1994’s Eurovision, hosted by Ireland, featured interval act Riverdance, which would become an overnight sensation and an iconic worldwide cultural phenomenon, spawning an unprecedented interest in Irish dancing around the world. One such place was Finland, a country far more renowned for its people’s interest in ice hockey, football and Formula 1, where, as a young child, Ilkka Kuosmanen became an unlikely pioneer of Irish dance.

Ricky Carranza’s documentary brings together Ilkka Kuosmanen and Essi Lahtinen-Carranza, two of the people who championed the cause of Irish dance in Finland but surprisingly had never shared a stage together, to reflect on the development of Irish dancing culture in Finland, and their own trials and tribulations during their personal journeys to perfect this dance form and adapt it for modern audiences.

Notes by Eleanor Melinn