The “Women of Ireland Christmas Show” came to Savannah Center Wednesday with jingle-bell jigs, sweet-Celtic carols and a special angel who almost touched the sky.
Her name is Taylor Rowland and she bills herself as an aerialist/dancer. Rowland brought gasps from the nearly-packed houses for two shows as she climbed ropes near the ceiling of Savannah Center.
Up in the air, in a place where mortals fear to tread, Rowland did twists, turns, splits and even twirled around upside down like a daring young lady on a flying trapeze.
“It can be scary at first, but you get used to it,” said Rowland, 23, who tours with the “Women of Ireland” stage show. “I like it up there because you can look down and see the faces of everybody in the audience.”
On Wednesday, Rowland, who wore a pair of white angel wings for one number, could look out and see her parents: Joyce and Garry Rowland. They live in Cocoa Beach and made the trip to The Villages to watch their daughter fly.
“I’m always nervous watching her go up that high,” Joyce Rowland said. “But she has been doing it for a couple of years; works hard and I have a lot of faith in her.”
So does Dad.
“Taylor is a perfectionist,” Garry Rowland said. “It’s breath-taking to see her up there. But she knows what she’s doing. I worry, but I know she will be all right. It’s all part of the show.”
And what a show it was, capturing the Irish spirit of the holiday season. This young cast abounded with energy and talent as they sang and danced their way into the hearts of Villagers.
The O’Neill Sisters – Evangeline, Naomi and Fiona – offered sweet harmony and dynamic solos. At times they seemed like a hip, Irish version of the Lennon Sisters, injecting some rousing swing into numbers such as “Jingle Bells,” “Let It Snow,” “My Favorite Things” and “Sleigh Ride.”
There was reverent harmony on “O Holy Night,” “Let It Be” and a particularly impressive and moving, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” to close the show.
Fiona O’Neill rose to the challenge on a spiritual sounding “You Raise Me Up.”
Watch video of this year’s performances here:
Dancing was a major part of the program and there were plenty of step-dance highlights. The dancers included Kelly McDonnell, Sarah Costello, Elyse Transon and Kiernan Hardiman.
They put on an Irish clinic for reels and jigs, while moving at a breakneck pace. The dancers had help from a seven-piece band, highlighted by Niamh Fahy on violin, who could sway from virtuoso soft solos to toe-tapping fiddle numbers. Kieran Munnelly played a hand-drum like instrument called the bodhran while Dan O’Callaghan did a masterful solo on the uilleann pipes.
Combine the singing, music and dancing with the Christmas season and you have a holiday entertainment tonic as jolting as a couple of pints of Guinness.