Through Irish dance sprinkled with some martial arts and a touch of acrobatics, the story of an ancient king comes to the Miller Theater stage June 18.
“This is one of the most innovative and unique Irish dance shows ever created. It’s a fusion between a Hollywood movie and a Broadway musical and an Irish dance show. It has elements of all three,” said Jude Flurry, who dances the role of Ollav Fola in the Celtic Throne II: Psalter of Ireland.
According to historical traditions, Ollav lived in Jerusalem when it was destroyed by Babylon circa 585 BC. He fled to Ireland where he built his kingdom.
“He wanted it to be as splendid as old Jerusalem was,” said Flurry.
Flurry and the troupe of about 40 dancers will tell that story set to a score written by Golden Globe nominated composer Brian Burns when they come to Augusta.
While there are other groups who bring Irish dance to the stage, Flurry says one thing sets this one apart from the rest – they are a tight-knit group of performers from Oklahoma who are like a family.
Flurry started Irish dancing when he was about 6.
“One family we were friends with started They put their kids in Irish dance,” he said.
Then the group expanded to include other friends and family.
The beauty of the art form as well as its rhythmic nature appealed to a young Flurry who also studied drums when he first started dancing. It’s a hard dance form to learn, taking years to perfect, he said.
“Irish dance is very precise, very clean,” he said.
Despite its difficulty, Flurry continued to study it, and his interest upped a notch when his dad’s job relocated the family to England. He was about 13 when he found an Irish dance studio there.
The family eventually returned to Oklahoma, and he worked to expand the dance group’s repertoire. They created their first show to share their love of the art form with others. Celtic Throne’s first show toured for about five years. They used that experience to critique their work – to find out what worked for them, what needed to change.
“We were gaining that experience and decided ‘let’s do a brand new show make all of it better,’” he said.
Celtic Throne II: Psalter of Ireland will begin at 7 p.m. For tickets, go here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named Augusta Magazine’s best local writer in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
