Breandán de Gallaí

About

Dr Breandán de Gallaí is a dancer, choreographer, and academic whose career spans decades of innovative work in Irish dance. As Artistic Director and choreographer of Ériu Dance Company, Breandán has dedicated himself to exploring the poetic and dramatic potential of Irish dance, creating works that push the boundaries of the tradition within a contemporary context. Among his most notable creations are Countless Cathleens, The House of Bernardó Alba, The Village, Walls Talk, Salómae, Aon, Lïnger, Rite of Spring, and Noċtú. Breandán’s 2010/11 production Noċtú enjoyed a five-week residency at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York, where it earned two Drama Desk Award nominations for “Outstanding Choreography” and “Unique Theatrical Event” in 2012. His second work, a reimagining of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, premiered at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2012, attracting an audience of 14,000 and receiving a nomination for the Allianz Business to Arts Awards. The piece has since been performed at several prestigious events, including the Cork Midsummer Festival, the Earagail Arts Festival, and the International Festival of Arts “Diaghilev. P.S.” in St. Petersburg in 2019. Breandán returned to the stage in 2016 after a 12-year hiatus with Lïnger. Premiering at Project Arts Centre in Dublin, the production toured Ireland extensively and was performed internationally at venues such as the Edinburgh Fringe (shortlisted for a Total Theatre and The Place Award for Dance), the Jack Crystal Theater in New York, Théatro Sofia in Bulgaria, and Aix-en-Provence in France. Ériu’s subsequent works have continued to captivate audiences. Aon debuted in 2017 at the Earagail Arts Festival in Donegal before embarking on a national tour. In 2019, Breandán adapted Oscar Wilde’s Salómae, which premiered at the Galway International Arts Festival, incorporating dance, music, and the Irish language. Walls Talk, created in collaboration with blues/jazz singer Gina Boreham, opened in 2020 at Project Arts Centre Dublin and toured Ireland in 2022, with performances at the Edinburgh Fringe and Féile Oslo in 2024. Recent works include The Village, which premiered in 2022 at the Black Box Theatre Galway and was later performed at the Earagail Arts Festival and Berlin Irish Fest in 2024, and The House of Bernardó Alba, a Queer reinterpretation of Lorca’s classic featuring male performers in traditionally female roles, which premiered at the Galway Theatre Festival in 2023. Breandán’s academic contributions are equally ground-breaking. In 2013, he completed the performance-based doctorate titled Imeall-Siúl: A Choreographic Exploration of Expressive Possibilities in Irish Dance, the first of its kind in the world. He also holds an MA in Ethnochoreology and has served as Course Director of the Arts Practice PhD programme (2012/13), and is the current Course Director of the BA Irish Dance, and the MA Irish Dance Performance at the University of Limerick. From 2004 to 2008, he was the external examiner for the MA in Traditional Irish Dance Performance at the university. As a dancer, Breandán’s career began with Riverdance, where he toured from 1994 to 2003, spending seven years as a principal dancer. He returned to Riverdance in 2007 as Dance Director. In addition to his Irish dance training, Breandán broadened his expertise with a scholarship to the Gus Giordano Dance Academy in Chicago, studying ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. Breandán has also served as Artist in Residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (2008/09) and in County Cavan (2011/12). Beyond dance, he frequently presents television programs for RTÉ and TG4, has acted in the TG4 soap opera Ros na Rún, and holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics. Looking ahead, Breandán is working on several new projects, including Every Silver Lining, a bittersweet duet of self-confrontation and sobriety; Manly Men, a dance-theatre work challenging Western hegemonic discourses limiting embodied representations of the Irish dancing male body; and Decland, a solo performance on bereavement and finding meaning. Ériu also fosters young talent through its youth branch, Na Mic Ua gCorra, in partnership with the Earagail Arts Festival. Breandán de Gallaí’s work continues to reshape the landscape of Irish dance, bringing fresh perspectives and deep artistic exploration to a global audience.

Education