Penn Live Arts Presents Trinity Irish Dance Company, Philly Native Ali Doughty To Perform

Penn Live Arts presents Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) February 18 and 19 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Originally scheduled for March 2020, this long-awaited appearance by TIDC fuses Ireland's vibrant tradition and legacy with ever-evolving American innovation in a performance of show stopping aerial grace, lightning-fast agility, and percussive power.

For tickets and further information, visit PennLiveArts.org. All audience members must present proof of vaccination, a PennOpen Campus Green Pass completed on the day of the performance, and wear a mask at all times while in the building. See full health and safety information for in-person audiences at PennLiveArts.org/safety.

Philadelphia-area native and TIDC Artistic Associate Ali Doughty, who won the solo world championship for the United States in 2014, will be sharing her power as a professional performing artist with her hometown audience for the first time. As part of her return home, she will perform the solo work Sparks, inspired by her technical prowess, where she will be accompanied by fiddle prodigy, Jake James. Doughty started dancing at the age of eight with the McDade School of Irish Dance in Philadelphia, PA. After moving to Ohio to attend the University of Dayton in 2012, she continued her competitive dancing career with The Academy in Columbus, Ohio. While balancing her studies in exercise physiology, Doughty continued to compete internationally and was ultimately crowned World Champion in 2014. Upon her graduation, Philadelphia-born Doughty moved to Chicago to join the TIDC movement and begin her evolution from formidable competitor to a limitless performing artist while receiving her doctorate in physical therapy at Northwestern University. With a seamless blend of aerial grace and percussive power, Doughty connects with audiences on a deep level. She is part of a nucleus of company members that are carrying the TIDC legacy to new heights.

TIDC's Philadelphia premieres will include: An Sorcas, choreographed by Emmy-award winning TIDC founder and Artistic Director Mark Howard and Associate Artistic Director Chelsea Hoy; American Traffic, by NYC-based tap dancer and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Michelle Dorrance and tap dancer and choreographer Melinda Sullivan; and audience favorite Push, choreographed by Howard.

Howard and Hoy's An Sorcas (Gaelic for "The Circus") examines the battle between substance and spectacle. in a progression from idolatry to empathy, with original lyrics, music, and layers of symbolism. Dorrance and Sullivan's American Traffic is a hybrid of Irish step and American tap that plays at the intersection of rhythmic sensibilities and rebellious histories. It celebrates the nuanced differences between the two forms and creates a new percussive language. Push is an explosion of hard-driving percussive power that exemplifies the company's consistent message of female empowerment. Johnny is one of Howard's signature works which altered the landscape of Irish dance. The program will be rounded out by classic TIDC pieces, including Soles, A New Dawn, Communion, and Black Rose.

The program features dancers Ali Doughty, Michael Fleck, Lydia Fredrick, Anna Gorman, Abigail Graham-Luke, Chelsea Hoy, Francisco Lemus, Danielle Masbruch, Sierra McNall, Kaela Milewski, Claudia Morrison, Sydney Niewiedzial, Colleen O'Connor, Kelsey Parry, Gracie Peters, Clare Rahner, Kaitlyn Sardin, and Marissa Wurster; and musicians Jake James, Christopher Kulwin, Brendan O'Shea, and Steven Rutledge. For full bios, please see the performance program.