Ireland and Canada fuse in Westport

HIGH-ENERGY The Sokalo Remix promises to be an enthralling, highly energetic production, at the crossroad of modernity and tradition.

An artistic fusion of traditional Irish and contemporary Canadian music and dance is set to be staged at Westport Town Hall Theatre on Saturday, March 18. The Sokalo Remix Project is a transatlantic artistic collaboration between Montreal-based dance company ZØGMA and four professional artists from the Irish traditional performing arts – two of whom are Westport’s  Laoise Kelly and Newport’s Liam Scanlon.
The other Irish artists are dancer Edwina Guckian from Carrick-On-Shannon and concertina-player and dancer CΡitlin Nic Gabhann from Co Meath. The Canadian performers who will add an authentic contemporary twist to the production. The members of ZØGMA are exceptional performers and have performed extensively on the international stage since 2001, showcasing Quebec’s folklore, merging dance, music and song into powerful rhythmic works.
Laoise Kelly has three critically acclaimed solo albums ‘Just Harp’ (1999), ‘Ceis’ (2010), and ‘FΡilte Uí Cheallaigh’ (2015) and ‘The Wishing Well’ (2010), a live duo album with fiddle player Michelle O’Brien. She was a founding member of traditional group Bumblebees, with whom she recorded two albums (1997, 1999) and toured extensively internationally.
Throughout her solo career she has recorded on over 60 albums with many of Ireland’s foremost artists including The Chieftains, Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Dónal Lunny, Tommy Makem, Matt Molloy, Mary Black, Maighread & Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Eimear Quinn as well as Kate Bush and American country/bluegrass icon Tim O’Brien.
Liam Scanlon from Glenhest, Newport, was recently appointed Dance Ireland’s 2016/2017 Associate Artist. He is an award winning and accomplished sean nós dancer, collaborator and teacher, working nationally and internationally. A recent graduate of the MA in Traditional Dance Performance at University of Limerick, he has performed extensively throughout Ireland, the UK, France, New Zealand and the United States, with, among others, Damhsa Dance Company, and on shows including Ragús, Avalon Celtic Dances and Atlantic Rhythm.
In addition, his extensive teaching engagements include Le Bono Winter School, Ballyshannon Folk Festival, Tokyo CCÉ and summer schools in Birmingham, Westport, and Irish Dance Festival, Carlingford. TV work includes TG4 An Jig Gig, Poball and Féilte. Liam was commissioned to choreograph ‘Patrick’ by Westport Town Hall Theatre in 2016/2017 (see Westport Notes for more details on upcoming ‘Patrick’ performances) and has contributed choreography to ‘The Legend of GrΡinne Mhaol’, ‘The Admiral’ and ‘Wild Atlantic Show’.
From this Irish-Canadian collaboration has emerged an enthralling, highly energetic production, at the crossroad of modernity and tradition. The first sell-out tour of the Sokalo project was held in September 2015 in theatres all over Ireland. It then toured venues across five provinces in Canada, to critical acclaim. This Irish tour will be the fourth tour of the project, bringing Sokalo Remix to new levels of performance.
This one-night performance in Westport is not to me missed – given that they sold out their last Mayo performance back in September 2015, tickets are expected to be in high demand for their Westport date – the only performance in the county.

For bookings, contact the Westsport Town Hall Theatre box office on 098 28459 or online at www.westporttheatre.com.