UP COMING EVENTS

Yachats Celtic Music Festival, Yachats, OR (Nov 7-9)
www.yachatscelticmusicfestival.com/

Sean-nós Dance Class, Portland, OR (Mondays Nov. 10 - Dec. 15)
6:30pm Beginners, 7:30pm Intermediate
www.maldonmeehan.com/schedule.html

2nd Friday Irish Céilí Dance, Salem, OR (Nov. 14)
www.ceiliofthevalley.org

3rd Friday Irish Céilí Dance, Portland, OR (Nov. 21)
www.portlandceilisociety.org

I hope to see you at one of these events.

A Celtic Celebration at the Elsinore Theatre

I had a performance on Sunday that was so unbelievably inspiring that I had to share with you all. Irish flute payer and vocalist, Hanz Araki and I joined the Salem Concert band, a classically based band of 45 members. It was pretty incredible to have sean-nós dance improvisations melding with the full brass sound of a conducted band. Dancing to piccolos, flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones, bassoons, trumpets, horns, tubas, harp, string bass, and drums gave new meaning to the informal nature of sean-nós dance.

New webstie

On June 16th of this year I received a Regional Arts and Cultures grant to build and create my new website. As part of the grant I was able to hire design and marketing firm Brian Thomas Wright Creative Group (BTWCG) to create the site. You can check out the site at www.MaldonMeehan.com.


The grant also included a photo shoot with Andrea Wright, an amazing photographer with a knack for capturing movement. For the photo shoot we went up to the rose gardens in Washington park on a overcast day and danced in the gardens. Bellow is one of the photos from the shoot.

Brían Ó hAirt Dance Workshop August 4th

Brían Ó hAirt
Sean-nos dance workshop
Monday August 4, 2008
7-9pm (all levels)
Reserve your spot 503.206.9311 $20

Brían Ó hAirt
Singer, dancer, musician and Irish language master

Now as a matured singer, Brían Ó hAirt (pronounced BREE-un oh-HARCH) has become a mouthpiece for the promotion of unaccompanied song. His anomalous and evocative voice stands as a testament to the power of tradition while his ability to share the mind’s eye of an older generation of singers has afforded him great acclaim at his age. He became the youngest and first ever American to win the coveted Sgiath Uí Dhálaigh shield at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Listowel, Co. Kerry in 2002—adding his name to the shield’s long list of noted traditional singers including Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, Frank Harte and Paddy Berry.

Brían is the founder of Sean-nos Milwaukee an annual event of language, song, dance and music held in Milwaukee every February.

More at:
www.brianohairt.com

www.buamusic.com

Summer term 2008

Here are the steps thus far:

MONDAY JUNE 2, 2008

THE BASIC CONNAMARA STEP (8 BARS)
Hop(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Back(R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
(repeat 4 times)

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Stamp(R) and(R) Stamp (L) back(L) , heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
back(R) Stamp(L) and(L) Stamp (R) back(R) , heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
(repeat 4 times)

HEEL TOE (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Heel(R) Toe (R) and (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Heel(L) Toe (L) and (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
(Repeat 4 times)

HEEL TOE SIDE STEP(8 BARS) (Maldon after Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Step (L) Heel(R) Step (L) Toe (R)
Step (L) Heel(R) Step (L) Toe (R)
Step (L) Heel(R) Step (L) Toe (R)
and (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)

Step(R) Heel(L) Step (R) Toe (L)
Step(R) Heel(L) Step (R) Toe (L)
Step(R) Heel(L) Step (R) Toe (L)
and (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)

HEEL TOE SIDE STEP variation 2(8 BARS) (Maldon after Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Step (L) Heel(R) Step (L) Toe (R)
Step (L) Heel(R) Step (L) Toe (R)
and (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
back (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)

Step(R) Heel(L) Step (R) Toe (L)
Step(R) Heel(L) Step (R) Toe (L)
and (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
back (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)

MONDAY JUNE 9, 2008

HEEL AND TOE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Heel (R in front), step (R), toe (L behind)
Step(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
(repeat 4 times)

RHYTHM CIRCLE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
(in a circle)
Step (L), Heel (R) Heel (R) (6 TIMES)
Step (L), Heel (R) Heel (R), Heel (L) Step (L), Heel (R) Heel (R)
Repeat again.
(Rosin dances the ending with all heels, but I seem to use a step to make balancing easier)

(we also added a heel brush to the side step above, as well as a toe slap and dancing all of the toes and heels).

MONDAY JUNE 16, 2008

THE CROSS STEP (8 BARS)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
step(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
step(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
and (L heel drop) back (R toe), and (r heel drop), back (left toe)
and(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
(You can also dance this step crossing to the right instead of crossing to the left)

We also joined in groups of 2 dancers and created our own steps from the material learned thus far. Bellow are the 2 steps that were created.
ERIN'S STEP (8 BARS) (after Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Heel(R) Toe (R) and (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Heel(L) Toe (L) and (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
(pause)
Stamp(R) and(R) Stamp (L) back(L) , heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)

THE JUNE STEP (8 BARS) (after Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
If you come up with a better name let me know
Heel(R) Toe (R) and (L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Heel(L) Toe (L) and (R), heel(L) down (L), heel(R) down (R), Stomp (L)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
step(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)
Left, right, left, right (right foot crossing)
step(L), heel(R) down (R), heel(L) down (L), Stomp (R)

MONDAY JUNE 23, 2008

HEELS ZIG ZAG (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Hop(L), Heel(R) step(R), Heel(L) step(L), (6 times) stamp (R)
(Repeat 4 times alternating left and right)

TOE TOE HEEL (Padraig Ó Hoibicín)
Toe(L) toe(L) heel(L), down(L) heel(R) down(R) heel(L) down(L)
Toe(R) toe(R) heel(R), down(R) heel(L) down(L) heel(R) down(R)
(dance for 8 bars or so)

MONDAY JUNE 30, 2008

'THE JOHNNY’ (From Mick Mulkerrin & Mairead Casey)
Toe(R), Toe(R), heel(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R),Stomp(L)
Toe(L), Toe(L), heel(L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L),Stomp(R)
(Repeat all 3 more times)

RONAN REGAN (this step is on the Dance Sean-nos DVD)
shuf(R heel)-le(R toe) step(R)
shuf(L heel)-le(L toe) step(L)
shuf(R heel)-le(R toe) step(R)
step (L) step (R)
shuf(L heel)-le(L toe) and (R) back (L)
step (R) step (L)
shuf(R heel)-le(R toe) and (L) back (R)
shuf(L heel)-le(L toe) and (R) back (L)
(repeat starting with left foot)