Trinity Irish Dance Company

media release: Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) is bringing its unique form of progressive Irish dance to Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts for one-night-only on April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall. Called “impossibly complex” by The New York Times and “sophisticated and commanding” by the Los Angeles Times, this company of elite performing artists from around the world presents both classic and groundbreaking Madison-premiere works.

Founded in 1990, TIDC is a contemporary, Irish-American performing arts company that offers something profoundly significant – the transcendence of craft to art and a dance legacy that is rooted in tradition yet forward looking and new. Through a unique blend of uncompromising power and grace, TIDC sends a clear message of female empowerment, consistently presenting males and females on equal footing. “The women of TIDC don’t only get to make noise,” says associate artistic director Chelsea Hoy. “We’re expected to make noise.”

As the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, TIDC opened new avenues of artistic expression leading directly to commercial productions such as Riverdance. “Since inception, the company has always been an art-driven company that uniquely celebrates Irish dance through a performing arts lens,” says Mark Howard, founder and artistic director of TIDC.  “We seek higher ground by allowing the form to morph and evolve with integrity while keeping a clear lineage to the ancestors.”

Madison-native and company member Sierra McNall, who grew up dancing at Trinity Academy of Irish Dance’s Madison location and won multiple regional and national team titles throughout her competitive career, will be returning home to share her power as a professional performing artist.

The program

TIDC’s one-night-only performance will feature a répertoire that celebrates the company’s evolution and range. Madison premieres will include:

• An Sorcas (Gaelic for “The Circus”), choreographed by Howard and Hoy, examines the battle between substance and spectacle. In a progression from idolatry to empathy, with original lyrics, music and layers of symbolism, An Sorcas points a mirror to the oversaturation of glitzy, formulaic productions in their medium.
• American Traffic, choreographed by NYC-based tap dancer and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Michelle Dorrance and tap dancer and choreographer Melinda Sullivan, is a hybrid of Irish step and American tap that plays at the intersection of rhythmic sensibilities and rebellious histories. Celebrating the nuanced differences between the two forms, it presents a new percussive language. “Trinity Irish Dance Company is the cutting edge of Irish dance. They achieve what Riverdance does not - a powerful combination of cultural depth, innovation and artistry with exceptional technical range.” - Michelle Dorrance
• Sparks, choreographed by Howard and Artistic Associate and dancer Ali Doughty, brings together the technical prowess and virtuosic skill of Doughty, who won a solo world championship title during her competitive career, and New York-born, All-Ireland champion fiddle player Jake James.
• Soles is a tribal and timeless rhythmic study choreographed by Howard
• A New Dawn, choreographed by Howard with contributing choreography from Richard Griffin, was originally designed to break boundaries on the competitive stage with Howard’s school. ‘The Dawn’ won America’s first senior choreography world title in 1998 and has gone on to win an unprecedented number of world gold medals. Reset in 2018 for the performing arts stage, A New Dawn is folk dance for the future at breakneck speed; a hybrid of explosive soft-shoe dancing and rapid-fire arm movement

The program will also feature formative pieces from Howard including Push, an explosion of virtuosic footwork where “women make the form their own” (The Boston Globe); and Johnny, one of Howard’s signature works from 1991 that was created for and premiered on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and ultimately altered the landscape of Irish dance.

Featuring a live band fronted by Killarney-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Brendan O’Shea, the program will be rounded out by classic works, including Black Rose and Communion.

Before the show: Come early for a special pre-show performance by local Trinity Academy of Irish Dance student dancers starting at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall.

(Read about Trinity Academy of Irish Dance on the Overture Blog: Trinity Academy of Irish Dance: Student dancers are excited to open for international company.)

Meet the artists! Stay after the show for a brief informal Q&A session in the theater with the artists.

About Trinity Irish Dance Company

The Chicago/Milwaukee-based Trinity Irish Dance Company is the high watermark of the art form; a uniquely Irish-American dance legacy that is rooted in tradition, yet forward-looking and ever-evolving. The result is a fresh, engaging and integrity-filled vision that goes beyond the source without losing touch with its essence. Founded in 1990, by Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard, TIDC is the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, an innovative movement genre which opened new avenues of artistic freedom that led directly to commercial productions such as Riverdance. TIDC has significantly changed the direction and scope of Irish dance, re-introducing the art form as the phenomenon it is today. With a unique blend of uncompromising power and grace, TIDC sends a consistent message of female empowerment with a repertory that has elevated the art form for nearly three decades. For more information, visit TrinityIrishDanceCompany.com.

Please view our health and safety policies at overture.org/health. Overture Center Building Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11-6; Sunday, 12-6; and extended hours on event days.