On August 10, audiences in Vail, Colorado, will witness a high-altitude collision of distinct dance traditions as part of the Vail Dance Festival’s NOW evening of world premieres. Tap dancer and choreographer Michelle Dorrance, a 10-year veteran of the festival, is collaborating with first-time festival choreographer Chelsea Hoy to create a cross-genre work. Hoy serves as co-artistic director of Chicago’s Trinity Irish Dance Company. The production brings together top-tier performers from the Trinity Irish Dance Company, standout tap artists, and stars from the New York City Ballet in a single studio setting, according to reports from News Directory 3.
This ambitious collaboration unites dancers from vastly different technical backgrounds to find a shared artistic middle ground. The cast features New York City Ballet standouts India Bradley, Tiler Peck, and Roman Mejia, alongside tap dancers Emiko Nakagawa and Dario Natarelli. They are joined by Trinity performers Hoy, Maddie Cabral, Michael Fleck, Anna Gorman, and Sofia Dorantes, who is currently performing in her first season while ranking as Mexico’s winningest female Irish step dancer, as detailed by News Directory 3.
Both Dorrance and Trinity Irish Dance are well-versed in crossing traditional boundaries. Dorrance frequently partners with artists across various movement styles, while Trinity has spent decades producing cross-genre choreography. Their professional relationship includes previous joint projects, starting with the 2020 production “American Traffic” and continuing earlier this year with “SÉseacht.” Dorrance noted that she has admired the Chicago-based Irish company since the late 1990s, expressing deep enthusiasm for experiencing the artists from a collaborative vantage point.
Technical Integration Across Three Disciplines
In the rehearsal studio, Dorrance and Hoy are guiding their cast to bridge the technical gaps between ballet, tap, and Irish step dance. The tap dancers are exploring the distinct virtuosity of soft shoe and skat work, while the ballet contingent is tackling the intricate percussiveness found in petit allégro, according to News Directory 3.
Hoy points to Irish dance as the fundamental common denominator bridging these divergent styles. Irish soft shoe shares a direct historical lineage with ballet, influenced heavily by French movement traditions. Meanwhile, percussive hard-shoe dance aligns closely with tap. Hoy describes hard-shoe choreography as a foundational dance of resistance that carried the rhythms and cultural identity of Ireland following the British invasion.
Bringing these forms together has created an electric environment in the studio. Dorrance remarked that the collective talent of the assembled performers is genuinely mind-blowing for everyone observing the process.
Irish Step Dance on the Concert-Dance Circuit
Irish step dance rarely features prominently on the broader concert-dance festival circuit. Trinity’s upcoming appearance marks its first return to the Vail Dance Festival since 1999, an era defined by the massive commercial success of “Riverdance.” More recently, the company achieved a milestone last summer by securing a full evening-length presentation in the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow.
Despite these high-profile engagements, Hoy notes that Irish dance remains somewhat isolated from contemporary and ballet institutions. Although Trinity has performed at prominent venues like The Joyce and Jacob’s Pillow, Hoy explains that her dancers frequently experience a lingering sense of genre separation. For many in the Trinity company, the Vail residency marks the first time they feel they can authentically exist on the exact same dance floor as ballet and tap artists, noting mutual surprise at how eager performers from other traditions are to learn from them.
The world premiere takes place on August 10 as part of the festival’s curated evening of new works. Attendees and dance enthusiasts can follow official festival announcements and updates through the official Vail Dance Festival channels.
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