By Tanya Steele
Yarra Ranges Irish dance students recently got the chance to see professional dancers up close in a workshop by a world renowned Irish company.
Victorian Irish Dance Academy (VIDA) students from Tecoma and Mt Evelyn received a two-hour intensive dance training workshop from the cast of the ‘Rhythms of Ireland’ dance show which is currently on tour in Australia.
Lead dancer Kevin Noble said doing workshops with local Irish dancing schools is one of the highlights for him and his crew.
“Hosting workshops for younger dancers has been a fantastic part of our tour – It’s a rewarding experience to share our knowledge and skills with the next generation of dancers,” he said.
Dancers from 5 to 50 plus from VIDA spent two hours learning some of the steps and performance tips and tricks from four of the cast members on Monday 4 September.
VIDA Teacher Kate Bilton from Healesville said she jumps at any opportunity to encourage her dancers and knew she wanted to work with the Rhythms of Ireland cast when they came to Melbourne.
“Irish dancing even though it does originate in Ireland, is a very global dance form and here in Australia, we’re dancing and training in the hope that one day we’ll be able to join international touring casts,” she said.
VIDA has worked with Mr Goble before and has participated in online workshops produced by his own dance company Unity Irish Dance, particularly throughout the Covid 19 lockdowns.
“He ran these online classes and all around the world, people from all over during lockdown would record themselves dancing and send it to him – and then they made these amazing video compilations, which was a lovely way to keep dancing during that time,” Ms Bilton said.
“This recent workshop was also a chance for some of the students to meet him in person,” she said.
VIDA students also went to the Rhythms of Irelands show the night before the workshop on Sunday 3 September to see the cast perform and were invited backstage to see how things work behind the curtain.
“VIDA were able to go and support the show as well. It’s a really special thing for me to be able to keep the love of Irish dancing alive in the general community,” Ms Bilton said.
Mr Noble said the tour of Australia has so far been fantastic and the group have been on the road for three months so far.
“We have been performing for amazing audiences everywhere we go and throughout this trip, we will be covering every state,” he said.
Some members have never been to Australia before and Mr Goble said the crew is diverse and talented, with world title-winning dancers amongst them – some have also toured with Anthony Street’s Celtic Illusion group which performed at The Memo earlier this year.
“We all come from different backgrounds and bring our own strengths to the team,” he said.
Professional workshops allow students to see the potential of keeping up with their training and students were taken through an intensive warm-up followed by an hour and half of learning on the night.
They then performed their newly learned material to the delight of parents who had been kept out of the dance hall for the special session.
“They did really well, It’s to inspire them and make them realize that, you know, there is a professional career in dance – if they work hard and keep training and stick with it, they might have other opportunities in the future,” Ms Bilton said.
VIDA students are now busy working away on routines for their end of year concert and Rhythms of Ireland is still currently on tour in Australia.
