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Arts Council of Ireland Festivals
Culture Ireland
Project Arts Centre
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
rish Arts Center, New York
Dublin City Council
Dance Ireland
Dance Limerick
Newstalk

In partnership with Culture Ireland, Dance Ireland, Project Arts Centre, Dance Limerick, Irish Arts Center, New York, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris

DANCER from the DANCE: Livestreamed Dance Performance Programme 2
Wednesday 1 July 7:30pm IST/8:30Ppm CET/2:30pm EST

 

Followed by a live post-performance talkback* | 8:30pm IST/9:30pm CET/3:30pm EST

Moderated by Paul Johnson: Paul is a freelance arts manager, curator and lecturer. A former dance artist with over 21 years’ experience working in dance, theatre, film and multi-media for a range of award-winning companies, including Dublin Contemporary Dance Theatre, Scottish Ballet Steps Out and Druid Theatre Company. Most recently he was Chief Executive of Dance Ireland.

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Incidental Music: 'Concrete Rain' composed by Michael Scott


* Please note the live post- performance talkback will open in a new stream which can be readily accessed on the You Tube or Facebook  homepages.

Nic Gareiss

WHY TREEPLE (7:23m)

Why do so many cultures create audible rhythm with our feet? On every inhabited continent, humans have evolved a manner of creating audible dance. What is it in us that drives this remarkable concurrent existence of all these percussive dance forms? Why do we shuffle, flap, pitter patter, flatter, batter, wing, látigo, toe fence, drum, click? I made this piece while in-residence at the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education, and School of Scottish Studies. There I was incredibly fortunate to have access to original manuscripts of Joan & Tom Flett’s 1964 text, Traditional Dancing in Scotland, in which the final chapter is devoted to “The Art of Treepling” or “beating out the rhythm of the music with the feet.” At the time of its writing, this percussive dance practice, widespread in Ireland, Canada, and Appalachia, was less common than it once was in Scotland. This piece poses the question: why do we “treeple” in the first place?

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Dancer and dance researcher Nic Gareiss reimagines movement as a musical practice, recasting dance as medium that appeals to both eyes and ears. Originally from Michigan, Gareiss engages many percussive dance traditions, weaving together a dance technique facilitating his love of improvisation, clog and step dance footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration.

Alex O'Neill

WAVES (3:17m)

 

In a world filled with technology and pressures of social media on artists to put out current trending work on a non-stop basis that stops us from being truly honest with our work. I want to go back to the simple reason why we dance, because we love to. The glory and accolades don’t mean anything if that’s your sole purpose. I find listening to the waves is the best way to stay grounded and connected to this world. The water moves, we move which has something profound to it. I see a lot in today’s world, artists put expectations on themselves which is something we are all guilty of but it’s counter- productive. Move anyway you want to.

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Alex O’Neill is a choreographer for the 80s, 90s and 00s.  He participated in the European Arena Disco tour which included the likes of Ace Of Base, 2 Unlimited, five and Haddaway. Alex was lead actor/dancer in the Lifestyle Sports Christmas campaign. Alex has a passion for making short dance films for his YouTube channel which have been seen in over 190 countries.

Morgan Bullock

TALL AND STRAIGHT MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME (3:05m)

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I choreographed this piece in order to tell the story of my journey as a dancer. At the start of the piece, I am dancing in a balletic way to pay homage to the first form of dance that I began learning at the age of three. I then transition into movements that are inspired by tap dancing, a style that I briefly explored at a young age. Gradually, my movements become more and more rigid as I begin to perform in a way that resembles traditional Irish dancing. By the end of the piece, I have changed from a plain black unitard into a brightly colored dress and I am exclusively Irish dancing. This progressive transition from a timid dancer in simple clothing to a confident performer in a standout costume represents the positive impact that Irish dance has had on me not only as a dancer, but as a person.

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Morgan Bullock is a 20 year old world ranked Irish Dancer from America who gained popularity for posting videos performing self-choreographed dances to popular songs. Recently, she made headlines when a video of her Irish Dancing to a popular contemporary song went viral on various social media platforms. Since then, she has been invited to perform with the cast of Riverdance. 

Séan Curran

ESTI DAL (3:08m)
Music by Zoltán Kodály, performed by The King’s Singers

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The dance work Esti Dal was created and performed as part of Travel Songs, an evening of live music and dance with Seán Curran Company and The King's Singers commissioned by the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame.

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Seán Curran is an award-winning choreographer, director and performer whose work in dance, opera and theatre spans 35 years. He currently serves as Chair of the Department of Dance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and Artistic Director of his own contemporary dance ensemble, Seán Curran Company.

Fiona Quilligan

COVID DANCES (IN GARDEN) (3:55m)

Dancers: Fiona Quilligan, Olwen Grindley

Composer: Ed Bennett

Recorded live by: Syzygy Quartet

Voice text: Fiona Quilligan

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We must be brave and venture forth strongly like the doctors and other front line workers who put themselves at risk many of whom died while treating patients.  So we present these dance Covid Dances in solidarity to all those feeling loss. 

