It is common enough to have a theatre in a pub, but what about putting a pub in a theatre? That's the aim of Barr Go Síl (Heel to Toe), an evening of Irish music and dance during which punters are encouraged to bring their beers into the auditorium and leave their theatrical expectations in the foyer. This show is the opposite of Riverdance, which moulded Irish dance into a slick and stagey spectacle that blithely mixed its global ambitions with nostalgia for a fey, folksy past. This one steadfastly sticks to local, living traditions. Its performers come from Donegal, Kerry and Connemara, with day jobs ranging from fisherman to teacher, and they practise music and dance as part of their lives, not as livelihood or heritage.
That much is evident as soon as the West Kerry Set Dancers come on. They're a merry and motley assortment of ages and body types who, in their any-old clothes, look as if they could have walked off the street. Watching their céilí of spinning couples in lines and figures-of-eight makes you feel as if you're peeking in the window of a village hall. The kitchen dances (couple dances from Donegal), performed shyly by Ann Conaghan and Connie McKelvey, have the same strange double-edge: the dances are more for doing than watching.
Of the three dance styles, only the solo sean nós seems natural for spectatorship. Here the emphasis is on the footwork - the shift, tap and brush between heel and toe. It also brings out the personal qualities of each performer: Páraic Ó Hóibicín roughshod but precise, Máire Áine Ní Hlarnáin bubblingly bright, and Seosamh Ó Neachtain combining casualness with dynamic variety.
The show's unaffected and personable style is disarming. The balancing act between pretending that the space is a pub and knowing that it is a theatre can get pretty wobbly, but you still end up rooting for the performers.
