Mícheál's music central to dance show with connection at its heart
"It was a busy house. There was always music and an emphasis on being creative," says musician, actor and composer Mícheál Ó Dubhghaill about growing up in Indreabhán, where his parents, Máirtín and Phil, nurtured creativity in their six children.
And it's paid off in spades. Mícheál, who now lives in Tralee will be back in Galway next Tuesday, May 5, performing in 'Ciseach', a show from the Catherine Young Dance Company which calls on us remember our past and reconnect with it, as well as with nature and with each other. He's just one of the family who has embraced the stage, with brother Eoin currently performing in Brú's show for Galway Theatre Festival, while Pádraig is a professional guitarist and teaches music. Their sister, Máire Treasa, formerly of TG4, now works for RnG.
With six dancers and five musicians 'Ciseach: An Embodied Manifesto' uses dance, rhythm, live music and voice as it explores and seeks to revive our broken relationship with the land. Multi-instrumentalist Míchéal is one of the performers and has also written music for Ciseach.
Máirtín, a retired primary teacher acted with local groups while teaching in Galway City. He's currently playing the beleaguered Cóilí Jackie in TG4's Ros na Rún. His teacher mother, Phil, also retired, was involved in drama and choirs, behind the scenes.
Mícheál learned fiddle from Dearbhal Standún of the all-women group Dordán while fellow member Mary Bergin taught him tin-whistle, and all the family were involved with Galway Youth Orchestra, under the guidance of Carmel Barrett.
There were theatrical performances at An Taibhdhearc and Mícheál, who also sings and plays guitar, featured in the first ever series of Ros na Rún, in the 1990s.
Studying primary teaching at Mary Immaculate in Limerick, he continued his involvement in music and theatre, and maintained that when he and his wife settled in her home place of Tralee in 2017. In between, he had taken a career break, working in Galway with Fíbín and An Taibhdhearc, and also in film and TV.
"When babies started coming, we needed a place," he says of their decision to settle in Tralee near her family. Míchéal was involved in the Siamsa Tíre folk theatre there and played in a band at the weekend, while also working as a teacher. When first encountered Catherine Young and her company, back in 2018, it was transformative.
"The stuff she does is amazing," he says. They did "a few bits together before the Covid madness" and he also worked 'Floating on a Dead Sea' a recent show she did with people living in direct provision. Mícheál and his friend Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn, a hugely talented sean-nós singer, who died in 2009 aged 27, used to sing together but he hadn't done so since Ciarán's death. However, Catherine prevailed upon him to provide sean-nós vocals for that show.
"I was reluctant initially, but she was happy," he says. Mícheál, whose role was as language coach recalls watching from the side of the stage, and "being so moved by the work Catherine was doing with people from different parts of the world - including African dance and Dabka - that I said any time I get a call, I'll work with her".
That's what's happened with 'Ciseach' which premiered in Dublin's Project Arts Centre in 2024. Catherine and dramaturg Hanna Slättne brought him a sean-Ghaeilge version of the pre-Christian poem of Amergin, "the first poem spoken in Irish", which is deeply connected with nature, and asked him to put it to music.
He and Martin Schärer, a percussionist who lives in Annascaul, worked together and then he composed a few short motifs, as well as collaborating with the cast on other pieces.
He's also written a piece in modern Irish for the ending, about the importance of remembering.
In Palestine "people treat olive trees like children. We don't have that any more," says Mícheál, who adds that its themes are universal.
The show is dedicated to the late Manchán Magan, whose work was crucial to its development. And the word 'Ciseach' is double-edged, making it a perfect title for this show. It means a mess but it's also the term for a manmade bridge leading to the bog - a link to the past for so many.
It's at Galway's Town Hall Theatre, next Tuesday, May 5, at 8pm with tickets at €20/€18 from https://tht.ie.