Irish dancers to dazzle at Horsham Town Hall with A Taste of Ireland

This story was originally published on May 7, 2021.

Dancing is a way of life for Ceili Moore, the star of A Taste of Ireland, a new show coming to Horsham later this month.

For the past eight years, she's travelled the world with various shows, sharing her love of Irish dance.

Now she's bringing her passion for performance on a national tour through regional Australia.

"I've been very lucky to have some incredible experiences and got to travel the world over the past eight years," Ms Moore said.

"It's been incredible to bring everything I've experienced back to Australia with this show,"

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"Irish dancing is a unique art form.. there's quite a few things that draw people to it."

"I guess you could say I was born into it. When I was three years old, I went to my mum and told her I wanted to start dancing."

Her mother was the first Australian to win the World Championships of Irish dancing.

"She asked if I was sure I wanted to, and then the rest is history."

The star of a Taste of Ireland has been performing professionally since she was 18, including as a dancer for the Wiggles.

It was while she was touring overseas that the idea for A Taste of Ireland was born.

"My partner and I both toured for many years with different shows overseas, but eventually we decided we wanted to come home and that there was a gap in the market - that Australians absolutely love Irish dancing."

"We did a national tour in 2019, which was really, really successful. Because of the high demand, we thought, 'well we've got to bring it back'."

Ms Moore said regional communities were often underserved by performing arts, and that bringing the show to regional communities has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the tour.

"One thing about regional audiences is they aren't as privileged in getting to experience the arts as regularly (as metro areas).

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"I've found they really have an appreciation when they do get to see live performances. Some of the most appreciative audiences that I've ever performed to were in regional Australia."

Sitting on the Gold Coast while the rest of the cast is in Western Australia, Ms Moore

"The uncertainty has definitely been something that is quite difficult, just not knowing what could happen at any given point in time,"

"But on the flip side, everyone is just dying to get out and see entertainment.

"We've never had audience members and performances that have been so vibrant and exciting, because everyone is just so excited to be able to get out and experience live theatre," she said.

Despite the difficulties the pandemic has thrown up, Ms Moore is optimistic about the tour.

"We've handled a lot of border closures. We're getting very good at navigating our way around them, but we still have our fingers and toes crossed."

A Taste of Ireland lands in Horsham Town Hall on July 25.

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