Dance troupe Celtic Illusion arrives in northern Ontario

GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie is hosting its first non-sporting event since the beginning of the pandemic.

The organizers behind Celtic Illusion say audiences have been especially enthusiastic leading up to their arrival in northern Ontario, as concertgoers have been itching for a return of live performances.

Anthony Street, director and producer of Celtic Illusion, said the concept of merging traditional Irish dance with magic is something he’s been thinking about for a long time.

“I was into magic first, and had big dreams of having a big illusion show like David Copperfield, who I used to look up to,” said Street, who is also the lead dancer in the show.

“When I started Irish dance classes, I also then had a big dream to have a big dance show just like Michael Flatley. And I just thought to myself, I may not get time in my life to produce both these shows, so I thought I’d put the two together.”

Among performers joining Street on stage is Montreal-based dancer Natasha Woytiuk, who said audiences are excited about being able to take in a live show.

“It’s been a pretty special experience,” Woytiuk said.

“We’ve had kids up dancing in the aisles, in their seats, looking up at us, and that’s just so special for us to be back on stage and seeing that reaction from the audience.”

The pandemic led to a lot of downtime for the performers, and Woytiuk said dancers did their best to stay in shape.

“You can’t just take two years off completely and come back and expect to be at your best level,” she said.

“I think most of us did our best to keep up with our training individually or do little projects at home as best as we could.”

Street said taking the stage in front of cheering spectators makes it all worthwhile in the end.

“Just getting up on stage in front of a live audience making everyone so happy is so rewarding,” he said. “It’s worth the hard work.”

After the Sault Ste. Marie performance, Celtic Illusion makes its way to southern Ontario before circling back to northern Ontario for an April 22 performance in Sudbury.