Danceperados of Ireland - Hooked

The name Danceperados of Ireland says it all: these performers are utterly consumed by Irish step dance. Loosely translated, they are "the dance-crazed". For the Irish, dancing, singing and playing music is simply in the blood - and so is fishing.

With "Hooked", the Danceperados have created a compelling new show that brings together the twin fascinations of fishing and dance, weaving in live music and song. "Hooked" is a tribute to the customs and way of life of coastal communities, where things work very differently from the big cities. Songs and stories of the sea carry us back to a time when people lived off the land and sea - a simple, self-determined life, but a dangerous one. The ocean gave, and it took. A multivision combining historical and contemporary images and footage merges with music and step dance into a single work for eyes and ears alike.

Yet "Hooked" is more than an ode to the seas and rivers of the Emerald Isle or its wild, untamed nature. Given the pace and aggression of today's industrial exploitation, one has to ask whether the natural world will survive for the next generations. The Danceperados of Ireland bring the unequal fight of David against Goliath to the stage: small coastal fishermen are increasingly threatened by vast fish factories that plunder the oceans on an industrial scale. Ireland's price for joining the EU in 1973 was the surrender of 60 percent of its fishing quota. The naive government was badly deceived - EU subsidies ran out after a few years, and Ireland has since become a net contributor to the EU budget. Yet year after year...