On The Town:Magical moments were created by Irish musicians at their different musical meccas around the world in the making of a new TG4 series, Ceolchuairt.
Tap dancers in Harlem jam with sean nós dancer Seosamh Ó Neachtain from Connemara in one programme while a griot singer from Senegal, Fanta Mbacke Kouyate, sings along with singer John Spillane and his version of Bean Pháidín.
"It's the thing about music being a universal language. They can meet musicians and there's a commonality they are able to communicate," said Laura Ní Cheallaigh, producer of Ceolchuairt, which was launched at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin this week. "It's not just from the hearth any more. Irish musicians are looking further afield," she said.
After getting a sneak preview of the series, the writer and poet Theo Dorgan, who launched it, said "the affinities between different cultures are so obvious and so real. We are beginning to take back the truth of what have become cliches . . . You really get in your heart the old truth that music is a universal truth."
The other traditional musicians who took part in Ceolchuairt include Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Rónán and Rossa Ó Snodaigh, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Cormac Breatnach.
The friends and relations of those who feature in the series who were at the launch included sean nós dancers from Minneapolis Danielle Enblom and Anna Lethert; flute players Mick O'Connor from Dublin and Tara Diamond from Comber, Co Down; sculptor Cliodna Cussen and her husband publisher Pádraig Ó Snodaigh; the former Sinn Féin general secretary and national director of elections, Lucilita Bhreatnach; and novelist Katy Hayes, sister of Paddy Hayes, the series director.
Ceolchuairt will be broadcast on TG4 over six weeks from Sun, Jan 27 at 10pm and on Fri, Feb 1 at 8pm
Walking and working the land
The landscapes of Cos Mayo, Kerry and Kilkenny provided the inspiration for the paintings of Eamon Colman, which went on view at a show called Vantage in Dublin this week.
"I never wanted to paint as it was seen but as I felt it, to get those moods," said Colman about his work, at his show's opening at the Hillsboro Fine Art gallery on Thursday night.
Staying at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Co Mayo last year, he said: "I would walk that whole coastline and I'm a huge walker."
He also walked along the coast near Cill Rialaig in Co Kerry where he stayed for two weeks last summer. And living in the hills between Johnswell and Muckalee in Co Kilkenny has been equally inspiring, he explained.
"He captures a great sense of the mood of a place," said the gallery's owner, John Daly. "I love this big red one . . . It reminds me of Arizona . . . It's very warm and rich, almost like a big prairie," he said. "It has all his trademark touches - he's quite happy to use his fingers and he splashes on work. I like the way he puts on paint and wipes it off. You can see the ground coming through. He's very experimental in his painting. The are a great foil to the watercolours. They require a much lighter touch."
"He's a beautiful painter," said fellow artist Mike Fitzharris of Colman's work in both oil and watercolour. Another artist, Roderick Bradshaw, described the work as "a breath of fresh air".
Also there was artist Carmel Kelly, of the RDS Arts Committee; the artist's wife, sculptor Pauline Colman; and Tony Strickland, curator of the mobile gallery Art Ambulance.
Vantage by Eamon Colman runs at Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin 1, until Sat, Feb 2
Inside out and all mixed up
Arabic, Farsi, French, German and Kabaye, a language of Togo in west Africa, feature in a new dance piece from the Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Next to Skin, which opened at the Project Theatre in Dublin this week.
The dancers, comprising eight different nationalities, "are, in some cases, saying what they see on stage at the time in a stream of consciousness, describing what the other dancers are doing," explained the show's choreographer, John Scott.
"I kept all the dialogue, all the noise, from rehearsals [in the show]. It keeps the dance alive," he said.
The piece "is about what's inside and what's outside", and it is inspired by the French surrealist poet Antonin Artaud, said Scott. The section where they "are rolling on top of each other, it's the idea of mixing all the colours and bodies up," he continued.
"It's great to have John back," said Willie White, director of the Project, speaking after the opening performance. "He has an interesting mix of performers that he uses in his work, including people who have no formal training", as well as dancers such as Ashley Chen, who has performed with the Merce Cunningham company, and the ballerina Joanna Banks. "The personalities of the dancers shine through and it's also very energetic. John always has a great sense of humour and mischief [in his work]," he said.
Choreographer and dancer Cathy O'Kennedy said a characteristic feature of Scott's work is "rampant imagination". "There are thousands of ideas in there and quirky connections and he leaves a lot of space around the connections and leaves me, as a viewer, time to get in and make my own journey with the dancers and into the idea," said O'Kennedy, whose own company, Fluxusdance, begins a residency at An Grianán in Letterkenny, Co Donegal next month.
Among those who came to the opening night was author of Eleven Houses Christopher Fitz-Simon, and his wife Anne Makower; photographer Ros Kavanagh and his wife, Janice McAdam; Leslie Scott, the choreographer's father and former lighting designer at the Abbey Theatre; Avril Ryan, general manager of The Ark; and former Ark board member Belinda Moller.
Next to Skin is at the Project at 8pm tonight and then tours. Full details on www.irishmoderndancetheatre.com
Straight in at No 5
Out this week, Confessions of a Fallen Angel by Ronan O'Brien has already reached No 5 in the Irish bestsellers original fiction category and has been chosen as Hughes & Hughes book of the month. The author's friends and relations applauded this news about the newly published book at its launch this week at the chain's bookshop in Dublin's Stephen's Green Shopping Centre.
With "dozens of rejection letters at home", first time author O'Brien said he "never in my wildest dreams anticipated this huge amount of people" at the book's launch. Nor did the practising solicitor ever imagine his book being in such a prominent place in bookshop windows.
The book's central character, Charlie, is "happy-go-lucky, who coasts along", but "he's unfortunate", O'Brien explained.
Ciara Doorley, O'Brien's editor at Hodder Headline Ireland, elaborated that Charlie has "visions of the death of people he loves", but, she added, "it's not a thriller". "It's different," she said.
Among those at the launch were Edel Coffey, presenter of Access All Areas on Phantom 105.2FM, and the radio station's manager, Ruth Murphy; Kevin O'Brien, principal of Templeogue College and the writer's former English teacher; and author Karen Gilleece, whose new book, The Absent Wife, is due out in April.
Also at the launch was the author and former Irish Times journalist John Connolly and his partner Jennie Ridyard. Connolly's 10th novel, The Reapers, is due out in May, while a short story he wrote some time ago, The New Daughter, is to be made into a film, set in the state of Illinois with Kevin Costner and the young actor Ivana Baquero in the main parts.
Many from the legal profession also attended, including High Court judge Garrett Sheehan; the deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Donoghue; and barristers Colm Ó Briain, Ger Small and Karen O'Connor.
Confessions of a Fallen Angel by Ronan O'Brien is published by Hodder Headline Ireland