Hammerstep and Dave Eggar

Hammerstep’s world-champion dancers join cellist Dave Eggar and his band, Deoro, for a pioneering take on Irish dance.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in Bucksbaum Center for the Arts Roberts Theatre. The performance is open to the public; free tickets are required and are available at the box office and the Pioneer Bookshop in downtown Grinnell.

Founded by two-time world champion Irish dancer Garrett Coleman and former Riverdance lead dancer Jason Oremus, Hammerstep brings a new approach to Irish dance. The Hammerstep Initiative aims to elevate dance to act as a platform for personal and collective empowerment and spark social progression. Its percussion-driven approach draws from historically rebellious dance forms—from Irish, to hip-hop, to African stepping and beyond. Hammerstep describes itself as “the modern-day seedling of a unified cultural revolution.” In 2013, Hammerstep advanced to the Vegas Round in Season 8 of America’s Got Talent.

For this performance, Hammerstep will be joined by world-renowned cellist Dave Eggar and his Grammy-nominated band, Deoro, who are reinventing the classical genre by infusing it with hip-hop, reggae, bluegrass, jazz, pop and world music. Eggar has performed and recorded with artists in numerous genres, including Coldplay, Frank Ocean and Josh Groban.