TheCity

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  • Watch: Boxers eager to return to the ring after Covid-19 lockdown

    Watch: Boxers eager to return to the ring after Covid-19 lockdown

    TheCity.ie’s Kim O’Leary has been looking at how professional and amateur boxers are continuing their work-outs at home during the Covid-19 lockdown. Kim spoke to Ireland’s youngest female pro-boxer Katelynn Phelan and her father/trainer Paddy Phelan, who are hoping to be back in the ring sooner rather than later

    The coronavirus has hit the sporting world hard over the last few weeks, with many contact sports like GAA, basketball, soccer and cricket seeing their seasons cancelled. It’s also been a major blow for the rising stars on the Irish boxing scene, with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) postponing all championships, competitions, clubs shows and tournament due to take place this summer.

    However, there may be some good news on the horizon, with recent talk about boxing returning in June in a series of behind closed doors shows that would be shown on live TV. It is understood that Ireland’s boxers are determined to prepare for the rescheduled Euros as well as the postponed Tokyo Olympics, which is expected to take place in the summer of 2021.

    To find out how boxers and boxing clubs are preparing for a potential return to boxing later in the year, I spoke Ireland’s youngest female professional boxer, Katelynn Phelan from Kildare Town, and to her father Paddy Phelan, who is also a trainer at St Brigid’s Boxing Club in Kildare Town.

    Katelynn comes from a family of highly respected boxers and her brother Allan Phelan is the current featherweight pro.

    It’s been an impressive year for Katelynn as she recently won her first ever bout at the ‘Celtic Clash’ boxing tournament in February against Bulgaria’s Borislava Goranova, winning all four rounds in a decision at The Devenish Complex in Belfast.

    Now with the lockdown measures still in place due to covid-19, Katelynn says that she is still training at home.

    “I plan on getting myself an Irish title by the end of the year.”

  • Cirque du Soleil returns to Dublin performing their 25th anniversary show, Ovo

    Cirque du Soleil returns to Dublin performing their 25th anniversary show, Ovo

    Ovo, the new show from Cirque du Soleil, opened to a packed house on Thursday night and once again the Cirque delivered the most unique display of human creativity and athleticism the world has to offer.

    The theme of this show is easy to decipher. The world of ants and other insects is brought to the stage in the most spectacular fashion, as the Cirque successfully portrays ‘The Enigma of Life’ through the weird and wonderful humans that make a circus … well, a circus.  

    CirqueduSoleil_OVO_4AerialStraps_5
    The unusual theme lends itself to some of the most provocative storytelling since the show’s creation // cirquedusoleil.com

    The Cirque provides a study of aesthetic. Beauty and taste being two of the most subjective ideologies; and while their successful coupling is not always agreed upon, I imagine most people who have witnessed Ovo will nod decisively at each other in admiration and silent agreement that it is moving art.

    Cirque du Soleil has been around for decades simply because it is one of the most beautiful exhibitions of human ability available.

    Grown adults ‘ooooh’ and ‘aaaah’ throughout the performance. Not only that but they laughed at the silent clowns’ antics, while those who didn’t were grinning like idiots.

    The Cirque drew in a mixed crowd with its moderately priced tickets (the cheapest of which will set you back roughly €54). Arty students, couples, parents with children and the lovely corporates who arrive 16 mins late to their free seats (a little too tipsy considering it’s 7pm) all crowded into the 3Arena.

    The opening act is hypnotic. A group of performers dressed as red ants lie on their backs and juggle abnormally large slices of cucumber with their feet in perfect synchronicity. The mesmerising movements capture imaginations, giving you no option but to provide your undivided attention.

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    An army of insects juggling inflatable kiwis with their feet // cirquedusoliel.com

    Never leaving character, the performers’ facial expressions are all unique and discerning. Even from a distance, the grasshoppers look curious. One of them plays with the floor lights as if they were ‘whack a mole’, as another stares wide-eyed at the main protagonist of the story, a blue bottle fly.

     

    The story is simple and effective. It takes the small, energetic world of insects and places the stranger (the blue bottle), who arrives with an egg strapped to his back, in the middle of their diverse community.

    The other creatures take him in and he falls in love with a ladybug. The show revolves around the humorous interactions that follow between them, interspersed with acts based around the theme of Nature.

    Many of the acts fall under this overarching theme, but take different angles like: ‘how delicate life is,’ ‘curiosity,’ ‘passion,’ and ‘anger’. One of the standout acts is the acrobatic duo who represent the butterfly, and both fly through the air with death-defying confidence.

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    Within this insectoid world, each display of athleticism is truly impressive // cirquedusoleil.com

    Another is the spider who tight-wire walks 4.5 meters above the ground, displaying amazing strength and balance, which culminated with him doing an upside-down unicycle across the wire not once, but twice.

    Each act showed a complete mastery in its respective field. A circus that can capture the imagination of adults through such an old art form, their creativity pushes the boundaries of what is possible to be humanly acted out, and the show still continues to surprise. Even the most cynical of us couldn’t say it’s predictable.