Ériu
Ériu Dance Company’s Walls Talk is duet of memory—etched in the body, echoed in the voice, and held in the stillness of things.
Walls Talk
Ériu Dance Company
Featuring Breandán de Gallaí and Gina Boreham
Walls Talk brings together solo dancer, Breandán de Gallaí, and singer, Gina Boreham in this deeply moving piece. The work explores the notion of memory being captured, or recorded, in the material world around us: all our actions, our feelings and thoughts, suspended in matter and energy for eternity. The title plays on the familiar phrase "If these walls could talk," only suggesting that all these past moments are available, ready, waiting to be read. The dance is accompanied by a selection of Blues and Jazz classics, arranged across a range of musical styles, delicately and soulfully interpreted by Boreham. De Gallaí describes the work as an “abstract assemblage of fragments” – a mosaic of movement, music, song, text, and mise-en-scène drawn from diverse and often contrasting genres. Yet, within this seemingly chaotic cacophony, unexpected harmonies emerge.
About Breandán de Gallaí
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 UagCorra, 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.
About Ériu Dance Company
Founded in 2010, Ériu Dance Company is a contemporary Irish dance company that reimagines the tradition through bold artistic exploration and interdisciplinary collaboration. Under the direction of Breandán de Gallaí, Ériu challenges conventional narratives and aesthetics, creating works that are emotionally charged, socially relevant, and theatrically daring.
The company’s repertoire includes critically acclaimed productions such as NOĊTÚ, Rite of Spring, Lïnger, Aon, Salómae, Walls Talk, The Village, The House of Bernardó Alba and Countless Cathleens. These works have toured internationally, garnered award nominations, and contributed to a growing global recognition of Irish dance as a dynamic and expressive contemporary artform.
Ériu is funded annually through the Arts Council of Ireland’s Arts Grant Funding, and has also received support through various awards including the Commissions Award, Capacity Building Award, as well as Bursaries, Project and Touring grants. Additional support has come from Foras na Gaeilge, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, and Culture Ireland.
The company is a regular partner of the Earagail Arts Festival, with whom it collaborates annually. Through a commitment to artistic integrity, innovation, and inclusion, Ériu serves as a vital platform for Irish dancers to engage in professional careers that push the boundaries of what Irish dance can be.