Chapter 1: Family Background and Early Dancing Career

Chapter Summary:
00:00 / Part 1 - David’s Family Background and Early Introduction to Dancing David’s parents are publicans and he grew up and still lives in The Dingle Pub, in Dingle town. Following in the footsteps of his older sister, David began dance classes with Therese O’Shea in Dingle before joining Rinceoirí na Ríochta (Kingdom Dancers) in Tralee. He then began winning dance competitions at a young age.

02:25 / Part 2 - David’s Early School Days David attended an all-boys primary school in Dingle where the principal, Máire Flahive, strongly encouraged his interest in dance. However, in the mixed secondary school that David attended the atmosphere was somewhat different. There, a certain amount of bullying was evident in relation to David’s interest in dance. Unfortunately, according to David, most young males experience some level of bullying while participating in Irish competitive dance.

05:45 / Part 3 - David’s Early Dancing Career At the age of seven Justin began performing in a show called ‘Rinca na Mara’ [Dance of the Sea], under Catherine Sullivan, in Dingle. He also participated in classes with Siamsa Tíre in ‘Teach Siamsa’ at Carraig, where he was introduced to the Jeremiah Molyneaux style of dance. Later he performed in various dance shows and has even hosted his own Broadway show.

08:19 / Part 4 - The Jeremiah Molyneaux Style of Dance David has a great deal of respect for the Jeremiah Molyneaux style of dancing. He learnt a lot of the Molyneaux steps from Jonathan Kelliher in the classes held at Teach Siamsa in Carraig, West Kerry. The footwork and ankle work involved in the Molyneaux style is, in David’s opinion, ‘top notch.’

Chapter 2: Five Times World Champion

Chapter Summary:
00:00 / Part 1 - Five Times World Champion Dancer At the age of ten David won his first World Championship with the Tralee-based dancing school of Rinceoirí na Ríochta (Kingdom Dancers). The following year he won the World Championship for a second time before then losing out on it for a number of years. In his mid-teens David re-discovered his love of dance and decided to seriously apply himself to competitive dance again.

02:22 / Part 2 - The ‘Last Role of the Dice’ At age 16, having lost out on the World Championship in his mid-teens, David decided to apply himself to regaining the title. He changed his mind-set and began to train and work hard. He describes how, when at the World Championships in Boston (2013), he was fully confident that he was going to win.

05:40 / Part 3 - David’s Practice Routine David describes the dance practice routine that he engaged in every day after school. When perfecting pieces for competition he rehearsed and drilled down into every single step until he was happy with each one. At that time, David practiced his steps to recorded musical tracks. Nowadays he much prefers to dance to ‘live’ music, which he considers much more fun and interactive.

08:20 / Part 4 - The World Championship in Boston (2013) There were three rounds in the World Championship in Boston. The first round involved a Jig while the second round involved a Reel. The latter is not David’s preferred dance style as he favours rhythm-based dancing. The third round in the competition involved a set dance. This is the part of the competition, which according to David, affords the dancer the ‘time to shine.’ He choreographed his dance piece to ‘Bonaparte’s Retreat.’

11:27 / Part 5 - David’s Approach to Choreographing a Dance David feels that the music must always come first and that the dancing must match the melody. When choreographing steps, he first of all listens over and over again to the tune. David focuses in on every single note, particularly the background cords. He feels that, in competitive dance, it is important to perform to the whole room, not just the five adjudicators.

13:48 / Part 6 - Music and Dance – A Beautiful Relationship David stresses once again the importance of the relationship between the music and the dance. He states that they should be complementary. According to David some dancers ‘dance on the metronome’, in other words they strictly adhere to the musical beat. That does not appeal to him and he prefers to develop a relationship with the music. David also recognises that, while competitions can be very rigid and strict, they are a necessary evil.

Chapter 3: David's Love of Stage Performance

Chapter Summary:
00:00 / Part 1 - Irish Talent Shows Over the years David has taken part in a number of other forms of competitive entertainment. In 2011 he participated in, and won, ‘Jig Gig’, a dance competition hosted by TG4. For this television series David had to choreograph his dance and arrange his music in order to entertain and engage with the audience. The following year, 2012, David also participated in, and again won, ‘Kerry’s Got Talent.’

02:48 / Part 2 - The World-wide Audience of Britain’s Got Talent In 2017 David participated in and reached the semi-final in ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, one of the world’s biggest TV talent shows. In David’s opinion, when performing to such a large world-wide audience, it is important to stay ‘true to your roots.’ Looking back upon his experience of that show, David has some regrets about how his performances were shaped by the tv production teams.

07:27 / Part 3 - The Young Entrepreneur Programme While in secondary school David participated, in 2011, in the Young Entrepreneur Programme. He found it a useful experience as it opened his young eyes to the financial realities involved in producing and marketing shows.

08:44 / Part 4 - Opportunities with ‘Riverdance’ David has never danced with ‘Riverdance’, which was launched in 1994, the same yearthat he was born. He did have opportunities to dance with that show on two occasions during his college years. However, at that time achieving his degree was David’s priority. Owning his own show, rather than performing in other dance shows, was always his goal.

Chapter 4: From Competitive Dancing to Stage Performance

Chapter Summary:
00:00 / Part 1 - Robert De Niro and Broadway Contracts In 2017 David used his period of college work-experience to concentrate on the business side of dance. He and fellow dancer James Devine, known as ‘the fastest feet in the world’, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that year. This led to the New Victory Theatre in New York signing their show. It was attended on one occasion by the film star Robert De Niro. However, David did not meet the famous actor; he was preoccupied signing a contract for a national tour of America!

02:04 / Part 2 - 'Velocity' - Stage Show David’s interest in competitively dancing began to drift away following his win at the World Championships in Boston in 2013. He started college, life became busy and he developed new interests. More and more David began to enjoy the performance side of dance; it was also financially rewarding. He competed and won, for the fifth and last time, at the World Championships in 2014.

04:24 / Part 3 - Transition to Performance David describes ‘Velocity’ the Irish dance show he co-developed with fellow dancer James Devine. The show draws on the Irish dancing tradition and its evolution down to the present day.

06:49 / Part 4 - David’s Greatest Achievement David is proud of having won five World Championships. Nevertheless, he considers the development of the Broadway Show ‘Velocity’ to be his greatest achievement.

07:48 / Part 5 - Influences David recalls that he was greatly influenced by two major dancing stars of the movie screen, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. At home David was influenced by many, many people including Jimmy Smith and Jonathan Kelliher. David also acknowledges the role his immediate family members played in supporting him along the way.

10:27 / Part 6 - Is the life of a professional dancer a fulfilling life? David finds his life as an Irish dancer hugely fulfilling. It relieves the stresses of everyday life and he greatly enjoys performing nightly in his family’s public house.

Chapter 5: Is the life of a dancer for you?

Chapter Summary:
David finds his life as an Irish dancer hugely fulfilling. It relieves the stresses of everyday life and he greatly enjoys performing nightly in his family’s public house.

Dance Extracts