Greetings from Thailand... It's Claire Slattery

 

Claire chilling out in Phuket!

As a child growing up in Tralee, I never really understood what Siamsa was. All I knew was that my mother was really keen for me to have the opportunity to become part of it, and it seemed like ‘a big deal’!! It must be said that I didn’t exactly sail through the audition at Teach Siamsa, Finuge. I had to return for a few years before I was finally successful! I spent three very happy years in Finuge before graduating and becoming a community cast member in 2000.

Some familiar faces  - With the cast of Fadó Fadó

At the age of 12, I was fully grown and because of that, I launched straight into learning the adult character for ‘San Am Fado’. I felt a bit hard done by with my height because looking back, I really wanted to have a year or two to come out in my bare feet running around, pretending to be a chicken!! In my later years, however, my baby faced features gave me plenty of opportunity to liaise between child and adult roles. Beginning with ‘San Am Fado’, I have also participated in ‘Oilean’, ‘Clann Lir’, and ‘Tearmann’.

On tour in Germany

One of the wonderful things about live performances is that each and every show is going to be different.  I want to take you back to a show that still haunts my precious teenage years.  The show in question was ‘San Am Fado’, and the second half of the show had just begun. The curtain rises and instantaneously we begin to move to the rhythm of the music in one big group wheel. Now, on this particular night, it seemed that one person may have had too much sugar in their tea during the interval, because the speed of the footwork was increasing with each step. As we grasped each other tightly, hoping to gain control, somebody lost the run of themselves and as the domino effect kicked in, I could feel a tug from both my left sleeve and my right sleeve. I was being pulled in opposite directions. One person was using my arm to break their fall and the other person was trying to prevent me from falling over. But nothing prepared me for the outcome. It was happening and I had no way of preventing it. Each button of my blouse popped open, revealing my under garments to both my friends and an auditorium full of strangers. I immediately dashed off stage to pin my blouse together. I’ll never forget the moment of re-entering the stage there after. Mortified was an understatement of how I felt but ‘The Show Must Go On’!!!

A scene from Oileán

In the past fourteen years, Siamsa has become more than a job and more like a family to me. The friendships that I’ve made there are special and by far some of the most important in my life.

I’m currently teaching abroad. I spent 2013 teaching in South Korea, and I’ve just recently started teaching in Phuket, Thailand.  ‘Between the Jigs and the Reels’ is a fantastic way for me to remain connected with my ‘Siamsa Family’! Happy Anniversary!

A beautiful video featuring Siamsa cast members past and present, Helena Brosnan - Sydney, Claire Slattery - South Korea, Derwin Myres - University College Cork, Norma O'Brien -Tralee which was put together by Anna O'Donoghue.