Liam Harney brings the Irish Step Dance back to the Redlands Bowl, July 16

They're Back! The Liam Harney Irish Dance Company, starring Liam Harney, will return to the Redlands Bowl when they perform at the July 16 event of the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival.
When they came to Redlands Bowl in 1998, they filled the
amphitheater with the largest crowd since the 1960s.
Liam Harney himself will star with his company. Harney, a two-time World Champion Irish Step Dancer, has presented solo performances throughout the United States, including Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. His Irish Step Dancing expertise, coupled with his extensive ballet, jazz, and modern dance training, have made him one of the most talented dancers of our time. Anne Marie Welsh of the Union-Tribune
called him the "Barishnikov of Irish Dance".
The Liam Harney Irish Dance Company, maintaining residencies in
both San Diego and Boston, has traveled throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe for performances and competitions. They received a special invitation to perform for the President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, for her visit to the United States. Harney and his dancers can be seen in the MGM motion picture "Blown Away" starring Tommy Lee Jones and Jeff Bridges.
Marsha Gebara, Vice President and Program Director for the Redlands Community Music Association, said she discovered Liam Harney's Dance Company in 1997 when she saw them at Dance Kaleidoscope in Los Angeles. Known for its flashy dance steps, Irish Step Dancing gained tremendous popularity during the 1990s with the dance show "Riverdance". Harney himself starred in the London production of "Riverdance". Dancers, with the women in velvet dresses and hard, clunky shoes, glide smoothly in precision maneuvers, moving only their feet while their hands stay still,
straight down at their sides.
In the afternoon before the show, Harney and his dance company will lead the Children's Summer Music Festival Workshop at the First Congregational Church at 2 W. Olive Avenue in Redlands. Titled "Rev up & Jump Start!", the workshop is underwritten by Redlands Community Hospital and Redlands Knights of the Round Table. It begins at 3:00 p.m. and is open to children ages 6 through 12 at no charge.
This show, co-sponsored by Barich & Associates, and Hartnell, Horspool & Fox, a Professional Law Corporation, will begin at 8:15 p.m., and will be preceded at 7:20 with the Community Sing led by Curtiss Allen, Sr. Intermission ushers will be representatives of the First Congregational Church; Century 21 Lois Lauer Realty; and the United Methodist Men, and the intermission speaker will be Jim Jeffries. Continuing the tradition begun in 1924, this and all concerts are open to the public at no charge, and a free-will offering will be collected at intermission. For more information about this concert, call the Redlands Bowl office at 909/793-7316 or visit the web site at www.redlandsbowl.org. The Redlands Bowl is located between Grant and Eureka Streets in Redlands, off of Brookside Avenue.