‘The Devils in the Dance Hall’ is inspired by the true story of Jimmy Gralton and the suppression of Ireland’s rural dance halls in the early 20th century. Drawing on oral history, folk memory, and the energy of the big-band era, the performance celebrates the collective joy of dance as a form of defiance.

Through spoken word, song, and the roaring sounds of The Gralton Big Band, it tells how Ireland’s old dance halls became centres of community life, offering music, learning, debate, and freedom of expression, until church and state moved to close them down through the introduction of the 1935 Dance Hall Act. As the performance unfolds, the boundary between stage and floor dissolves, and the audience are invited to dance the night away.

Choreographer and creator of the piece Edwina Guckian will teach the gathered audience dance steps across swing, trad, foxtrot, slow sets, sean-nós, lindy hop and set-dance, inviting the audience to dance, move, or observe – providing an

experience for those with dance experience and with none, including people with reduced mobility.