Irish steps in Budapest 

                                     LOOK magazine, May 2001

 Magyar  

"I started in 1998 with lord of the Dance and I was in the show from 1998 to 1999. It was a great experience but it was very hard work. We started with nine shows a week. You can imagine how tiring that is. Everytime you do a show is like playing an international football match. Although it was tiring this was a superb experience but after certain time I felt that I would like to do something new because Lord of the Dance was already seven years old when I started. I knew that Colin dunne was starting his own show. Colin had been the replacement for Michael Flatley when Michael Flatley left Riverdance and he is regarded as the best Irish dancer in all of the world. I met him at an Irish dancing competition in 1999 he spoke to me about the show and rather than going back to Lord of the Dance I decided to take an opportunity with an Irish band called Chieftans who are as far as I know the longest touring Irish band. They have been touring for 37 years now. I did a tour in Europe and Japan with them before starting the new show. In 1999 in August we started to work with Colin Dunne. We performed in London in the West End at Drury Lane Theatre for three months, after that we had some time off and then we went to New York. We had ten shows at the Radio City Music Hall. It was very successful. There were about six thousand people per show. It was the greatest experience of my life. Unfortunately this show is not running at the moment because they have some promotional problems."

Do you keep in touch with your ex-collegues?

-         Yes, of course. They are my friends. We send e-mails to each other and so on. By the way, Lord of the Dance is returning to Budapest and a lot of my friends whom I danced with in America will be here. One of my best friends will do the lead role, he will dance Flatley’s part so I’m really excited and looking forward to seeing them.

Have you tried to dance in other styles?

-         No, I haven’t really. When I was a teenager I tried modern dance but because we are trained from such a young age to keep our hands by our side it was difficult. So I tried it for a few months but then I decided it wasn’t for me. But I enjoy watching it.

What do you do in Hungary?

-         I teach Irish dance. We started the school last September and we have over two hundred students. I teach children and adults, too. We have a show class with about ten or twelve dancers and we have children show class, as well. Now, we’re starting to do small performances to show on stage what we have been learning for months behind closed doors.

Is teaching enough for you? Don’t you miss shows?

-         Teaching is enough because I don’t have time to miss the shows. It takes most of my week because I teach from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is my only day off but sometimes on Sundays I do shows and work in television.

Do you have contacts with Hungarian dancers?

-         One of my students dances with Sándor Román and because of the type of work he’s done in the past, Irish dance was quite easy for him. I remember he came to the school and he said that he would like to show me a piece that he’s been working on and I was amazed by the rhythm. Of course I saw his shows. Ezeregyév meséi (Tales of a thousand and one years) and Musketeers and I like them very much.

What are your plans for the near future?

-         I’m not planning on touring again. The school is successful and I’m happy about living in Budapest. Hungary is very kind to me and the media is also kind, I suppose because I’m the first Irish person to start an Irish dancing class and school here.