“The main reason for Ireland’s historical disregard for dance is that this is a country where literature, poetry and theatre maintain an absolute hegemony at the expense of non-verbal art forms. But equally to blame is Catholicism, which led to dance being regarded as immoral, sinful and degenerate… The final impediment was Irish folk dance, enshrined as the only public form permissible by the Dance Halls Act of 1935.” But choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan is finally introducing Ireland to modern dance, almost single-handedly defying decades of disinterest and forging a dance movement that is simultaneously classic, anarchic, and distinctly Irish.