Breandán de Gallaí facts for kids

Breandán de Gallaí (born 10 June 1969) is a famous Irish dancer. He was a lead dancer in the well-known show Riverdance. He is also known as Brendan de Gallaí or Brendan Galway.

Breandán de Gallaí's Dance Journey

Starting Out in Dance

Breandán de Gallaí grew up in a family of seven. His father was from Belfast, and his mother was from County Donegal. In 1987, he moved to the United States. There, he joined Gus Giordano’s dance academy in Chicago. He learned many dance styles, including ballet, jazz, modern dance, and tap dancing.

A year later, in 1988, he returned to Ireland. He studied Applied Physics at Dublin City University for four years. Sometimes, he also worked as a substitute teacher. He taught physical education, Irish, and mathematics.

Dancing with Riverdance

In early 1994, Breandán got a special call. He was asked to audition for Riverdance. This was for a short performance during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994. He met Michael Flatley there. After only two weeks of practice, he was chosen. He was one of just 24 dancers for the big show.

Around this time, Breandán and his friend Joanne Doyle started their own dance group. They called it Dualta. Both Breandán and Joanne later joined Riverdance: The Show. They performed at its first show in Dublin in February 1995. Later, they both became lead dancers for the Liffey Company in Riverdance.

Breandán danced with Riverdance for nine and a half years. His last performance was in 2003. This was at the opening of the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin. For seven of those years, he was the main male dancer. He performed in many places, including Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

He danced live for important people. These included Presidents McAleese and Robinson of Ireland. He also performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. He was honored to meet King Hussein of Jordan and the Emperor of Japan. He also met Princess Diana and Queen Sonia of Norway. After his dancing days, Breandán continued to help Riverdance. He worked as a dance director. He also helped with the 2010 DVD, Riverdance: Live from Beijing.

Creating New Dances

Breandán de Gallaí is also a talented choreographer. This means he creates new dance routines. He has made several important works. Two of his most famous are Noċtú and Rite of Spring.

In 2011, Noċtú was performed for five weeks in New York. This show was nominated for two Drama Desk awards. These awards were for "Outstanding Choreography" and "Unique Theatrical Event." His second major work was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. It first showed in August 2012. About 14,000 people came to watch it. This work was also nominated for a special award in Dublin.