NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's still bitter cold out, but their rehearsal space in Nashville might have been helping to melt it all away.
Feet thundered on the floor of the Millennium Dance Complex. It was a rehearsal for A Taste of Ireland.
"I'm from a little coastal town, right down the south of Ireland, yeah," said performer Cian Walsh. "My mom and dad have a school, and they teach Irish dancing, so it's in the blood. They chucked me into Irish dancing when I was 4-years-old! It's kinda everything about our family, the Irish music, the Irish dance."
This level of high-octane performance takes the best in the world.
"It's grueling, it's grueling!" Cian smiled.
"You kinda have to be as pretty as a ballerina as well as fit as a footballer," said producer Ceili Moore. "These guys train like Olympians."
Ceili said the production has helped assemble champion dancers from everywhere.
"We have people from America, Australia, Ireland, England, New Zealand," she said.
The show is about to launch on a five-month tour. A Nashville performance at TPAC is on March 12. First, they're working to get everything just right.
Arriving in this cold has been a shock for some.
"I've never experienced cold like this, and it does get cold in Ireland!" Cian laughed. "We might get snow like that every five, ten years."
"I am from Australia, so it's been incredibly cold!" Ceili added.
Still, the crew loved being here, taking in Music City.
"When you listen to country music and when you listen to Irish or folk music, there are certainly some similarities," Ceili said.
The traveling has helped bring a group from all over the world together.
"We are like one big family," Cian said. "We're basically with each other 24 hours of the day."
Cian said there's nothing quite like performing in the midst of the best of the best.
For more on A Taste of Ireland, visit here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
Breaking barriers and moving to the beat! One local dance company is making it possible for young people in wheelchairs to move and groove like everyone else. Good for your mental health, good for your physical health and good for your dose of positive news today. I hope you check out what they're doing!
-Rebecca Schleicher
