If you thought Irish dancers were all curly-haired cutie-pies with perfect posture, meet a scowling girl from London in this outrageous antidote to Riverdance.
The Bad Arm – Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer is an irreverent yet poignant one-woman play by London-Irish writer-performer Máire Clerkin. Amid astounding bursts of rhythm and physical theatre, this ugly-duckling-never-quite-swan, recounts her experiences of sex n’ pubs n’ rockn’ roll like only a convent-educated Irish Catholic girl can.
This August in Edinburgh, Máire Clerkin jumps in and out of Irish dancing shoes, clicking and kicking her way across the Gilded Balloon stage in this percussive account of being English in Ireland, Irish in England and a pink-haired punk in a grey city. Pungent vintage photos of not-so-swinging London illustrate Clerkin’s personal history as the disappointing daughter of a successful Irish dancing teacher in 1970s London
Directed by Dan O’Connor (Impro Theatre’s Artistic Director) at Bang Theatre in Hollywood, the show was LA Weekly’s Theater Pick and was the featured opening presentation at 2008 LA Irish Film Festival. Since then, Máire has toured The Bad Arm to wide acclaim in New York, Chicago, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Dublin, Ireland. Performances in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Vancouver, Jacksonville, Sacramento and San Diego followed, with numerous return appearances at Theatre Asylum in LA.
Máire Clerkin grew up in North London with her parents and four siblings where she was taught to dance by her mother. Later, after graduating in Performing Arts, she went on to fuse drama with comedy and Irish dancing by forming The Hairy Marys with her sister, Angela Clerkin. They performed at the Edinburgh Festival, Dublin Street Carnival, Brighton Festival, in London with The Pogues and at many arts events throughout UK and Ireland during the 80s and 90s.
Máire’s subsequent company, Clerkinworks, toured the UK with Centenary Knees Up, Big Sister and Malice in Wonderland, funded by the Arts Council of England, and she staged Unconnected Soundings at the Clore Studio, Royal Opera House. The Clerkin sisters also had success with their double act The Smarmy Old Sods on London’s comedy circuit.
Máire has choreographed work in London for the South Bank Centre, Greenwich Dance Agency, Theatre Centre and has run youth theatre programs for Lewisham Theatre. In 2000, she assisted Colin Dunne and Jean Butler with Dancing on Dangerous Ground at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and New York’s Radio City Music Hall. In 2007 Máire staged A Gaelic Gathering at Walt Disney Concert Hall, featuring top traditional musicians and professional dancers. A Gaelic Gathering has since been adapted for school assemblies in Southern California, with a grant from the Barbara & Sheldon Pinchuk fund. Since moving to the USA in 2003, Máire has choreographed 7 regional drama winners and 2 national medalists.
Edinburgh Fringe
THE BAD ARM:
CONFESSIONS OF A DODGY IRISH DANCER
written and performed by Máire Clerkin
The Gilded Balloon Teviot
Dining Room
Wed August 5 – Monday August 31
16.30(1hr)
http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk
0131 668 1633
Tickets:
£5 – £12
Day off August 17 & 24
Submitted by david burns
