Breandán de Gallaí, a.k.a. Brendan de Gallaí or Brendan Galway (born 10 June 1969), is a professional

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...

r who is most famous for his lead role in ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Je ...

'' and as a TV personality on

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. He is currently a dance director for ''Riverdance'' and an artistic director for the Ériu Dance Company.

Dancing career

Early years

de Gallaí was born into a family of seven by his father Gerry of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and his mother Nellie of Donegal. In 1987, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and joined

Gus Giordano Gus Giordano (July 10, 1923 – March 9, 2008
''New York Times'', March 13, 2008), born August Thomas Gi ...

’s dance academy in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where he studied

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and

tap dancing Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

. In 1988, he moved back to Ireland and enrolled at

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

and studied

Applied Physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

for four years. He was also an occasional substitute primary school teacher in physical education,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and mathematics.

Riverdance

In early 1994, de Gallaí received a call to audition for ''

's'' Eurovision Song Contest interval act. It was here that he met

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows '' Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', '' Feet of Flames'', and '' Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 mi ...

, and after just two weeks of rehearsals, he was picked as one of just 24 dancers for the performance. Around that time, de Gallaí and long-time friend

Joanne Doyle Joanne Doyle (born 1973) is a former professional Irish dancer who is most famous for her lead role in ''Riverdance''. In her 10 years with ''Riverdance'', Doyle became the longest-serving lead in the show's history and danced in over 2,500 perfo ...

set up their own dance company called ''Dualta''. He and Joanne both went on to be part of the ''Riverdance: The Show'' premiere in Dublin in February 1995, and both later starred for ''Riverdance'' as lead dancers for the Liffey Company. de Gallaí's tenure with ''Riverdance'' spanned 9½ years, with his final gig for the show coming in 2003 at the Opening Ceremony of the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

at Croke Park, Dublin.Breandán de Gallaí – Riverdance.com
/ref> As the lead male dancer for seven of those years, he performed in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and performed live for Presidents McAleese and Robinson of Ireland, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Charles. He was also honoured to perform for and to meet King Hussein of Jordan, the Emperor of Japan, the Crown Prince of Japan,

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, Prince Rainier of Monaco, and Queen Sonia of Norway. de Gallaí continued on with ''Riverdance'' as a dance director and later helped out behind the scenes with the 2010 DVD, ''Riverdance: Live from Beijing''.

Outside of Riverdance

As a choreographer, de Gallaí has created several works, most notably Noċtú and Rite of Spring. In 2011, Noċtú completed a five-week residency at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York. On the back of this run, the show was nominated for two Drama Desk awards, “Outstanding Choreography” and “Unique Theatrical Event”. His second work, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, premiered at the opening of the Fleadh Fringe in August 2012, attracting 14,000 spectators. The work received a nomination for the coveted Allianz Business to Arts Awards (Dublin 2012).DR. BREANDÁN DE GALLAÍ
/ref> His 2016 work : "Linger"-an extended 90 minute duet for 2 male dancers premiered at Dublin's Project Arts Centre in January 2016.

References

External links

Riverdance.com profileTEDx Talks – Breandán de Gallaí
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Gallai, Breandan 1969 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Irish male dancers People from Gweedore People from County Donegal Performers of Irish dance