLE , IT IS AN EXHILARATING SHOW OF PERFECTLY SOUNDED TRADITIONAL RHYTHMS, SONG AND DANCE THAT IS THE MOST EXCITING IRISH DANCE AND MUSIC PRODUCTION AT THIS PRESENT TIME.

"Legend, folklore and enchantment are interwoven in a voyage of discovery without falling into the trap of sentimentality. That's not to deny that some passages make the hairs on the nape of the neck rise… The Rhythms of Ireland troupe's adaptation echoes the past as the dancers seem to fly across the stage to the beat of the bodhron and the soaring notes of the fiddle. Great music, dancing and singing by performers of zipping quality and enthusiasm make you want to clap in time.

In fact, the haunting sound of the pipes, the energizing sound of the taps, the deep rhythms of the bodhrán and the shrill cry of the fiddle – the best of the Irish experience -

DAVID MOORE LEAD MALE DANCER OF RIVERDANCE 2005-2006, AND ANTHONY STREET LEAD MALE DANCER OF LORD OF THE DANCE 2003-2007 , LEAD A CAST OF 14 DANCERS ALL HAVE PERFORMED WITH INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS WHICH ENSURES A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE AND QUALITY IN PERFORMANCE ."

[Paddy]

Hi Graeme and Marianne,


'Great that you're thinking of us "down under" (as people here refer to NZ or Australia).
I'd say Comet is asleep in bed by now.
One of my daughters will be 'down under' tomorrow (Sydney).

'Sounds like a great show you're going to. Some writer!
Nothing like the rhythm of Irish dancing and music to rouse the spirits!
If you saw/watched 'Riverdance' or 'Lord of the Dance' or 'Feet of Flames', you'll know what I mean.
(They're available on DVD.)

Maybe the 'Rhythms of Ireland' group will come back to Ireland so the natives can see them.
It's an awful pity that there aren't more shows like that in Ireland lately.
I had to 'make do' with Nana Mouskouri last evening!
Seriously, she was fantastic - for 73!

Maybe next trip you'll visit Ireland?
There's even a Hayley concert on 4th Dec. to entice you!

Have a great time travelling and enjoy the show.

Paddy

[Joe]

Hi Marianne and Graeme,

Looks like a lovely evening of traditional Irish music and dance on Saturday! Have a great time you two!

Hi Paddy,

I went to a 'Lord of the Dance' show a few years ago...wonderful and amazing!

Cheers,
Joe

[comet]

Hi Marianne and Graeme

Hope you both enjoy yourselves at this event



[Message font size reduced due to this. Dave.]

[Paddy]

Hi Marianne and Graeme ,


You haven't breathed a word since about the show ..


Couldn't have been that bad?


Paddy

[graemek]

Reason for that Paddy is that both of us were pretty well wiped out the next day meaning that my literary skills were sadly lacking.

We enjoyed the show enormously....thanks for asking.

I would rate it at 12/10.....fantastic.

Activity was spread out between the 5-6 Instrumentalists sporting an Irish bagpipe (same guy had a tin whistle as well) 2 violins, a guitar/drum , a keyboard,

the 12 or so dancers in a lot of different arrangements,

1 solo female vocalist (sort of mezzo soprano I think...quite deep) who also played the violin a few times.

The floor was set out with white square stick on markers for the dancers & each front to back row had a mic. at floor level to pick up the incredibly busy tapping that came from the toes & heels & everything else of the dancers.

The whole thing was very lively & we were more or less forced to clap in time continually.....if they thought our claps were subsiding the lights came on to embarrass us into ignoring the pain & keep going.

The male & female leads did a couple of duets together.

The guy who choreographed the whole affair did a sort of comic solo about half way thru & the littler kids immediately could be heard cackling away.....he never lost his uncanny precision while he was doing this.

The 6(?) girls were not only superb gymnasts & athletes but were also fabulously beautiful & graceful.

The lead girl used very lovely hand & wrist movements quite often....much like Hayley's in her Passchendaele Concert.

The guys were brilliant too but I was a bit distracted.

The pace of the whole thing was incredible....I don't know how they kept it up.

The soloist engaged the audience too very warmly & filled a bit of history in before she sang. She sang about half Gaelic songs & half English. She asked if anybody understood "Irish" & there were a few responses.

One of the Instrumentalists acted as the MC all the time & it was he who kept us clapping in time with just a few breaks......OUCH !!!!!

I noticed too that the dancers were breathing quite heavily every time their was a break in their movements.

All in all a most enjoyable evening....great fun.

How's that Paddy? Enough?

Graeme

PS CD's were available at the signing table after the show. Since our session was 5pm to 7.30pm and the evening show was 8pm onwards I didn't see any of the cast ready to meet us rabble.
I asked about a DVD however & the guy I talked to said..."about 6 months" so then decided to wait for that as without visuals, a lot of the audio wouldn't make sense.

[Paddy]

graemek said:

How's that Paddy? Enough?

Graeme

Hi Graeme,


'Seems you had a fantastic time at the show!

Surprised you noticed your hands - with all that 'talent' to feast your eyes on!

Great report too - you could have been a journalist!


I have to admit, I haven't heard of the 'Celtic Rhythms' show here.

Some of the names I recognise ok.


