<\/p>\n
SPRINGFIELD \u2014 If you missed seeing \u201cRiverdance\u201d or \u201cLord of the Rings,\u201d then you might want to consider seeing the best of both worlds with \u201cA Taste of Ireland \u2014 The Irish Music & Dance Sensation.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The internationally acclaimed production, coming to Springfield Symphony Hall on Saturday, combines traditional Irish music with a modern twist, featuring fast-paced dance performances and vibrant storytelling.<\/p>\n Showtime is 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n The cast features stars from \u201cLord of the Dance\u201d and \u201cRiverdance\u201d<\/i> as well as other world champions and live musicians, to transport audiences through the heart and soul of Ireland\u2019s culture and history.<\/p>\n Performers include two-time world champion Gavin Shevlin, formerly of \u201cLord of the Dance\u201d and \u201cRiverdance;\u201d world champion Callum O\u2019Neill, formerly of \u201cRiverdance;\u201d world champion runner-up Cian Walsh; as well as fiddle player Megan McGinley, Patrick O\u2019Keeffe Young Musician of the Year who is featured in the film \u201cTRAD\u201d and formerly of \u201cLord of the Dance\u201d; among other world-class Irish dancers and performers.<\/p>\n \u201cA Taste of Ireland\u2014The Irish Music & Dance Sensation\u201d is directed and produced by Brent Pace of \u201cThis is Not a Happy Room\u201d from Off West End and \u201cA Taste of Ireland\u201d from off-Broadway, and co-directed and produced by Ceili Moore, world champion \u201cRiverdance\u201d and \u201cLord of the Dance\u201d artist, and features musical direction by Charlie Galloway of \u201cTalisk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis show offers audiences an adventure through the heart and soul of Ireland, where every beat of music and every step of Irish dance shares a captivating journey,\u201d Pace said in a press release about the show.<\/p>\n Liam Fitzgerald, one of several lead dancers in the show, began dancing at the age of 3 and trained in all styles of dance at Sonja Dene Dance Studios in Australia. He is both a New South Wales State and Australian National Champion and has also competed internationally at the World Irish Dancing Championships and the North American Irish Dancing Nationals. He first performed with the cast of \u201cTaste of Ireland\u201d in their Sydney show before traveling the world with them.<\/p>\n Asked what audiences can see and hear compared to \u201cLord of the Dance\u201d or \u201cRiverdance,\u201d Fitzgerald said \u201cA Taste of Ireland\u201d has all live dancing beats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have dancers with microphones on their feet and others strategically placed on stage so that all the noise you hear is from the actual dancers on stage and not pre-recorded tracks. I think for the audience, it\u2019s just nice to know that the dancing is actually happening as they hear it. The tips of our shoes and the heels all make noises. So, there is a bit more pressure on the performer. You can\u2019t be missing any beats, missing any noises, because it would be quite obvious live if you do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Fitzgerald explained that the show\u2019s storyline follows the history of Ireland from the beginning up into the modern age and explores different events that have happened in Ireland\u2019s history, including the Irish potato famine of the late 1800s and a rebellion against British rule during Easter 1916.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are lots of different little stories, essentially a big timeline, exploring the island\u2019s history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Fitzgerald said audiences \u201clove the show\u201d and tell them so when members from the cast go out into the foyer of the auditorium to talk with audience members, get photos with them, and sign autographs.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people in America have Irish backgrounds, Irish heritage, and if I go out after the show and one person tells me I made their night or made them happy for two hours while we perform, then I can\u2019t be any happier. That\u2019s what we love to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tickets, ranging in price from $77.44 to $89.11, are available online at springfieldsymphonyhall.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the original article on MassLive<\/a>. Add MassLive<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SPRINGFIELD \u2014 If you missed seeing \u201cRiverdance\u201d or \u201cLord of the Rings,\u201d then you might want to consider seeing the best of both worlds with \u201cA Taste of Ireland \u2014 The Irish Music & Dance Sensation.\u201d The internationally acclaimed production, coming to Springfield Symphony Hall on Saturday, combines traditional Irish music with a modern twist, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2043468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[378472,306173,378469,348123,378471,378473,344081,339319,378470,378474],"class_list":["post-2043467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-dance-sensation","tag-ireland","tag-irish-dancers","tag-irish-music","tag-liam-fitzgerald","tag-riverdance","tag-springfield-symphony-hall","tag-traditional-irish-music","tag-world-champion","tag-world-irish-dancing-championships"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/World-champion-Irish-dancers-to-perform-in-Springfield-this-weekend.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2043467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2043468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2043467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2043467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2043467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}