How to evolve an art form

‘I’m really interested in moving Irish dance forward [because] it’s not a show format. People think it’s a line of dancers with their arms by the sides and a man running up and down, which is what Michael Flatley did back with Riverdance 25 years ago,’ says former Irish dance champion turned stage director, Brent Pace.

Irish dance has a centuries-old tradition but only became codified as an art form in the 1920s, ‘and I think because of that, it is still such an immature art form,’ Pace explains, adding that it also has something of an image problem.

While the wigs and costumes associated with competitive Irish dance doubtless play a part in this, he notes that the public perceptions of what an Irish dance show is – or can be – also have to be addressed.

‘I think one of the limitations is probably with the delivery of what an Irish dancing show is to the world, you know? It’s perceived as “I saw an Irish dance show a couple of years ago”. It’s not like the ballet. You can’t get season tickets to Irish dance where you see three or four different styles of work performed. And I think that that holds it back from being a career that people can bridge into [after competition dance]. And again, I think that’s probably because of the immaturity of the actual art form,’ he tells ArtsHub.

Like many of the best Irish dancers in the world today – as detailed in Ruan Magán’s acclaimed documentary Steps of Freedom: The Story of Irish Dance (currently available to watch online via SBS On Demand) – Pace is not of Irish heritage.

‘I grew up in East Keilor, in Melbourne’s north-west suburbs. My mother is an Irish dance teacher and adjudicator and we come from a post-World War II Italian migrant family. Mum grew up in Footscray and went to the local Catholic school, where the Irish kids all did Irish dancing. My mum befriended them in the late sixties and ended up going along to Irish dancing class, and from there the rest is history. I ended up getting into Irish dancing because she was an Irish dancing teacher.’

Pace admits to some initial reticence where dancing was concerned. ‘I wanted to go and play footy,’ he says. ‘All my friends played Auskick and that’s where I wanted to go, because that’s what you did growing up in Melbourne in the 90s – and [dancing] was also little bit folky and daggy’.

But he soon learned to love traditional Irish dance – thanks in part to the explosive success of US dancer Michael Flatley’s Riverdance and subsequent stage shows.

Pace went on to perform at competition level, winning multiple world medals, six Australian National Championships and achieving top placings at every major Irish dance competition in the world, though he has since left the world of competition dance behind.

Read: Hugo Weaving to star in new Irish-Australian co-production at STC

‘There’s a very short expiry on competition dancing. I think I retired at maybe 24, and some people retire as early as 18.’

The strain the dance form takes on the body, with its focus on keeping one’s upper body stiff and immobile while one’s feet move swiftly and percussively, is one of the reasons competition dancers retire at a young age. The competition scene’s commitment to its amateur status (recent prize-fixing scandals aside) is another.

‘There’s no professional pathway. You go from being a competitive Irish dancer where you’re paying lots of money to go to lots of classes, get all these costumes, and then you audition for a show and all of a sudden you’re a professional dancer who’s had no training or experience,’ Pace says.

Working with professional dancers to create new Irish dance stage shows, and evolving the art form by doing so, is Pace’s current focus. He is currently the co-producer and director of touring stage production A Taste of Ireland, which is about to open off-Broadway at the Sheen Center in New York City, and is also set for a return Australian season, opening in Melbourne on St Patrick’s Day.

Creating new ways to showcase and celebrate Irish dance on stage is not without its challenges, Pace tells ArtsHub.

‘Coming in as a director and going, “OK, I have a limited rehearsal period and this new individual needs to get trained into the show.” Well, they might be a fantastic competition dancer, but they have no experience in show performing or acting or whatever it might be. We now need to retrain this individual from the ground up,’ Pace says.

‘And you don’t get triple threats coming out of Irish dance. You get Irish dancers who can do all types of Irish dance, including step dance, light shoe dancing, heavy shoe dancing, ceili dancing, figure dancing and so on, but trying to then put them into a scripted performance and teaching them, say, intention in the piece, is probably the biggest challenge.

‘They’re so used to having that [physical] rigidity, and thinking, “I smile on these two bars and then I go and I do this over here.” So then trying to bring them into a show and going, “Right, your character is the Goddess of Fire. So how do you feel we can portray that?” That is completely different from what they know … and that’s when they go, “Oh, how do I do that without moving my feet?”‘ he laughs.

For A Taste of Ireland, which premiered in 2019 and has since been seen by over 150,000 people around the world, Pace and his collaborator and life partner Ceili Moore have leaned into production elements such as lighting, music and projection in order to get their message across. Nonetheless, he reinforces that the biggest challenge facing his and similar productions is ‘breaking that mould of what people perceive an Irish dancing show to be’.

‘The shows we do tell stories. They’re not a revue, they’re not a concert, you know? But I think the biggest problem we’re having in Australia is getting an arts lover from Darlinghurst – to use a stereotype – getting someone who has an STC (Sydney Theatre Company) subscription to come and see one of our shows, without them pigeonholing it and immediately going, “Irish dance? I saw that 30 years ago, it’s all the same.” That’s going to be our biggest challenge in the coming couple of years, I think,’ Pace concludes.

A Taste of Ireland’s 2024 Australian tour opens at The Palms at Crown on Sunday 17 March and continues on to multiple venues in Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland. Visit website for details.

Other St Patrick’s Day events around Australia

Named after Ireland’s patron saint, St Patrick – the man who metaphorically “drove the snakes out of Ireland” (a more palatable way of describing the destruction of thousands of years of pagan culture and tradition) St Patrick’s Day is traditionally held on 17 March each year.

While St Patrick’s Day celebrations have declined from their peak in the early 20th century, when Melbourne’s “firebrand” Archbishop Daniel Mannix and others ‘fostered general Irish Catholic solidarity with the causes of Irish independence‘ and tens of thousands of people lined city streets (as evidenced in photos of the period) to celebrate Irish culture, the day continues to be a cause of celebration for Irish expats and Australians of Irish heritage alike (though thankfully without quite as much painful paddywhackery as is common in the US).

Here are just some of the many arts and cultural events happening around Australia for St Patrick’s Day 2024.

Lorraine Nash Australian Tour

County Kerry-born multi-instrumentalist and rising star Lorraine Nash is touring Australia throughout March, with appearances at the Blue Mountains Folk Festival, Katoomba, NSW from 15-17 March. She plays additional gigs in the ACT, Victoria (including Port Fairy Folk Festival) and NSW. See Nash’s Instagram page for details.

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show

Admittedly not touring Australia until April, Riverdance – the hugely popular Irish dance production that began as a seven-minute interval act for Dublin’s Eurovision 1994 – returns for a series of performances in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Tickets through TICKETEK.

St Paddy’s Gay

Presented by Sydney Queer Irish and friends, the Imperial Hotel, Erskinville puts its own bent on St Patrick’s Day this year with Paddy’s Gay on Saturday 16 March. Entertainment includes DJs, live performances and a tribute to the late, great Sinead O’Connor.

Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival

Running from Thursday 14 March to Sunday 17 March, the Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival features a range of events including the Sharon Shannon Big Band at The Factory Theatre, a free concert by four-piece Sásta at First Fleet Park and more.

St Kilda St Patrick’s Festival

Melbourne’s bayside suburb St Kilda hosts two days of festivities this year, including family-friendly events and a parade on Saturday 16 March and live music for an adult crowd on the Sunday. Featured bands include The Tumbling Paddies, an energetic young six-piece band from County Fermanagh, Ireland, alongside Australian acts. Visit the St Kilda St Patrick’s Festival website for details.

Additional St Patrick’s Day events will take place at pubs in Perth, the ACT, Hobart, Darwin and elsewhere around the country.