The Ballagh Bunch began dancing as a family trio in the summer of 2001 when they performed for the entire summer in the Drayton’s Festival Theatre’s comedy “Canadian Loonie”. The show ran from June to August, with eight shows per week. Since then, they have added little brother Matthew to the group! They were also guests, along with their dancing mother and aunts (McMichael Sisters) at the Miami Fun and Fiddle Contest, in Miami Manitoba, October 2003. The Ballagh Bunch was asked back to Drayton Festival Theatre during the month of August 2006 in the production “Sorry, I’m Canadian” with Neil Aitchison and again in 2008 in the return of “Sorry, I’m Canadian” at the Huron County Playhouse, Grand Bend and the King’s Wharf, Penetanguishene.
The Ballagh Bunch have been guests at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, many local variety and fundraising shows, a host of fairs from Bracebridge to Brigden and produced a show for Clarica at the Toronto Congress Centre. The summer of 09 found the Ballagh’s performing at the Govan Fiddle Festival in Saskatchewan, and instructing and performing at Celtfest in Naniamo, B.C. and they had the thrill of performing on the Waterfront Stage in Downtown Disney, Florida in March 2010!! As a result of a successful tour in 2010, the Ballagh Bunch had a return visit to the Maritimes in the summer of 2011. They performed at various church fundraisers, Dalhousie Folk Festival and Tignish Irish Festival, where they opened for the Irish Descendants.
The “Ballagh Bunch” continue to have busy summers competing successfully in many stepdance and fiddle contests across Ontario. The Ballagh Bunch were the 2011 winners of the Open Canadian Step Dance Championships in Dundalk, Ontario. Most recently, the Ballagh Bunch were showcased as special guests at Shelburne’s Canadian Fiddle Championships in August of 2011. They began their stepdancing lessons with their mother Janice (McMichael) and continued to study with Tiffany Fewster, Woodstock, Ont. and Chanda Leahy, Orangeville. Several of the routines have been put together by the kids themselves. They have taken fiddle lessons from Kendra Norris and Nicole Guse, Waterloo and are presently under the tutelage of Karen Reed, Kitchener. They compete during the summer and enjoy learning group harmonies for their shows.
Devan, (20 years, Conestoga College) has been active in track and field, cross country and musical theatre. She plays fiddle, bodhran, flute, piano and stepdances. She teaches the craft in her mom’s danceshop.
Michael, (18 years, 5th year) short stop/pitcher for the Wingham softball team, competes at track and field, and volleyball. He plays drums, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, piano and stepdances.
Paige, (16 years, Grade 11) plays clarinet, piano, fiddle, sings and stepdances with her family. She competes with track and field, cross country and volleyball at her school.
Matthew, (11 years, Grade 6) plays goalie for his atom hockey team, takes piano and fiddle lessons and stepdances under the tutelege of his mother and sister Devan.
Janice, is a full time Mom. She helps her sister at Mildmay Tent Rentals and continues to teach step dancing, which she has done for 30 years.
Gary, is a Marketing Rep for CKNX Radio in Wingham, and he runs the family farm as a custom grazing operation.
The “Ballagh Bunch” lives on a farm outside Teeswater, Ontario with Dad (Gary) and Mom (Janice).
Gary is busy with after dinner speaking, years ago performed and made audiences laugh with a barbershop group “Here Comes Treble”. Janice is a stepdance instructor at her home studio and performed for many years with her sisters as Canada’s Sweethearts “The McMichael Sisters” (Tommy Hunter, shows in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New York). Together, with M.C. Gary on bass guitar, Jan on piano and dancing and Devan, Michael, Paige and Matthew on fiddles and stepdancing both group and solo.......it makes for a full show of toe-tapping music.
Now available... released June 12/2010 "The Ballagh Bunch LIVE at the old Town Hall" DVD. Copies $20.00 plus postage.
