Siamsoir - a performing group in Scotland
Auditions on the 4th December in Edinburgh
(we speak to Jean Hogan about her performing group Siamsoir, performing at the Edinburgh fringe festival)
Can you tell us a bit about your self. When did you start Irish dancing?
I started dancing when I was four in ballet and later progressing onto Jazz, Contemporary, Tap and then Ice Dancing. I have always enjoyed performing and the challenges that came from learning new styles. When I started Irish something within me really clicked with this style and I have concentrated on it ever since. I started in Glasgow in 1993 (with the McLaughlin School of Irish Dance under James McLaughlin) and 15 years later I am still striving to learn new things in Irish dance and I am constantly challenging myself.
When I left competitive dance for university I missed Irish dance too much and as there was no school near where I studied I decided to start my own class within the dance society. In 2002 I created an Irish Dance Performance class at the University of St Andrews, which I taught for the following 5 years. Teaching this class gave me the opportunity to choreograph and inspire new dancers, including some who had never even seen Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. To teach so many people (over 170 since 2002), see them perform and then receive the biggest applause of the evening was overwhelming for me. It is the greatest thing to be able to pass on a love of dance to someone.
The dancers I have taught have been from all over the world; Japan, France, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and from all over America. It amazes me that there are people throughout the world who are Irish Dancers now because they were in my class and to every single one of them I owe the success of Siamsoir.
What inspired you to start Siamsoir?
The most incredible experience I have had as a dancer has been performing alongside the dancers that I have taught and the wonderful response our routines received. This encouraged me to develop what was a once a year performance into a dedicated performance group.
I contacted the 30 girls in my class to ask if they wanted to do more performing and I got an incredible response. I took 12 girls and created Siamsoir. This was in 2005 and we have grown so much since then.
There was a huge demand for us after our launch and we appeared at many social, charity and corporate events. We have performed at numerous interesting and creative events including for the NSPCC 'Burns Reloaded' event at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh, on a catwalk for the Don’t Walk Fashion Show which was inside an aircraft hanger at RAF Leuchars, as Diamond 'Bond Girls' for the St Andrews Golf Club and our own show 'Battle for Eire' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007.
What is the idea behind Siamsoir and how is it different from other dance companies?
I chose the name Siamsoir as it is Gaelic for 'the Entertainer' and this is exactly what we set out to do: Entertain.
All of our performances are tailored to the client's requirements as I outlined above and we enjoy creating costumes and pieces with music that they request to fit in with the theme. We also enjoy fusing different styles of dance with Irish including hip hop, contemporary and lyrical. This is something that makes us unique and gives our routines depth and flavour.
What was the Edinburgh Festival like?
It was an amazing experience and definitely one that I would encourage anyone to do if they get the opportunity.
The show; 'Battle for Eire', tells the story of a mythical time in Ireland where a village, Nareena is attacked from a foe (Contemporary Dancers). It is based on Yeats' The Changeling where a child is stolen by the faerie folk. In 'Battle for Eire' this child is taken and it's existence is given up by the Villagers in return for help from these powerful faeries who join them in their fight to defeat the threat from their enemy. The whole Siamsoir team really stepped up to help with the production and I was completely in awe of the cast and crew that they became. I had a marketing manager, costume designer, make up artist, set designer and many more. I myself directed and choreographed the show but of course I had help from the other dancers whenever I needed it. The show was performed to live music written and adapted for us by the wonderful band Shybairn. It was a great success.
Do dancers need competitive success to be considered?
No, definitely not. When it comes to Siamsoir we pride ourselves on being entertainers and often it is the dancers who have either had no competitive dance experience or very little and experience of other dance styles who really perform the best. An audience doesn't always want to see technically brilliant dancers and extremely complicated routines. They want to be entertained by perfect execution of steps and usually those which have a more lyrical feel to them.
As a choreographer I believe that each step should tell a story and this story should be told with the help of music. The steps, music and performance should intertwine to produce a magical finished product.
I will always choose a more confident performer who can deliver on stage as opposed to someone who is technically brilliant but doesn't light up the stage or make a connection with the audience.
What projects are in the pipeline for Siamsoir?
Siamsoir was founded in St Andrews and after the last of the dancers graduated I moved through to Edinburgh. I am now recruiting for new dancers 4th December in Edinburgh and I would like to urge any Irish dancers who want to perform more and have the opportunity to join a young, vibrant and passionate company to email info@siamsoir.co.uk to apply for a place.
We have many performances arranged between now and March and then we will be embarking on our annual St Patrick's Day Tour where we perform in many venues in one evening. In 2009 it will be in Edinburgh and we are very much looking forward to this new territory with many bookings already in place.
However, our biggest project of 2009 will be the launching of our new show 'Celtic Caledonia – The Curse' which will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is possible that we will need a few extra dancers for this and so any one interested should keep their eyes very firmly on our website www.siamsoir.co.uk.
We will again be creating a relationship with different dance styles and pushing contemporary and Irish to new limits. It will be a family show full of magic and people from ancient times, namely the Gaels who move over from Ireland to Scotland and clash with the Pictish people who are already settled there.
Where would you like to see Siamsoir in 3 years time?
I would like to see Siamsoir touring with one or both of the shows that we have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We will always perform at events and hope to travel further a field within Scotland and maybe more.
Siamsoir will always be fun, entertaining, committed to Irish Dance and passionate about our performances. As long as we continue to get a positive response from our audiences then this is the only endorsement I need to know that Siamsoir is doing its job. We will continue to strive to surprise audiences with our unique fusion of Irish with different dance styles.
