Meet dancer, choreographer, teacher and director of Halifax’s Diaga Irish Dance, Zeph Caissie.
20 Questions with Zeph Caissie
1. Your first job.
Paper route.
2. The job you always wanted as a child?
Fireman.
3. Your pet peeve.
People who back out at the last moment.
4. Your hero.
My teacher, Tony Comerford.
5. Your biggest indulgence.
Fine wine.
6. One thing no one knows about you.
I’m actually quite shy.
7. Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.
Water, my iPhone, and a boat to get the heck off the island.
8. The one word your best friend would use to describe you.
Stubborn.
9. If they made a movie about your life, who would it star?
Ralph Fiennes.
10. Hero or villain?
Both, and love it!
11. Your life’s motto/mantra.
Let go what no longer serves you.
12. Your biggest influence from the world of dance.
Colin Dunne.
13. The last book you read.
“The Unbearable Lightness of Being”.
14. If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?
Aladdin for the freedom to fly.
15. What will it say on your grave marker?
Here lies an Artist.
16. Who would you most like to have dinner with?
Martin Scorsese.
17. Your idea of happiness.
Abundance and family.
18. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your twenty-year-old self?
Save money.
19. The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.
My dance school.
20. To be or not to be?
That is the question.
Meet Zeph Caissie
Zeph distinctly remembers seeing Irish dancing for the first time at the age of four when his mother brought him to a performance by the Tony Comerford School of Irish Dance in Vancouver. He was immediately captivated by the music, movement, and drama. He began lessons shortly afterwards.
The only boy in his class for several years, he tormented the girls, as they will attest. His teachers thought he was gifted, but lazy. His mother often carried him home from class in a state of pure exhaustion. Zeph feels indebted to both his mother and teacher for believing in him.
In his final year of competition, he placed fourth in the World Irish Dancing Championships, and subsequently joined Riverdance – The Show. It would take him on an incredible journey as a professional Irish dancer for eight years, dancing alongside the best in the world.
Deciding to embark on a new adventure, in 2010 he opened Diaga Irish Dance in Halifax.