Jimmy Rankin Solo Answers Call Of The Wild
Much of the Rankin Family band’s success was arguably due to the excellent song writing and soulful vocals of Jimmy Rankin. If you’re a fan of the band’s award winning ...
ReJoycing Bloomsday
James Joyce’s love-hate affair with Dublin was uneasy at best. His dislike for his hometown was no secret, yet Ireland’s capital often became the bones of his works. Characters played ...
Bill Doyle
All of Bill Doyle’s pictures tell a compelling story of Ireland’s history. It’s no wonder this 81-year-old photographic artist has, over his more than 60-year career, published five books, won ...
Irish Dance News
One day, at age 10, my sister, mother and I were at a dance class in Elizabeth, New Jersey. My sister was learning steps up on the stage with one of the Peter Smith School of Irish Dancing teachers, Michael O’Hara. Michael was a kind yet disciplined Irish dancing teacher whom everyone liked. I guess my mother caught me watching the lesson with Michael. Suddenly, my mother grabbed my hand and brought me up to Michael. I was embarrassed at first, but Michael focused on teaching...
On Winning
It is a terrific thing to be on a podium, to be called forward and acknowledged. It is a testament to months of hard work by yourself and your teachers. When I see each dancer come across the stage, I think to myself “two to three seconds.” That is about the amount of time that it takes to receive your trophy. I wait, plastic and metal pressing into my cheek, for you to turn and flash your smile. I have been a feis photographer for several years now and I have taken thousands...
Dancing to Save Lives
As a professional Irish Step Dancer with Trinity Irish Dance Company, I toured North America and Europe, performed in elite opera houses and posh performance arts centers, danced two weeks on Broadway, and even rubbed elbows with the likes of Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Daniel Craig while on film set of the “Road to Perdition.” My typical workday involved waking up in a comfy hotel bed and then going to the theater for rehearsal. There I enjoyed a sumptuous buffet of fine...
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Do You Have What It Takes to be a Feis Mom?
The following criteria were developed a few years back by various “practitioners” in the field for use as a “self assessment” (Kind of like a Celtic Cosmo Girl Test). How many of these apply to you? 1. You think waiting in line for ten minutes to use the restroom at the local mall is a “piece of cake.” 2. You have ever wondered what “normal families” did on weekends? 3. You have ever taught a class on the “Irish Points” system. 4. All your trips to visit distant...
At a workshop sponsored by the IDTANA for teacher members in February 2009, guest instructor, Mary McElroy, ADCRG, from Dublin very ably and patiently instructed attendees in some of the less–well-known traditional sets dances (The Jockey to the Fair, The Three Sea Captains, and The King of the Fairies). Several times during that session, I heard conversations about slight variations in ways of executing some of the material found in the traditional sets, as well as variations...
Editor’s Thoughts- Defining What It Means To Be Irish
As editor of Hornpipe Magazine I am often asked if I am Irish. The question bewilders me on two fronts, first, would I have an interest to publish an Irish magazine if I was not Irish and, second, is there some measure to being Irish? My father’s paternal name does not immediately register Irish as would an O’Neil, Connelly, Bray or McCafferty would, but nonetheless it is Irish. My forefathers arrived in America long before the famine and with each generation became more American....
Read More About Hornpipe DepartmentsIrish Culture and Music
Much of the Rankin Family band’s success was arguably due to the excellent song writing and soulful vocals of Jimmy Rankin. If you’re a fan of the band’s award winning ten CD catalogue and are looking to hear the Mabou, Cape Breton musician at his best push the old material to the side and turn your attention to the songs Rankin’s sung since striking out on his own. Jimmy is set to offer his latest solo effort Edge of Day to a devoted fan... [Read more of this review]
CD Review
Hornpipe Volume 10 Issue 5 An Nollaig-an Irish Christmas Compass Records The Grand Dame of Irish fiddlers, Eileen Ivers, cast her spell on us once again with her 2007 release of cherished Christmas tunes. Irish-American born, the daughter of Irish immigrants, Eileen Ivers grew up in the culturally diverse neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. She has been a sensation since her first performance at 8. Since then she has been as sought after as... [Read more of this review]
Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion
By Edward O’Donnell Hornpipe Volume 10 Issue 4 On October 29, 1884. Republican candidate James G. Blaine seemed all but certain to win the presidency. With the election only one week away, he was campaigning in New York City, wooing the vital Irish Catholic vote. Everything was going his way until a Presbyterian minister, speaking at a pro-Blaine event that evening, denounced the Democrats as the party of “rum, Romanism, and rebellion.”... [Read more of this review]
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‘The Tiger’s Tail’ at San Francisco International Film Festival
‘The Tiger’s Tail’, directed by John Boorman San Francisco International Film Festival Sundance Kabuki Cinemas April 24 Castro Theater April 26 A nouveau riche Irish businessman is stalked by a doppelganger in a taut tale by filmmaker John Boorman that swerves from Dublin’s downtown executive offices to its gated suburbs to the city’s impoverished backstreets. The boom times for turn-of-the-millennium Ireland are coming... [Read more of this review]
THE YEATS PROJECT at The Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Rep’s month long Yeats Project Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly, Directors THE YEATS PROJECT, a thrilling month-long festival of all 26 plays written by William Butler Yeats - the world’s most popular poet and playwright. Eight of the plays will receive fully mounted productions on the Mainstage of the Theatre. In Cycle A are: The Countess Cathleen, The Cat And The Moon, and On Baile’s Strand. In Cycle B are:... [Read more of this review]
March 13 Symphony Hall Boston 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston 8:00 p.m. 617 482-6661 | celebrityseries.org From the moment Paddy Moloney launches into his lively Gaelic introductions, to the stillness after the last lyrical notes of the tin whistle fade away, and all the rollicking reels and seamless step-dances in between, you will know that no matter where you come from, tonight, you’re at home in Ireland. THE CHIEFTAINS AND FRIENDS , THE... [Read more of this review]
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