Trinity Irish Dance Company’s brand new production ‘JIG’, and the world premiere of ‘Taking the Mick’ revolutionizes the possibilities for Irish dance and brings this pioneering company to new heights.
Fresh off a month-long tour of Japan, Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) is bringing its renowned legacy and awe-inspiring precision to theaters across the country. Called “impossibly complex” by The New York Times and “sophisticated and commanding” by the Los Angeles Times, TIDC is the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, an innovative movement genre that “ushered in a new era for Irish step dance, one which led directly to commercialized stadium tours like ‘Riverdance.’” (Chicago Tribune) Founded by Mark Howard in 1990, TIDC pushes the boundaries of a traditional form through a performing arts lens and is considered a performing arts treasure by critics and enthusiasts worldwide. TIDC is on a mission to save the integrity of Irish dance from the overly commercialized productions that have become synonymous with the form. The strength of this mission brings dancers and musicians together from around the world. This season, Artistic Director and recent inductee into the Chicago Irish American Hall of Fame Mark Howard, Associate Artistic Director Chelsea, and their company of elite performing artists are presenting more new works this season than ever before in the company’s more than 30-year-long history.
The group just completed an eight-city tour in February and launched a brand-new production called “JIG” is a groundbreaking, alternative approach to an immersive theater experience centered around a live band in a unique space that celebrates the thrill of connection through vibrations, rhythm, and movement. Howard’s lifelong mission is to elevate communities through what he calls the “power and grace of Irish dance” which has informed more than thirty years of pioneering work. He describes his latest creation, JIG: “At a time when the world needs healing, I see the dancers and musicians of JIG as movement and sound doctors always searching for something real, something with humanity in it.”
This March, TIDC will celebrate the world premiere of a groundbreaking new piece called ‘Taking the Mick’ at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Choreographed by Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard and Associate Artistic Director Chelsea Hoy, ‘Taking the Mick’ is a full company work that takes the virtuosity and versatility of TIDC’s artists to a new level through multi-genre vignettes of rapid-fire footwork, theatrics, and twisted traditions. With a vaudevillian era narrative that dances amongst the madness between Irish immigrant insecurities, social mobility, one-upmanship, and assimilation into American culture, ‘Taking the Mick’, blends commentary and innovation through movement that is at once whimsical and fierce. Theatrical props will be designed by the much-celebrated Michael Curry Design, known for his notable work from Katy Perry to The Lion King on Broadway. Howard describes, “We’ve created an alternative universe set to a backdrop of 1945 Bing Crosby meets 1972 Irish Folk group, Planxty, that blurs the lines between movement genres, time and space. A gaggle of hapless yet brilliant, good-natured, and unruly characters delivers their unique brand of whimsical percussive prowess.” ‘Taking the Mick’ and TIDC’s diverse repertoire that celebrates the company’s evolution and range will be shared across the country this spring, with performances in Chicago, Chandler, Detroit, Burlington, Newark, and Fairfax. They will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on March 17th.
The TIDC band is fronted by Killarney, Ireland’s singer /songwriter Brendan O’Shea, and is comprised of All-Ireland fiddle and bodhran champion Jake James, Chris Devlin (guitar/vocals), and Steven Rutledge (percussionist/vocals). O’Shea says, “Howard has always looked for imaginative ways to break the fourth wall. The band and I are thrilled for the opportunity to be part of TIDC transformative experiences. At the heart of the show lives a sentiment that both Howard and I grew up hearing from our resilient Irish mothers, ‘Things will turn out’.“
About Trinity Irish Dance Company
Called “Irresistible” by Dance Magazine and “a stunning program of groundbreaking dance” by Broadway World, TIDC has sold out tours in Europe and Asia and distinguished venues throughout North America, including Washington’s Kennedy Center, NYC’s Joyce Theater, LA’s Royce Hall, and Tokyo’s Orchard Hall to name a few. TIDC was recently acknowledged as the most toured foreign dance company in Japan’s history. A dance legacy that is rooted in tradition yet forward-looking and ever-evolving, TIDC celebrates Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard’s unique vision to fuse vibrant Irish traditions with ever-evolving American innovation. Through a combination of hard-driving percussive power and aerial grace and rep that consistently presents males and females on equal footing, TIDC sends a clear message of female empowerment. “The women of TIDC don’t only get to make noise,” says Associate Artistic Director Chelsea Hoy. “We’re expected to make noise.
In many ways, the Company’s journey started when Howard’s creative success led to him becoming a regular guest on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson from 1989 until Carson’s retirement in 1991. Over the years he accumulated a multitude of national and international television credits including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, CBS This Morning, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Today Show, Live with Regis, Good Morning America, Martha and CONAN, to name a few. From PBS and Network specials to extensive film work for Disney, Touchstone, Universal, and Dream Works, Howard has worked with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Ron Howard, and Sam Mendez. Howard’s bodywork in the arts has led to numerous Choreographer’s Fellowships awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been named three times as one of Irish America Magazine’s “Top 100 Irish-Americans,” and most recently, his global impact on the form was recognized with an induction into the Chicago Irish American Hall of Fame, joining recent Arts & Humanities inductees including Bill Murray and Conan O’Brien. Howard continues to choreograph new dances and shows, as well as expand his independent career to work in theater, television, concert, and film. The feature film screenplay SOLES, which focuses on Howard and Trinity is currently in the works.
Upcoming Show Dates
March 9: Chandler, AZ – Chandler Center for the Arts
March 15: Detroit, MI – Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts
March 16: Burlington, VT – The Flynn
March 17: Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center
March 24: Fairfax, VA – George Mason Center for the Arts
April 21: Chicago, IL – Theater on the Lake
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