CHRISTMAS REVELS Presents Songs, Dances, & Tales from Ireland 12/11-13

This year's Christmas Revels is set aboard a 1905 ship travelling from Ireland to America, bringing immigrants to the New World. On the shortest day of the year, the passengers gather on the desk to sing, dance, tell stories, and to "drive the dark away."

Just a few of the musical segments of the Irish Christmas Revels are:

The Story of Daniel O'Rourke
drawn from Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by T. Crofton Croker, compiled and edited by William Butler Yeats in 1892. This particular tale concerns a man living in the town of Pooke, one of the many faeries in Irish folklore.

There's a Big Ship Sailing
performed by the children's chorus. This song had its origins in the North of England, and probably refers to the building of the Liverpool-Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, which used mainly Irish laborers to carve a huge swath alongside the River Mersey.

The Wee Fallorie Men
a children's game song from Ireland

Ban Chniuc Eireann Oigh (The Fair Hills of Dear Ireland)
This song of longing for his homeland was written by Irish poet Donncha Rua Mac Conmara (1715-1810), and set by him to the traditional tune Uileacan Dubh O.

The White Birds
by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) born in Dublin and educated in London and Dublin. Yeats found himself interested in many types of folklore and mythology, and this often informed his poems and stories.

Lord of the Dance
which culminates in the dances coming off stage to pick up audience members for snaking around Symphony Space and dancing in the aisles.

and many many more!

Christmas Revels
Friday December 11 at 8 PM
Saturday December 12 at 2 & 8 PM
Sunday December 13 at 3 PM
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway
Tickets: adults $25-$45 children 17 and under $15-$35
Reservations: 212-864-5400 or www.symphonyspace.org

Photo by H. Peet Foster

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