Auditorium Theatre 2019-2020 Trinity Irish Dance Company

FEBRUARY 29, 2020 | TRINITY IRISH DANCE COMPANY | 7 BIOGRAPHIES HARRISON MCELDOWNEY (Choreographer) has choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street 2, River North Dance Company, Danceworks, the Civic Ballet of Chicago, the Cerqua/Rivera Art Experience, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Ballet Met, American Repertory Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Configurations Dance Company, Omaha Ballet Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera, Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, Paramount Theater, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. He has created original dances for special occasions of the 97 th Birthday Celebration of noted dance historian, critic, and friend Ann Barzel; a work to open the 10 th anniversary of Dance for Life; and the finale for Dance Chicago’s 10 Year Anniversary. He created original pieces for Dance for Life for six years in collaboration with Jeremy Plummer and C5. McEldowney is the inaugural recipient of the Prince Prize and has received the Ruth Page, After Dark, and Choo-San Goh Awards for choreography, in addition to an Emmy nomination for his performance in Billy Sunday on PBS. He choreographed the 35 th Anniversary Tour of American Bandstand and directed the Australian Tour of More Dirty Dancing . His work was seen at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies and Carnegie Hall’s Celebration of 125 Years of Musical Theater . McEldowney is a Creative Director for Chicago’s Wilson Dow, where he has directed and staged events with Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Kristin Chenoweth, Yao Ming, and Malala Yousafzai, to name a few. MELINDA SULLIVAN (Choreographer) is a Los Angeles-based artist with a diverse career in dance, television, and theatre. A So You Think You Can Dance Top 10 Finalist and All-Star, Sullivan has toured with Disney’s High School Musical and Cats. Film and television credits include La La Land, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the Academy Awards, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Glee, and A Legendary Christmas with John Legend . As a choreographer, Sullivan is a recipient of the Capezio A.C.E. Award and was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” She recently has been a guest artist with Dorrance Dance, premiering new work as a collaborator at the Joyce in New York City and at Jacob's Pillow. Sullivan is on faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and continues to teach, perform, and choreograph worldwide. Find her online at MelindaSullivan.com or on Twitter at @realmelsully. THE BAND LIZ CARROLL (Special Appearance – Fiddle) is an Irish fiddler, composer, and recording artist. She is the first Irish American musician to be nominated for a Grammy, and the first American-born composer to be honored with the Cumadóir TG4, Ireland’s most significant traditional music prize. She has toured as a solo artist and with the Greenfields of America, the group Trian, String Sisters, as the duo Liz Carroll & John Doyle, and now as a duo with guitarist and pianist Jake Charron. Featured on 14 albums and appearing on many more, her duet album with Jake Charron, Half Day Road , was released in February 2019. She will soon publish a new book of recent compositions following the sold-out success of Collected – Original Irish Tunes in 2010. Carroll was born in Chicago, IL, of Irish parents, and is proud that she was recently presented with a 2019 Artist Fellowship Award by the State of Illinois in Ethnic and Folk Arts. JAKE JAMES (Fiddle and Bódhran) is a two-time All-Ireland fiddle champion, bódhran player, and dancer from Queens, NY. James started playing the fiddle at age 7 and is a student of Niall Mulligan of Antrim. James started playing bodhrán at 13 years old and studied with Eamon Murray of Beoga. He won the trophy at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil seven years in a row on bodhrán and won the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil two times on fiddle. James studied Irish dance with Dublin-born Niall O’Leary from the age of 3. Over the years, he has performed and taught at different venues and events, including the Great American Irish Festival in Frankfort, the Irish Arts Center, Symphony Space, BB King’s, Joanie Madden’s Folk’N Irish Cruise, Gracie Mansion, and Carnegie Hall. CHRISTOPHER DEVLIN (Guitar and Vocals) is a Chicago-based musician who began playing guitar at 8 years old. He has since grown as a multi-instrumentalist trained in piano, drums, accordion, fiddle, and more. Devlin has been a collaborator with varied musical acts across the country. Dedicated to community and culture, Devlin is a founding member of the Treehouse Collective, which owns one of the most prestigious recording studios in Chicago. Devlin is often found contributing to Chicago’s Do-It-Yourself (DIY) community, a common core known for concerts in obscure and odd locations that has taken the city by storm. Devlin is currently playing with the Chicago band Rookie, and is working on opening “The Workshop,” an accessible studio for Chicago artists in need of a space to create. Devlin took his first trip to Japan with TIDC in 2016, and is incredibly honored to share his talents with the company on international stages. BRENDAN O’SHEA (Guitar, Vocals, and Composition) is a singer-songwriter originally from Killarney, Ireland who moved to the United States in the late 90s. Since then, he has become a veteran of New York City’s songwriter