By Tanya Steele
Homegrown Healesville magician and dancer Anthony Street returned to his hometown this week to perform electric and dazzling live shows with his troupe in “Celtic Illusion: The Magic Returns” at The Memo on Thursday, May 25.
The shows were a spectacular blend of Irish dance and stage magic, fused in an unlikely combination of rhythm and wonder, Street has made a career from combining the two in a fantastical show experience which has toured worldwide.
Street said his favourite section to perform is a fiddle piece which is accompanied by a levitation illusion.
“It’s an original piece, it was written especially for this show and it’s just a really, really, really beautiful part to watch,” he said.
The energy of the performance was upbeat and Street said the cast has a great time on stage, with dancers and musicians all smiles throughout,
“The great thing is that when you see them enjoying it, then the crowd enjoy it more,” he said.
Street said when he performs in Healesville, family, friends, old teachers and classmates often say hello after the show and his recent performances were no exception.
“I saw the “Fireman” Mr Chuck last night and I always get a surprise when they come through,” he said.
Performance is in the family, Street’s grandfather is also a country western singer and Street said he used to go along to a lot of gigs and carnivals with him as a kid.
He saw magic for the first time at a Lilydale show and was entranced by a local magician’s act, months later Santa astutely delivered a magic kit for Christmas and it became a hobby.
“Magic came first, I was eight years old and I’d never seen it before, I was just intrigued,” he said.
Later when Street was 14, he came across Riverdance in his Nanna’s house.
“I was secretly watching the video, I thought it was the most interesting thing I had ever seen,” he said.
He started dance classes in Healesville and by age 19 was offered his first professional tour as a dancer.
He began a career and was the first Australian to perform the lead role in Michael Flatley’s widely acclaimed Lord Of The Dance.
He later began to think about creating his own show with the concept of Celtic Illusion born out of his passion for both magic and dance and he said it is definitely a bizarre combination.
“I had dreams to have a magic show and I had dreams to have a big dance show,” Street said.
“I thought I may not have time in my life to do both shows and fulfil both these dreams, so I thought I’d put the two together and have a show that has both those hobbies that I was so passionate about.”
Street said the show has grown from small theatres to massive arenas since its start in Geelong in 2011.
“It’s grown and grown and grown from nothing in the last 11 years,” he said.
Street loves coming back to Healesville and actually was one of the last people to perform at The Memo when it was still a town hall.
“I made just a little experimental Irish dance show which was mostly traditional, with a live band and a few dancers,” he said.
“It’s always good to return back to my hometown and to perform where it all started as well.”
Street and his troupe love bringing a larger spectacle show out to regional centres.
“People get to experience a big show with so much excitement, I really enjoy doing the regional areas,” he said.
Like a jig at a steady 120 bpm, the performer shows no signs of slowing down and is always trying to improve the show.
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years and it is not just a job,” he said.
