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Cherish The Ladies
by Hannah Swanson - West High School

You could hear the leprechauns singing along…
"Whoops and HEY!" Echoed in the Atwood Concert Hall on Saturday night. Old country inspired jigs, and classic hard shoe stepping kept the audience clapping and laughing under the huge Celtic knot hanging on the stage. Cherish the Ladies, straight out of Ireland, is a world renowned all woman ensemble. The name Cherish the Ladies, is actually a traditional Irish jig.

Joanie Madden led show with introductions, plenty of funny stories, and played the whistles. Many of the songs were written by the women themselves. Some were inspired by trips on the ferry, or the white beach strand. Kathleen Boyle, the pianist, wrote a song titled ‘Homecoming’ for her Mom and Dad overseas in Scotland. Mary Coogan, on the guitar, wrote a song in honor of her father who died from cancer.

Michelle Burke the singer for the group, sang four love songs throughout the evening, all with the classic Irish accent, with Madden singing the harmony lyrics. The songs were all sung with heartfelt and endearing meaning. The sorrowful songs, had the audience tilting their heads, to the lyrics of men and women in love. Burke had a low alto voice, that was a soothing alternative to the upbeat jigs.

The other aspect of the show was the hard shoe step dancing. Two dancers, both traveling with the ensemble performed multiple times, with each other, and did solos. Hard shoe is a type of classic Celtic dance with shoes like tap shoes, but the technique is very different. The speed executed by the two were incredible, along with high kicks, and professional technique.

The music performed that evening was very reminiscent of walking the cobblestone path to your small cottage, surrounded by autumn leaves. The music had the right beats to get your feet tapping, or your hands clapping. The fast fingers on the whistles, the violin, and accordion showed why these women have been awarded Best Musical Group of the Year by BBC. The audience gave them nothing short of a great thanks at the end of the two hour show.

Cherish the Ladies
Anchorage Concert Association
February 21, 2009 at 7:30 P.M.
Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Atwood Concert Hall