My dancing career has taken me all over the world

IT’S lovely to hear someone say they have no regrets, and it’s exactly how Cork dancer Gillian Monaghan feels about her career to date.

Now, after eight years on the road, she’s ready to slow down, but not before she performs in a dazzling show at the Cork Opera House this August.

“It’s actually the 25th anniversary show of the Lord of the Dance. We devised it in University Limerick in 2021, which was a great experience because I studied to be a teacher in that university for four years and know it well,” she said.

The Touring Life

It’s clear from chatting to the Cork native that she more than deserves a life more ordinary. She’s devoted herself to dance for decades. As a small child, she often fell asleep watching older girls perform in her mother and aunt’s dance studio (the Farrelly school of Irish dancing in Cork). Later, having won prestigious competitions, she went on to travel the world as a professional member of various dance shows.

“The whole lifestyle is very different. You spend a lot of time on buses and you do miss your family. But that doesn’t take from the experience.

"I was always good at mapping out my tours, giving myself a break in between. Sometimes tours were longer, like when we had our UK tour last year. That went on for four months. We got three days off at a time and I made it my mission to get to Glasgow to see my boyfriend or back home to Cork to see my family.”

Gillian has been touring with the Lord of The Dance company since 2018. In our chat, she reflects on her initial dancing residency in Florida, where she lived for six months after she qualified from university. From there, she joined various tours that brought her all over the world.

“I really enjoyed visiting different countries and getting to know different cultures. You often work six days a week, from 2pm to 11pm, so there isn’t that much time to explore, but I did my best.

“My dancing career has taken me to places I wouldn’t have reached otherwise, like China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Mexico.”

Even if the talented dancer didn’t get much time off, she learned a lot about culture from how an audience behaves.

“In China, they tend to hold their applause until the finale. That felt strange because the numbers seemed very quiet but then they might give you a standing ovation at the end. In Sweden, they are very in sync with their clapping. Even those small details make travelling to different places interesting and dancing is a universal language so you get to feel a connection regardless.”

An Irish Experience

The dancer says touring with Lord of the Dance is a special experience in Ireland.

“We performed this show in Dublin in February. There was such a buzz about the place because a lot of the dancers had families and friends coming to see them. We all knew about it and wished them a particular good luck beforehand. It’s a really lovely thing – to perform for people who know you.”

This is Michael Flatley’s second show, following on from Riverdance, and it still holds the Irish elements at its core.

“It still has the Irish tradition throughout it, with a modern twist, so it keeps the traditional symbols and design. There is always that Irish base and it reminds you of dancing in class as a child. We still have the same Irish dancing steps, just with a modern-style spectacle, a big performance.”

Despite the Irish roots, there is a great mix of nationalities in the company.

“We have a lot of Irish and English performers, but also American, Canadian and Hungarian. Our fiddle player is Italian, and we have a singer from Wales.

“The majority of the dancers have come up through Irish dancing, in their local village and school. Then there are people like Zoltan from Hungary who learned the steps from YouTube. When he was young there were no Irish dancing studios in Hungary but that has changed since.”

The Teaching Life

Having enjoyed every minute of touring, Gillian is excited to return to the teacher training in science that she completed in University Limerick.

“I wanted to go straight into dancing but my mam wanted me to do something in college. I always helped out teaching dance with her, so teaching seemed natural. I enjoy teaching. It is something I want to do. I started back doing a bit of subbing in Ireland this year.”

Gillian says although she’s not fully retiring, she is ready to slow down.

“The preparation for a show is physically gruelling. You have to keep on top of your fitness, your diet and your sleep. You are doing it on your own so there is a degree of self-discipline involved. We don’t come back together again until the week before the show, so you have to be ready. It is like getting ready for a match or an exam. It is all about building stamina.”

Most days she hits the dance studio, playing the full show on audio and running through every number she’s in.

“It’s to do with muscle memory. I like to turn up with a good few shows under my legs. I break it up with some strengthening work in the gym. It’s also about avoiding injuries. I am so happy to have spent this time with the Lord of The Dance because I feel like I’ve become a healthier person.”

She is also very grateful to have formed so many strong relationships.

“Everyone encourages one another. You get to know people so well when you tour with them. Everyone has a room-mate and you end up spending so much time with them. I have a Canadian roommate on this tour and we get on so well. We have a wedding coming up soon and I will see a lot of people I once toured with. You realise how close you are to them. And, of course, you all love the same thing.”

The real ‘Lord’ of the Dance

Gillian has met Michael Flatley on numerous occasions. He came to the Dublin show and she hopes he might make an appearance in Cork, given his residence close by.

“We’re always told he’s coming in advance and you would be a little nervous. He’s great. He goes through the steps with us and wishes us luck. He is really good at what he does. It is a bit surreal to see him because he’s someone you would usually just see on television.”

He is extremely supportive, she says.

“He always goes back stage to wish us luck and then he’ll come back at the interval to praise us and cheer us on for the next part. It is really very motivating when he is working with you because you can see that it is his whole life.”

Whatever about the famous creator, Gillian’s family will be well represented at the Cork show.

“My parents came out to Florida and to other places over the years. It was great to share the experience with them. They spent years bringing me to classes and competitions so it’s nice that they get little holidays out of it.”