Traditional Irish culture transcends its folk roots and engages not just the ear, but also the eye in the performances of the Solas An Lae (SAL) School of American Irish Dance. “Solas An Lae,” which is pronounced sullus un lay and is Gaelic for “light of day,” itself has a sonorous sound, hinting at the rich interplay of dance, narrative, music and film created by SAL directors Deirdre Lowry and Patrick Brown. Lowry takes the moves of classic step dances as her starting point, creating a synthesis of styles that her student dancers perform with energy and flair that are thoroughly American.
The company’s annual holiday show, “A Midwinter Night’s Dream,” will this year be held at the Fisher Center for Performing Arts at Bard College on December 17 at 8 p.m. As the title suggests, dreams and the life of the imagination will be tangible presences, suggested by striking videos and abstract montages projected onto the stage. A Celtic thread will run through the musical score: a tapestry of classical, jazz and world grooves.
Lowry, who started studying Irish dance professionally at age seven and has danced at Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center, formerly toured Europe as the lead dancer in the Irish musical group Cherish the Ladies. She began collaborating with Brown, who has a background in design, music, photography and film and creates the visual projected images and musical accompaniment, in 2003.
Tickets are $22 and $19, with a 20 percent discount for Bard students and children age 5 to 12. To reserve, visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu.
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