Westmeath dancer’s strict quarantine in Taiwanese hotel room

(Above) Aaron Ganley.

Performing in sold-out stadiums with the 'Lord of the Dance' show is "honestly, the greatest feeling you can get," according to Aaron Ganley.

The 21-year-old Baylin man is preparing to experience it again this week, but getting to do so has not been without its challenges or sacrifices.

For fourteen long days, Aaron had to undergo an "insanely strict" quarantine in Taiwan, where he is about to appear in eight shows in five cities as part of the cast of the popular dance show created by Michael Flatley.

Taiwan has been very successful in containing the Coronavirus, going several months without a locally-transmitted case, and recording just seven deaths from the virus during the pandemic. It's an impressive achievement, given that the population stands at 24 million.

In order to limit the risk of imported cases, strict quarantine protocols are in place for people flying into Taiwan.

Aaron and other dancers in the 'Lord of the Dance' tour flew from Dublin to its capital of Taipei, via Amsterdam, landing on the evening of Monday, November 23.

They were assigned individual rooms in The Imperial Hotel in Taipei, and the following day began a period of 14 full days during which they could not leave their room.

On Friday last, Aaron spoke to the Westmeath Independent, via Zoom. It was day 11 of his quarantine, and he had been finding it difficult.

"It's a small room, so it's tough," he said. "We have a balcony, but you have to wear a mask even on the balcony. A few of us went on our balconies at the start with no masks, and we all got a call that the police were downstairs. It was like, 'don't do that again'. So it's very strict."

He said that, when the group arrived at the airport, the SIM cards in their phones were replaced with Taiwanese SIM cards in order to track their movements and ensure they were complying with the quarantine.

"Our SIMs were taken out of the phones and they put a Taiwanese SIM in, so you got a whole new number," he explained.

"One evening my phone died, in the room, and I never even noticed, but I got a phonecall from the reception and they were saying, 'Your phone is off, what's going on?' So I had to turn it back on fairly fast!"

Three daily meals were being delivered in plastic bags on a coat hanger outside their room door, but there was also a three-hour window each day in which they could have food delivered from local eateries via the Uber Eats app.

Aaron also said he and the others had to respond to daily text messages from the Taiwanese authorities who were checking how they were feeling. They also had to take and report their own temperature every morning and evening. "There's a lot to it," he said.

Monday of this week was the last day of the quarantine, and Aaron and the others were due to be tested for the virus in their rooms.

Provided the test came back negative, they were then due to complete two days of in-person rehearsals before the 'Lord of the Dance' tour begins today (Thursday) with a show in the city of Taichung.

"The shows won't be any different to normal. Because there's basically no Coronavirus here, everything is open.

"We're doing a stadium tour and the stadiums are sold out. There's no social distancing and no masks, really, even though it's normal enough to wear masks here," he explained.

This is Aaron's second time being part of a 'Lord of the Dance' tour in Taiwan, with the previous one happening in December 2018.

His journey in dancing started out in the Concannon Ganley Academy of Irish Dance at a young age, and he went on to win numerous honours at Leinster, national, and international level.

For this tour, he's had to come back from a serious injury which he sustained on his 20th birthday, in October 2019. He broke two bones, in his foot and ankle, and subsequently decided to move back to Ireland, having been in college in Birmingham at the time.

He is now studying commerce in NUI Galway, and was based at home in Athlone during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Aaron said the injury last year was still having an impact as he prepared for the upcoming shows.

"Dancing is extremely sore, and I had kind of forgotten that. The ankle is still sore, and when I fly it still swells a bit, but it is getting better," he said. "The mobility won't be as good as it was, but it's getting better."

Despite the obstacles he's faced, he was looking forward to the eight shows that are set to take place over the course of a week before he flies back to Ireland on December 17 to spend Christmas with his family in Athlone.

"Throughout 2020, we were certain we were not going to see a stage until well into next year, so for this to have been made possible is pretty amazing when you think of the circumstances," he concluded.

"We're going to play to sold-out arenas and there's nowhere else in the world, that I know of, where you're able to do that right now."