A young dancer from Banteer who left home at 18 with a dream of becoming a professional performer has just completed another European tour performing in a major Bee Gees musical.
Hollie Corkery, now 23 and based in London, has spent the past two years travelling across Germany, Austria and Switzerland as one of the dancers in Massachusetts – Das BEE GEES Musical.
For Hollie, the production has been far more than a job. It has been the realisation of a dream that began when she was just three years old, dancing ballet in Mallow.
Having recently completed Part Two of the production in Suhl, Germany, Hollie reflected on an extraordinary few years which have taken her from Centre Stage in Mallow to performing for audiences across Europe, sharing the stage with musicians who actually worked alongside the Bee Gees.
And there has been a particularly special personal connection along the way.
Hollie met her now-boyfriend through the production, with the pair performing together during the tour. Their relationship developed around one of the show’s most recognisable songs, How Deep Is Your Love.
A year after they first performed the song together, the couple returned to the stage and celebrated their anniversary by performing the same routine.
“To be standing on stage, a year later, performing How Deep Is Your Love with my love, in the same show that had brought us together in the first place, was something I’ll never forget,” Hollie recalled.
But the story behind Hollie’s success is just as interesting as what has happened on stage.
She credits her family, Centre Stage in Mallow and the friends who made the journey to London alongside her with giving her the confidence to pursue a career that, at the time, had no guarantees.
“I suppose we became the example,” she said.
The year Hollie left Mallow for London, four students from Centre Stage made the same leap, all heading off to pursue careers in performing. There had been relatively few young people from the town making that journey before them.
Now, Hollie says, she is seeing more and more young performers from Mallow following the same path.
“I think sometimes people just need to see that something is possible before they can believe they can do it themselves,” she said.
Her own journey has included plenty of rejection, uncertainty and periods of working outside the industry while waiting for the next opportunity.
But Hollie has learned to view every rejection as part of the process rather than a verdict on her ability.
“There will be a lot of ‘no’s’, but remember that you’re one no closer to your yes.”
That attitude eventually led to her first major professional production shortly after graduating from college, a tour she had once considered years away.
It has since taken her across Europe, allowed her to perform in front of thousands of people and introduced her to members of the wider Bee Gees musical family, including Blue Weaver and Vince Melouney, who worked with the original Bee Gees and joined the production.
For a young performer who grew up in Mallow wanting nothing more than to dance, Hollie admits there are moments when she still struggles to believe how far she has come.
“To be able to say that I work doing what I love is something I’m incredibly proud of.”
And for the next generation of young performers watching her journey from Mallow, her message is simple: back yourself, work hard and don’t be afraid to go for it.
Because, as Hollie puts it, you never really know where saying yes to the dream might take you.
