Trinity Irish Dance Company Returns To Auditorium Theatre March 3 With Two Cutting-Edge World Premieres

The Auditorium Theatre presents Chicago's own internationally-renowned Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC). 

Considered a performing arts treasure by critics and enthusiasts worldwide, TIDC celebrates a unique vision to fuse vibrant Irish traditions with ever-evolving American innovation. A dance legacy that is rooted in tradition yet forward-looking and ever evolving, TIDC dazzles with hard-driving percussive power and aerial grace while sending a clear message of female empowerment.

Fresh off a month-long tour of Japan (the company's 8th, making them the most toured foreign dance company in Japan's history), and in the midst of a 17-city USA season, TIDC returns to the Auditorium Theatre, presenting a mixed repertory program with two highly-anticipated world premieres, special guest artists, TIDC classics, and live music from the ever-popular TIDC Band. Kicking off the St. Patrick's Day season, the Auditorium Theatre performance takes place Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM.  Tickets start at $25 and are available now at auditoriumtheatre.org.

“At the Auditorium Theatre, we love showcasing the amazing wealth of talent in Chicago's dance community.” Said Auditorium Theatre CEO Rich Regan “Trinity Irish Dance Company is a world-renowned company with deep Chicago roots. We are excited to have them back at the Auditorium Theatre for their annual Chicago engagement.”

The program:

Two world premieres will wow Chicago audiences and redefine what's possible for Irish dance: Taking the Mick, choreographed by TIDC Founding Artistic Director and recent inductee into the Irish American Hall of Fame Mark Howard and Associate Artistic Director Chelsea Hoy, is a full company work that takes the virtuosity and versatility of these artists to a new level through multi-genre vignettes of rapid fire footwork, theatrics, and twisted traditions. With a vaudevillian era narrative that dances amongst the madness between Irish immigrant insecurities, social mobility, one-upmanship and assimilation into American culture, Taking the Mick blends commentary and innovation through movement that is at once whimsical and fierce. Theatrical props will be designed by the much-celebrated Michael Curry Design, known for his notable work from Katy Perry to Lion King on Broadway, with lighting design by Chicago's own Julie Ballard.

“We've created an alternative universe set to a backdrop of 1945 Bing Crosby meets 1972 Planxty, that blurs the lines between movement genres, time and space. A gaggle of hapless yet brilliant, good natured, and unruly characters deliver their unique brand of whimsical percussive prowess.” - Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer Mark Howard

P.O.V. is a new work by elusive, renowned choreographer Harrison McEldowney, who has come out of retirement specifically to choreograph this piece for the company. Utilizing cutting edge technology, audiences will be given a unique opportunity to experience TIDC's fast-paced movement genre from the point of view of a dancer. A collaboration between two Chicago dance community stalwarts, each performance is unique to its audience and venue.

Additional repertoire that celebrates the company's evolution and range will include: Howard's Black Rose which was reset for TIDC's summer Japan tour, Soles, Push, Communion, and Howard and Hoy's first collaboration, An Sorcas. TIDC's stand-out four-piece band, led by Killarney-born, New York-based guitar player and singer/songwriter Brendan O'Shea, will present two original new songs.

Amongst other surprises, appearances by special guests will include dynamic tap artist Star Dixon of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Irish-born, virtuoso All-Ireland champion flute and tin whistle player Larry Nugent, and students from the Irish Music School of Chicago representing the future of traditional Irish music.

Doubling down on their longstanding tradition to share their platform and empower young people, TIDC's March 3 performance will also include a performance featuring over 100 students from the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, including a team of young dancers that will represent the United States at the World Championships of Irish Dance later that month.

Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) has significantly changed the direction and scope of Irish dance, re-introducing the art form as the phenomenon it is today. Founded in 1990, this innovative, nonprofit, repertory company was created to celebrate the pioneering work of Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard. Howard's uniquely Irish-American company was the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, an innovative movement genre that led directly to commercial productions such as “Riverdance.”

By using Irish dance as an instrument and a metaphor, TIDC redefines the medium with passion, flair, and precision. Through the years, Howard's increased vocabulary of movement and collaboration with noted contemporary choreographers led to the development of a new genre of dance, coined ‘progressive Irish dance.' With a unique blend of uncompromising power and grace, TIDC sends a consistent message of female empowerment with a repertory that has elevated the art form for more than three decades.

Considered an American treasure by critics and enthusiasts worldwide, TIDC has performed sold-out tours in Europe, Asia, and North America, appearing in distinguished venues, such as New York's The Joyce Theater, Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, UCLA's Royce Hall, Princeton's McCarter Theater, and Tokyo's Orchard Hall, among many others. The Company has traveled to entertain dignitaries as varied as Monaco's royal family, Irish and American presidents, Japanese royalty, and Indian meditation masters. TIDC holds an important place in the dance world, offering both a highly skilled presentation of traditional Irish step dance and a brilliantly engaging interpretation of contemporary world vision.

The Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive at Roosevelt University in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889.

The Auditorium Theatre 2023-24 Season is made possible in part by support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The Auditorium's official hotel partner is the Palmer House Hilton.

This Auditorium Theatre's 2023-24 performance season features a dynamic mix of cultural events from ballet to rock and roll and everything in between. For more information on the Auditorium Theatre and a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, please visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.

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