Eoin MacMeanmain (far left) with Mystic Force
Gavin Macdermott-
A Trinity Student is on the verge of becoming a star in this year’s ‘Got To Dance’ reality TV competition on Sky 1. Eoin MacMeanmain has been honing his talent at traditional Irish dancing with Mystic Force for the last three and a half years. Now they finally have a chance to win more international recognition and some serious cash- £250,000 to be precise.
Eoin has cited his roots in Galway and growing up in a traditional Irish environment was a primary influence in his passion for dancing. “I started dancing about fifteen years ago, when I was three. My sister was going to dance classes and I was then encouraged by my parents,” Eoin recounted. It is evident that he has not looked back since! He got involved in competitions later on and is now reaping the reward of all that hard graft and experience. Now, he has the chance of a life time to win the semi-finals of ‘Got To Dance’ and progress to the final.
Mystic Force is a professional group. Eoin considers it a part time job he loves working at. Sometimes Mystic Force will perform twice in one night in separate locations. Just recently, Eoin and Mystic Force performed to the Irish Embassy in Portugal. On another occasion Eoin represented the Irish international Irish dancing team in Colorado, USA, and also has danced in Japan.
With all this world travel and top notch performance, Eoin still manages to strike a balance between life here in Trinity and life as a semi-professional dancer. Eoin is studying Human Health and Disease. He has been offered considerable professional work. Recently he was offered a three year place in a dance troupe touring France, but he is reluctant to leave Trinity without a qualification behind him.
The limelight of being in international media has not fazed Eoin, although he does get the odd “random add” on Facebook now and then! As a very down to Earth bunch, the persistence of tabloid media to dig up ‘sob stories’ from Mystic Force has yielded no results. For Eoin, ‘Got To Dance’ is not a drama competition, contrary to what we have seen in the likes of the X Factor. It’s a chance to compete with some of the best of the best in the dance world. “The competition is tough,” Eoin acknowledges of the other candidates on the reality TV show. However Eoin is confident in the abilities of Mystic Force to get to the final. “Dance is an art form in which people can express themselves. Irish dancing is a bit more traditional and restricted but we are bringing a more contemporary style to it- its more innovative and creative.”
Eoin’s description of the dance style is certainly accurate. Mystic Force’s audition piece certainly contained all the technical prowess of top class Irish dancing. The contemporary twist arrived when a Celtic version of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal broke out over the speaker system!
Eoin and his fellow members of Mystic Force have their eyes firmly on getting to the final and doing their damndest to win the competition. “The prize is £250,000 which would be life changing for us and, if we did win; we would like to donate £50,000 to cancer research. We were the only Irish dancing group to make it through to this stage. Currently, we are the only Irish act left in the competition. There are 11 members in our troupe, most of who are based in Galway.”
The dance troupe has been going to great lengths to promote themselves. Mystic Force opened the ‘Faces of Ireland’ modelling competition in Bewley’s Hotel, Ballsbridge a few weeks ago. Last Friday, they performed at the launch of the Pillo Hotel in Galway in front of the city mayor. In the last week they performed at two charity balls, one for ‘CD’s Helping Hands’–a charity in aid of children with cancer– and the other for “National Breast Cancer Research Institute”.
A very talented, hard working and passionate group of individuals, Mystic Force will be contesting in the semi-finals on Sundayt 20th February at 6pm on Sky 1 HD–voting taking place the same night! Voting only costs 7 cents and they need all the support they can get.
Best of luck guys- Trinity’s rooting for you!
