“Eventually some old man in the corner would put down his pipe of tobacco and leap into the centre of the lounge, rattling his boots on the floor, in the hope of rising sparks. And it was shamanic; the dancer was releasing an exuberance that the rest of the room felt but could not express. Guckian’s dances are more coherent, graceful and aesthetic. But they still embody a great tradition; a vocabulary and grammar of dance masters and poor people who had no place but their own bodies in which to find joy.” – Michael Harding, Irish Times 25/01/23
