Cork choreographer: From cruise ships, to Disneyland and Everyman panto

THIS is the first year that internationally trained dancer, Phil O’Callaghan, is choreographing the Everyman pantomime.

Beauty And The Beast, produced by CADA Performing Arts, continues at the venue until January 14.

Phil, 26, from Turners Cross, has been doing panto for five years. Choreographing all the cast, comprising the ensemble cast, the seven principals and the handmaidens, is a big responsibility but he is taking it all in his stride. He is also an ensemble dancer in the show.

“During rehearsals, each morning I warm up the cast, getting them to stretch and go over moves,” he says.

“Once the show is up and running, I continue with the warm-ups between each performance.

“During the run of the panto, anything can happen, including injuries. I deal with all that. I also choreograph the comic fights.”

Phil started dancing at Donna’s Dance Studio as a child (run by the late Donna Daly) until he was 16. He was actually spotted as a child with talent while on holidays in Spain with his parents.

In the holiday resort, there was a dance class. I did a few classes there. The guy running it said to my mother that I had talent and that I was naturally able to do a lot of things in dance. He recommended putting me in a dance class.

“I got accepted to Donna’s Dance Studio when I was seven. To be honest, I wasn’t into it at all at first. I was a highly energetic, physical kid. I had trouble channelling that when I was younger.”

But Phil became interested in dance when his mother signed him up for classes.

“I danced throughout my childhood and I also did pantos at the Cork Opera House. There were open auditions for children’s roles. I did some professional productions with Donna. We were in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and The King And I and other shows.”

When Phil was 17, he auditioned for Colaiste Stiofán Naofa’s full time dance programme offering a foundation in dance.

“I got accepted and during that year, I auditioned for a few colleges. I got accepted to IAB (Institute of Arts Barcelona). I was there from age 18 to 21. It’s in Sitges, a small town, 22 minutes outside Barcelona.

“It was full time training. I loved it. IAB is an international college. You had to be able to speak English. Obviously, a lot of the industry is based in London. But going to that college, I realised that dancing opportunities are not just in London but also the rest of Europe and the world.

It was amazing to study at IAB. It opened my eyes to the world of dance. They held in-house auditions.

“I got a gig through the college to work with Disneyland Paris. I graduated in June, 2018, and started working in Disneyland (his first professional gig) that August. I was dressed as the character, Tweedle Dum Tweedle Dee, and was a parade performer. It was a good job to get straight out of college. I spent three months there and then got asked to do panto; it was Cinderella at the Everyman in 2018.”

After that pantomime, Phil successfully auditioned for MSC Cruises, an Italian company.

“I worked on a cruise ship for eight months, having done six weeks of rehearsals in Italy first. I worked on the cruise for eight months, going around the Mediterranean. I was doing 18 shows a week on top of crew work such as giving life-jacket demonstrations. I enjoyed it; it was a great experience. It was great to be in so many shows as part of the one contract. It was rock, pop and contemporary dancing in musicals.”

But Phil was glad to get back on terra firma.

“I prefer working on land. Working on a cruise is a lot more strenuous. We danced for an hour straight. Because there’s a lot of movement on a ship, sometimes, when you’re jumping, you end up getting shin splints.”

Phil keeps fit and healthy by doing a lot of sea swimming, taking ice-baths and doing intense exercise. When he was in Vancouver last year staying with his sister, who has two small children, he came across ice-baths.

I recently bought my own ice-bath. It’s in my back garden. I just fill it with water and freeze blocks of ice which I put into the ice-bath. It sounds crazy but it feels phenomenal.

“After you work your whole body, mind and nervous system, you’re on cloud nine. It’s a great mental battle as well as physical. I’d stay in the ice-bath for ten minutes. The longer you stay in, the more benefits you get. I let my body temperature regulate itself back up and then I go for a hot shower.”

Kept busy doing a lot of teaching work with CADA and Connolly Dance Studios, Phil also does choreography for Cork drag group, Mockie-Ah. Clearly, he has landed on his feet.

Beauty And The Beast is at the Everyman until January 14. See 

https://everymancork.com/