Solo Square Dance is a one-person dance concert created and performed by Nic Gareiss commemorating the 1935 Dance Halls Act which banned Irish citizens from dancing in homes. Ninety years later, this 60-minute show combines movement, speaking, and song inspired by this and other such movement prohibitions, including the dancing ban in Pound, Virginia (only lifted in 1999!) which required that dancing permits not be granted "to anyone who is not a proper person, nor to anyone without good moral character." Set in the round, Solo Square Dance engages traditional and original step dance movement from Ireland, Canada, and Appalachia to explore the dialectic of public/private life, probing the subversive power of dancing bodies. The show begs the question: in light of its historic bans, can dance (continue to) be a means of transgression, liberation, and social transformation for our times?
$10-$40 sliding scale, tickets available here!
Conception, creation, and performance: Nic Gareiss
Outside eye: Colin Dunne
All songs traditional, arranged by Gareiss, except: “Peaks of Otter” written by Jim Schulz
The development of Solo Square Dance was made possible thanks to a generous residency at the Irish Arts Center, New York
Press for Solo Square Dance
“…the remarkable Nic Gareiss, provides a running (walking and dancing) commentary…with insights into choreography, folklore, and social history which enthralled and amazed his audience…Drawing together music and dance traditions from Ireland, Canada, and America - peppered with elements of his personal journey in the three countries, Gareiss communicates complex ideas with clarity, wit and good humour!”
- Seamas Sheils, Fonn Magazine
"...this piece is a masterpiece...The intersecting thematic line in the piece is about pleasure, and how pleasure, in itself and in particular the pleasure of dancing, might be, and has been, perceived as threatening to the political and cultural status quo...the work finally resolves to come down on the side of pleasure rather than propaganda. This, for me, feels like a sort of softly experienced triumph."
- Steve Batts, Echo Echo Dance Festival