Tír na nÓg, Land of the Young (2007)

Part of a cycle of works inspired by fabulous 6th and 7th century Irish adventure tales known as Echtrae and Immrama (“rowings about" or “voyaging") in which heroes, saints, or troubled men are often set adrift in boats with no oars and encounter strange, uncharted magical lands such as the paradisical island known as Tír na nÓg, (or “the land of the ever young"), Tír na nÓg, Land of the Young is a work for 12 dancers set to original music by Gregory Spears with costumes by Carol Binion and Christopher Williams. The work, commissioned by Princeton University, premièred in the Berlind Theater from February 23rd-25th, 2007.

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*This video is an excerpt from the complete work.

Original Cast:

​OISÍN
(a traveler)
Hans Rinderknecht

NIAMH
(princess of the Sídhe)
Elizabeth Schwall

THE SÍDHE
(inhabitants of the isle)
Sydney Schiff, Katie Wong, & Ery Shin

THE FOMORIANS 
(the roaming isle)
Julia Chapman, Francine Sanders, Sarah Outhwaite, Stephanie Chen, Stephanie Grace, Pancho Mulongeni, & Preston Burger

Live Musicians:

CELESTA/ELECTRIC ORGAN
Gregory Spears

CELLO
Larissa Koehler & Anna Wittstruck

PERCUSSION
 Alan Tormey & Scott Smallwood