This coming Sunday 26th September at 3pm on Kilkee beach is your chance to say goodbye to an eventful summer and shake off the covid blues with Dance Extravaganza.
Produced by Banner Productions with funding from Creative Ireland/Clare County Council, Dance Extravaganza starts on the sea wall defence platform stage in front of The Strand restaurant. Dressed in evening wear and dancing to a medley of songs including Beyond by Sea by Bobby Darin, the dance will continue down to and along the water’s edge to the bandstand, where those that haven’t already joined us can join the dancing. After this we will create the shape of a dolphin on the beach, to celebrate the rich marine life seen off Kilkee and the west coast this summer.
Producer/ Director Jenny Bassett says ‘ We were delighted when Simon Berrows from the Irish Whale Dolphin Group got in touch with us and suggested the idea and all being well a drone will film the event.’.
Jenny goes onto say that: “Its been quite an amazingly magical process putting this together, it’s been touch and go if Dance Extravaganza would go ahead with the restrictions in place and so much uncertainty around live events.
Now it feels as if we have turned a corner and people are ready to reconnect in person. I got a phone call from one of the participants and organisers, Alan McNamara to say he’d woken up with a waltz in his head and recorded the tune on his phone. Then music teacher Emma Karen who is also part of the group arranged the tune with piano and flute and just today recorded the track ‘ Alan’s Dream’.
All this was made possible with the assistance of the sound engineer Steven Addy at Radio Corca Baiscinn in Kilkee,” Jenny said.
“It was great to actually meet in person for a rehearsal after all this time last Sunday and we all got to listen to the demo and agreed it really is quite a beautiful tune. We shall be waltzing to Alan’s Dream at the bandstand. I really hope people make it along, whatever the weather. Funnily enough the original idea was inspired by the Jack Vettriano painting ‘ The Singing Butler’ with a dancing couple under an umbrella. We are including umbrellas! If it rains it rains ….nothing can be worse than being stuck indoors, no reason to dress up and not being able to dance outside you own home,” she added.
