Alan’s dance video celebrates the reopening of arts industry

A TALLAGHT choreographer and professional dancer is seeing success with the release of a new dance video celebrating the reopening of the arts industry.

Old Bawn man Alan McGrath created the vibrant video and dance to the soundtrack of the Scissor Sisters’ ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’.

Filmed before the pandemic at various city centre locations and featuring 25 dancers, the video has been a huge hit, clocking up over 20,000 views since Alan posted it on Instagram earlier this month.

Explaining the rationale behind the video, Alan told The Echo: “One day I was sitting in the car with my friend and ‘Filty/Gorgeous’ came on the radio and I said I loved that song, and already started doing the choreography to it in my head.

“I had this concept of doing a dance about girl power with Irish girls. We did one night rehearsal, then we filmed it in 24 hours.”

Part of the video was filmed in a studio, however the street scenes had to be carefully filmed at just the right moment to avoid bin trucks or interference from revellers coming out of nearby pubs.

The end result is a high energy, attention-grabbing performance that’s even got the backing of the Scissor Sisters themselves, after Alan reached out to them on Instagram and they praised the video.

“I posted a clip from the video, and they asked to see the full video and they said they loved it,” Alan, who is a past pupil of Old Bawn Community School, said.

When asked how he feels about the overall response the video received, he said: “It’s amazing. I put so much time and work into it.

“I really wanted the video to show an army of girls from different backgrounds and the talent they have. They all danced so gorgeously together.

“I know every single one of the girls from different parts of the dance industry. And they love the video, because it showcases what they can do.”

The video was released this month to celebrate the reopening of the arts industry, which is particularly important to Alan as he is the co-founder of the Rua Red-based Dizzy Footwork dance school, and he is a professional dancer who will appear in Disney’s upcoming ‘Disenchanted’ film.

As for choreographing another dance video, Alan said he has a few more ideas up his sleeve. “I’ve a few more videos in the pipeline,” he added.