County Kerry Irish dancer David Geaney bringing his own high-energy Irish dance show to New York.
At only 23 years of age, he has five world championships for Irish dancing under his belt, and Broadway on his horizon. There seems to be no stopping David Geaney of Dingle.
He says he had a late start, at the age of six.
“My older sister won a medal for dancing and I wanted one too. I was told I was too small for football, so I took up dancing, and fell in love with it,” he says as we sit in the Dingle Pub, owned by his family. It’s afternoon and he will be putting in hours of serving at the pub before hitting the dance floor in the evening.
His style is somewhere between Michael Flatley and his true idols, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. It’s a style that includes all of his favorite moves from classical Irish Dancing to tap to flamenco. His feet move at a stunning rate.
“James Devine has the record for the fastest feet at 38 taps in a second,” Geaney tells me. “Michael Flatley is at 34. I haven’t really recorded how fast I am but on a recent taping of my new DVD we counted between 33 and 34 and that was without training, so I’ll get there.” he says with a laugh.
He was in the finals last year for Britain’s got Talent. That got him noticed and he’s now headed to Broadway. He’ll have his own show there and then on tour. It’s one he’s created, choreographed and can’t wait to share. Called Velocity, it is an artful high-energy show filled with leaps, kicks, taps and shuffles far more artful than Michael Flatly. Think less showmanship and more raw skill with a Fred Astaire flair.
Not only that, but he’s such a nice guy! He’s just finished his University degree in economics and math and undoubtedly seriously understands the financing of this dream ahead of him. So three times a night, he comes from behind the bar to serve up some high speed dancing and collect tips to finance his dream.
If you are in Dingle, stop by the Dingle Pub. You can’t miss it, it’s a whitewashed building covered with shamrocks. David will either be behind the bar, or dancing. And if you happen to be in New York in the next few months don’t miss him in Velocity, on Broadway.
You can find David Geany’s tour schedule here and you can hear an interview with him on this episode of Erin’s Isle.
Here's David on "Britain's Got Talent" in 2017:
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