Just go to the CD section at http://www.antoniopacelli.com/

Also available from most Irish Dancing vendors

Interview with Stephen Walker, show dancer & musician.
Stephen talks about life on tour and his new CD


Hi Stephen,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. Why don’t we start with a bit of background about yourself.

Well, my name is Stephen Walker, I am 17 years old and come from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England.

I started playing keyboard when I was 9 and have reached my silver medal so far. Two years later at the age of eleven I began Irish dancing after seeing Lord of the Dance. My teacher was Fiona Morley of the McRoiben School of Irish Dance, who has been very supportive throughout my dancing career and who I still owe a lot of thanks too.

I competed for several years and then managed to actually become a member of the show five years later in 2004. I have recently started playing the accordion as well.


You have been on tour with LOTD, can you tell us a bit more about that?

I was in Lord of the Dance for most of last yea, but I was then called to start rehearsals Michael Flatley’s new show.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit several countries while touring with Lord of the Dance including; Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Ukraine, Taiwan, China, South Africa, Israel, Czech Republic and Switzerland.

What do you enjoy most about touring and being on stage?

I love to travel and see different places and got some experience of this while playing at feis’ around England most weekends. But Lord of the Dance is on a much bigger scale and you get to see some of the world's best cities. My personal favourite would have to be Cape Town (South Africa).

Being on stage is brilliant too, there is always a great buzz about the place before a show and I love to perform especially in front of thousands of people.

What is the atmosphere like backstage between the dancers?

The atmosphere between dancers is great backstage and everybody gets on really well. It's important to be able to mix with people as you have to live with them as well as work with them.

What advice would you give to dancers looking to following in your dancing footsteps?

My advice is that you listen to your teacher, work hard during class and practise hard.

However it is important to have a life outside of dancing which is where my music comes in. It is also important not to let results get to you too much, there's always another feis and the only way for a champion is down.

I never won any championships but show dancing is very different to competitive dancing.

Turning to your music, how often do you practice playing?

When I was at home I would practise at least one to two hours a day.

What kind of music do you enjoy playing the most?

I would have to say feis music, I find it exciting to play, especially Reels and you can be very creative with compositions. However I play all kinds of music when I fancy a change.


Do you attend many feisanna? Do you find it difficult to keep playing all day?

I had just started receiving regular work when I had to start with Lord of the Dance so I only played maybe once or twice a month for most of last year.

Feis playing however is a hard job. You would start at around nine and play right through till late at night. The fingers don't get sore really it's the back that is the main problem!

You have just launched a new CD, what motivated you to do this?

I was playing around the country at Feisanna and people were approaching me, asking whether I had thought about releasing a CD. I never really thought much of it until last Christmas but then decided I was going to give it a go.

I started recording in January and during the same week I received a phone call asking me to go for rehearsals in Bournemouth for Lord of the Dance! This slowed things down and unfortunately I wasn't able to release the CD until last November.

How