Regards,


Paddy

P.S. The Irish language is usually called 'Irish' ('Gaeilge') in Ireland.

'Gaelic' here would usually mean 'Scots Gaelic'.

[graemek]

Hi Paddy,
Many moons ago Marianne & I visited Wales (from Germany) & bought a little basic book on Welsh.

Since that time I've thought of Scots Welsh & Irish Gaelic as being pretty well the same.

Have I been wrong all this time?

Also thought of them as being strongly connected to old Latin.

One of the disturbing things of ageing is that the realisation comes:
OH NO!!! Most of what I thought I knew, I don't.

Grayum.

[Paddy]

Hi Graeme,


How long have you got???

I thought it best to find some links for you (see below),

rather than bore everybody (including you) with a lengthy post!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language

www.irishlanguage.net/


One of the links will even help you to learn some Irish.

www.maths.tcd.ie/gaeilge/


Best to speak personally on the topic.

Knowing 'Irish' well, I can understand 'Scots Gaelic' ok
but many Scots pronunciations (and spellings) can be quite different to Irish.
Nothing strange there, as the Irish spoken in different regions in Ireland also differs.
Welsh (closer to the Celtic languages of France) is so different from Irish
that I would understand nothing at all of it.

As the link below shows, the relationships (Irish, Gaelic, Welsh) were much closer many moons ago:

www.ethnologue.org/show_family.asp?subid=90017

Also shows Latin was a somewhat distant 'cousin' of the 'Celtic' languages.

However, the influence of Latin/French on modern Irish is probably (?) much less than its influence on modern English.
The Romans (and the French, with their Latin-based language) dominated (tried to) England for periods - but not Ireland!
Some might even say that the beauty of the 'Old English' (Anglo-Saxon) language was diluted forever.


Hi, Graeme, you can come back now!

To be honest, I'm having second thoughts about posting the above!!

'Wouldn't want to be 'ostracised' on this forum!


To quote your own post:

"One of the disturbing things of ageing is that the realisation comes:
OH NO!!! Most of what I thought I knew, I don't.."

"A young man old or an old man young" ?


Best Regards from Ireland.

Paddy

[graemek]

Hi Paddy,
A very significant factor making Ireland (& Scotland & Wales) what it is,....and therefore one of the Rhythms of Ireland...., is its language.

Thanks for your trouble in clearing up my fuzzy knowledge to do with those independently developing language branches.

I have always found language fascinating & mysterious & very hard work to learn any of them. My native tongue is English but learned in Surrey England for my first 10 years & thereafter Australia since.

Marianne is German & so, since meeting her, I've gone & lived in Germany 3 years or so & had no choice but to learn the language.
Lovely to be able to speak to my mother in law & understand the intricacies of the language but very exhausting just the same until you reach a reasonable level.....I'll continue this shortly...have to go out

OK Paddy, I'm back again.

To just make a couple more observations:
German is not German. Just like Gaelic (to use the general expression) it varies around Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
Book German (the best) is spoken in Hannover. Its the German taught in schools. (high German)

I can understand Germans from the North areas but as you go South it is harder to understand the local dialect.
If a Bavarian speaks Bayerisch I can't understand him.

If a Yorkshireman speaks German he still sounds like a Yorkshireman mainly because his accent is still there underneath the German.

The Irish accent that I hear (& like actually) comes from the way the language sounds. The Rhythm of the language causes it to sound as it does....& without a doubt is behind Irish music.

Well I'd better shutup now.......it just goes on & on....thanks again,

Graeme

[Paddy]

Hi Graeme,


Speaking any Irish yet?

If you like flash-cards (great for the young at heart), this site might interest you:

www.byki.com/fls/Gir1/Irish?engine=adwords

It's free.


Bed-time here.


'Nite! Nite! (SMS language),

Paddy

[graemek]

Hi Paddy,
I have been messing about with that program.

It's impossible to use our 26 letter alphabet to produce the Irish sounds.

About as predictable as Polish. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Graeme

[Paddy]

graemek said:

Hi Paddy,
I have been messing about with that program.

It's impossible to use our 26 letter alphabet to produce the Irish sounds.

About as predictable as Polish. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Graeme

Hi, Graeme,


It's probably best to learn some Irish through listening to it.

Maybe there's some local Irish guy near your place, who'd love to help.

The downloadable program from the site in my previous post (re: flash-cards) pronounces the words for you.


The Irish alphabet has only 18 letters to manage all those sounds.
Maybe it's because the Irish are 'quicker on the draw'!

It's often said that English is the most difficult language to learn.!


Specific info about the Irish alphabet and pronunciations on:

www.omniglot.com/writing/irish.htm

Or, if you need more details, see:

fiosfeasa.com/bearla/language/sounds.htm


Maybe you'll teach me some Aussie English.

Some expressions I find very amusing!


I see the rains came to Australia at last! Good for some.

My daughter (Maeve) is still there and is having a 'fair dinkum' time.


Paddy

[comet]

Hi Paddy
Hi Graeme and Marianne.

Must be an Irish invasion of Australia
My Daughter landed in Perth the other day

[Paddy]

Hi Comet,


Now, that's a coincidence!

M. in Cairns today. Perth later.

'Must go see the kangaroos and koalas myself sometime.


Paddy