‘Riverdance’ lead to perform with Irish company

It’s a big deal, Bellis said, because Gallagher is a worldwide performer, has been a lead in “Riverdance” and was a former Irish World Champion. In the “Rhythm of Fire” show, the company will perform a new traditional Irish dance choreographed by Gallagher.

“He’s been our master teacher for five years,” Bellis said. “This will be the first time we actually get to share the stage with him. He’s toured all over the world and it’s just really exciting to have him say yes to performing on stage with us.”

	If you go WHAT: Belisama Irish Dance presents the seventh annual “Rhythm of Fire” WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 15 WHERE: Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe HOW MUCH: Tickets are $10-$20 at www.ticketssantafe.org, 505-988-1234 or at the Lensic box office

The Belisama Irish Company is made up of 14 dancers from Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Albuquerque. Ages range from 12-23 and they are all advanced dancers, Bellis said, with some of them being regional, national and open champions.

“Rhythm of Fire” will feature both recorded and live music. Seventeen-year-old company dancer Maria Jones will play the fiddle, offering edgy interpretations of Irish music. According to a news release, she has studied and played with fiddle greats Liz Carroll, Alasdair Fraser and Brittany Haas. Well-known Santa Fe folk singer/songwriter Jono Manson, whose songs have been recorded by Grammy Award-winning artists and features in major motion pictures, will perform on the guitar. Mark Clark, who has been a professional drummer since age 12, also will play during the performance.

A variety of musical numbers will be involved, from traditional Irish, to Americana to jazz. In an interview, Jones pointed out that the show will be quite diverse in terms of the styles of dance, even though the performance fits into the Irish genre.

Company dancer and choreographer Celia Kessler added, “We’re not all completely traditional. I think it’s cool to show that Irish dancing is more versatile than some people think.”

Using music and dancing, the Irish dance company has several stories to tell. Bellis said there are countless Irish immigration stories in America. In “Rhythm of Fire” there will be traditional music and nontraditional, mixing in the sounds of Jones, Manson and Clark.

Bellis enjoys the annual “Rhythm of Fire” performance because the Irish Company doesn’t get to perform with no strings attached very often. Usually, it is competing.

“I really like performance and most of Irish dancing schools do competitions, but not a lot of performing,” she said. “So, for me, when creating a company, a lot of it was about creating a performing group that could compete at a very high level even though it was a student group.”

If there is one thing Bellis would like the audience to gain from seeing “Rhythm of Fire,” it’s simply that they have a good time.

“The Irish are all about having fun,” she said. “I just want them to go away thinking that was a fantastic thing to do for St. Patrick’s Day weekend.”