Cozy Powell's 1970s classic Dance with the Devil has just been re-released in Galway - but with an up-tempo dance/rock treatment delivered by musicians aged 12 to 17.
The performers are pupils of Mike Arrigan's Contemporary Music School in Galway, and they leave for Aalborg in Denmark this week to participate in a Nordic/Celtic music workshop. They will join students from Denmark and Latvia as part of a "Youth for Europe" project running until June 21st.
The new version of Dance with the Devil was arranged by Mike Arrigan, Jackie O'Flaherty and Gerald O'Donoghue, the last of whom also engineered and co-produced the single at his Greenfields Studios in Headford, Co Galway. It is the first time four drum kits have been recorded live together in the studio.
Arrigan was a drummer with the Fuze, the first Galway pop/rock band to enter the national top 10 during the 1980s, and he was involved with Paraic Breathnach in the creation of the original Macnas drumming concept. One of Arrigan's students, Darren Smith, was a front-line drummer in the original production of Riverdance.
Riverdance it is not, nor does it want to be, but Ragus boasts all the energy and vibrancy expected of the work of a young production company. The show has just begun its third summer season on the Aran island of Inis Mor with an hour-long "spectacular" of dancing, traditional music and haunting airs - performed three times a day, seven days a week, throughout the summer.
The show's first CD, Mo Oilean (My Island), has just been released. It is written and performed by local singer and songwriter P.J. Flaherty.
Music from the CD was performed live at a launch last week by the Minister of State for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, and all proceeds were promised to Aras Ronan, the island's senior citizens' home. Ragus has its own website, at info@ragusteo.com
"A Vision of Connacht in the 14th Century" is the title of this year's Tuam Summer School, organised by the Old Tuam Society in Co Galway.
The unfinished cathedral, now known as the Synod Hall, Tuam, is a symbol of 14th century Connacht and was based on the grand plan of Archbishop de Bermingham. However, famine, disease and a legacy of racial hatred caused by the arrival of the Normans conspired to prevent its completion.
The summer school opens this coming Friday at the Hermitage, Dublin Road, Tuam, and continues over the weekend with lectures and field trips. The fee is £20, and further information can be obtained from Ms Bridget Tynan, public relations officer, at (093) 24522.
"Interiors" is the title of an exhibition of paintings which opens this day week at St Nicholas's Collegiate Church, Galway. The six artists, all teachers at Galway's Paint Box studios, are Sally Anne Beirne, Elaine Conneely, Miriam Cronin, Felicity O'Neill, Sharon Sweeney and Julie Thornberry. They all have very different styles, and this is the first time they have exhibited together. The show continues at St Nicholas's until June 30th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.