For more information then please visit www.siamsoir.co.uk
カタリナ （http://irish-dance.biz/）
Auditions on the 4th December in Edinburgh
(we speak to Jean Hogan about her performing group Siamsoir, performing at the Edinburgh fringe festival)
Can you tell us a bit about your self. When did you start Irish dancing?
I started dancing when I was four in ballet and later progressing onto Jazz, Contemporary, Tap and then Ice Dancing. I have always enjoyed performing and the challenges that came from learning new styles. When I started Irish something within me really clicked with this style and I have concentrated on it ever since. I started in Glasgow in 1993 (with the McLaughlin School of Irish Dance under James McLaughlin) and 15 years later I am still striving to learn new things in Irish dance and I am constantly challenging myself.
When I left competitive dance for university I missed Irish dance too much and as there was no school near where I studied I decided to start my own class within the dance society. In 2002 I created an Irish Dance Performance class at the University of St Andrews, which I taught for the following 5 years. Teaching this class gave me the opportunity to choreograph and inspire new dancers, including some who had never even seen Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. To teach so many people (over 170 since 2002), see them perform and then receive the biggest applause of the evening was overwhelming for me. It is the greatest thing to be able to pass on a love of dance to someone.
The dancers I have taught have been from all over the world; Japan, France, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and from all over America. It amazes me that there are people throughout the world who are Irish Dancers now because they were in my class and to every single one of them I owe the success of Siamsoir.
What inspired you to start Siamsoir?
The most incredible experience I have had as a dancer has been performing alongside the dancers that I have taught and the wonderful response our routines received. This encouraged me to develop what was a once a year performance into a dedicated performance group.
I contacted the 30 girls in my class to ask if they wanted to do more performing and I got an incredible response. I took 12 girls and created Siamsoir. This was in 2005 and we have grown so much since then.
There was a huge demand for us after our launch and we appeared at many social, charity and corporate events. We have performed at numerous interesting and creative events including for the NSPCC 'Burns Reloaded' event at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh, on a catwalk for the Don’t Walk Fashion Show which was inside an aircraft hanger at RAF Leuchars, as Diamond 'Bond Girls' for the St Andrews Golf Club and our own show 'Battle for Eire' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007.
What is the idea behind Siamsoir and how is it different from other dance companies?
I chose the name Siamsoir as it is Gaelic for 'the Entertainer' and this is exactly what we set out to do: Entertain.
All of our performances are tailored to the client's requirements as I outlined above and we enjoy creating costumes and pieces with music that they request to fit in with the theme. We also enjoy fusing different styles of dance with Irish including hip hop, contemporary and lyrical. This is something that makes us unique and gives our routines depth and flavour.
What was the Edinburgh Festival like?
It was an amazing experience and definitely one that I would encourage anyone to do if they get the opportunity.
The show; 'Battle for Eire', tells the story of a mythical time in Ireland where a village, Nareena is attacked from a foe (Contemporary Dancers). It is based on Yeats' The Changeling where a child is stolen by the faerie folk. In 'Battle for Eire' this child is taken and it's existence is given up by the Villagers in return for help from these powerful faeries who join them in their fight to defeat the threat from their enemy. The whole Siamsoir team really stepped up to help with the production and I was completely in awe of the cast and crew that they became. I had a marketing manager, costume designer, make up artist, set designer and many more. I myself directed and choreographed the show but of course I had help from the other dancers whenever I needed it. The show was performed to live music written and adapted for us by the wonderful band Shybairn. It was a great success.
Do dancers need competitive success to be considered?
No, definitely not. When it comes to Siamsoir we pride ourselves on being entertainers and often it is the dancers who have either had no competitive dance experience or very little and experience of other dance styles who really perform the best. An audience doesn't always want to see technically brilliant dancers and extremely complicated routines. They want to be entertained by perfect execution of steps and usually those which have a more lyrical feel to them.
As a choreographer I believe that each step should tell a story and this story should be told with the help of music. The steps, music and performance should intertwine to produce a magical finished product.
I will always choose a more confident performer who can deliver on stage as opposed to someone who is technically brilliant but doesn't light up the stage or make a connection with the audience.
What projects are in the pipeline for Siamsoir?
Siamsoir was founded in St Andrews and after the last of the dancers graduated I moved through to Edinburgh. I am now recruiting for new dancers 4th December in Edinburgh and I would like to urge any Irish dancers who want to perform more and have the opportunity to join a young, vibrant and passionate company to email info@siamsoir.co.uk to apply for a place.
We have many performances arranged between now and March and then we will be embarking on our annual St Patrick's Day Tour where we perform in many venues in one evening. In 2009 it will be in Edinburgh and we are very much looking forward to this new territory with many bookings already in place.
However, our biggest project of 2009 will be the launching of our new show 'Celtic Caledonia – The Curse' which will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is possible that we will need a few extra dancers for this and so any one interested should keep their eyes very firmly on our website www.siamsoir.co.uk.
We will again be creating a relationship with different dance styles and pushing contemporary and Irish to new limits. It will be a family show full of magic and people from ancient times, namely the Gaels who move over from Ireland to Scotland and clash with the Pictish people who are already settled there.
Where would you like to see Siamsoir in 3 years time?
I would like to see Siamsoir touring with one or both of the shows that we have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We will always perform at events and hope to travel further a field within Scotland and maybe more.
Siamsoir will always be fun, entertaining, committed to Irish Dance and passionate about our performances. As long as we continue to get a positive response from our audiences then this is the only endorsement I need to know that Siamsoir is doing its job. We will continue to strive to surprise audiences with our unique fusion of Irish with different dance styles.
For more information then please visit www.siamsoir.co.uk
カタリナ （http://irish-dance.biz/）
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