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Fiona Quilligan, award-winning choreographer, born in Dublin, trained at the London School of Contemporary Dance and from 1982-86 performed with Dublin City Ballet. In 1986, she founded Rubato Ballet, and created original works which received high critical acclaim, the Nijinsky medal from Warsaw and AIB Better Ireland Award in Arts and Culture. In 2014 Fiona received an MA in performance from the University of Limerick.

Lucia Kickham

NOW I GATHER (5:30m)

Music: R.Kitt

Now I Gather revisits material from Kickham’s recent work INIT:The Warm Up Project. Originally performed by three dancers and a live DJ, the piece explores preparation, the process is the performance.

How can we make ourselves ready and available? Internal or external action can trigger and generate readiness. The performer - in this case Lucia -  listens for the moment of action. Gathers, allows, follows; cycling and recycling the energy. Constantly listening for the next possibility.

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Lucia Kickham is a Dublin-based dance artist performing and collaborating internationally since 2011. Trained in The Netherlands, she has worked with artists such as TRASH (NL), Liz Roche Company, Philip Connaughton, junk ensemble, Maria Nilsson Waller and Jessie Keenan. She has been a recipient of awards from the Arts Council of Ireland, Dance Ireland and Tyrone Guthrie Centre.

Sibéal Davitt

BUILLE / BEAT (3:46m)

Music: Stephen Roddy (original mixing of track)

Filmed by Luca Truffarelli

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This solo is an exploration of both restriction and freedom through the medium of traditional and contemporary dance. Beginning with a simple traditional rhythm, the movement layers and develops into a full-bodied dance.

The full solo, ‘Fógraím/I Proclaim’, was originally performed as part of ‘Embodied’ at the GPO in 2016. I wanted to create a short work which was in response to minority voices lost in Irish history. Buille alludes to ‘ar buille’ meaning furious. Performing this work in 2020 brings new meaning and opportunities to expand on existing themes.

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Sibéal Davitt is a dance artist and performer from Dublin. She has performed all over the world for over 10 years. Her style of dance is influenced by contemporary, classical and Irish traditional ‘sean-nós’ dance, having trained in all styles from a young age. Sibéal is Dance Ireland’s Associate Artist in 2020.

Muirne Bloomer & Emma O'Kane

SHIFT (4:12m)

Filmed by Luca Truffarelli

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Shift surrenders to the notion of imposing meaning onto movement by simply allowing the flow of energy between two dancers to dictate unforeseen scenarios. 

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Muirne Bloomer is from Dublin and has had an extensive performance career in ballet, contemporary and dance theatre in Ireland and abroad. Muirne’s work has been commissioned by Dublin City Council, CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Dublin City Arts Office as well as receiving Arts Council funding for her own original work.

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Emma O’ Kane is a freelance dance artist, and choreographer, trained at the Perm State Choreographic Academy, Russia. Her work has strongly influenced the Irish contemporary dance and theatre landscape in the last 20 years. Emma’s work has been funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by Dublin Dance Festival.

Oona Doherty

ALMOST BLUE (15:00m)

Dancer: Steve Batts

Trumpeter: John Walsh

Filmed by Luca Truffarelli

Commissioned by Irish Modern Dance Theatre

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Almost Blue is a goodbye dance, a farewell. An attempt to move what has come before and expand through chaos back to the gentle hum that came before the beginning. It is a waltz of the inner solar system. Almost Blue was created for Steve Batts of Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company (Derry) and is accompanied by live trumpeter John Walsh.

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Oona Doherty is a dance artist and choreographer based in Northern Ireland. She has been performing dance theatre internationally since 2010 with companies such as TRASH (NL), Abbattoir Ferme (BE), Veronika Riz (IT), Emma Martin /United Fall (IE) and Enda Walsh (IE). Oona’s choreography has toured extensively to critical acclaim: Hope Hunt & the Ascension into Lazarus, Hard to be Soft - A Belfast Prayer and Lady Magma.

Justine Doswell

CORVIDAE  (6:28m)

Dance artists & collaborators: Justine Cooper, Emily Kilkenny-Roddy and Oran Leong. (Special thanks to Salma Ataya and Emma O'Kane)

Soundscape: Brian Hogan

Music: Open by Acid Pauli Mst (2012) CS009

Filmed by Luca Truffarelli

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“At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.” Genesis 8
The majestic raven is a complex bird. Both in nature and in religion, mythology and folklore, it is a bird of paradox. Long considered a creature of ill omen, battle, death, impending doom and the supernatural, it was once believed that the wings of a raven carried contagion. However, many cultures associate the raven with healing, reflection, transformation, renewal and rebirth. It casts light into darkness and is the messenger between heaven and earth, the dead and the living, man and gods. Master of synchronicity, soaring over hurdles and obstacles, when the raven spirit animal comes into your life, it arrives to prepare you for impending change and has the power to alter time and space.

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Based in Dublin since 1997, Justine Doswell has had the pleasure to work with a myriad of Irish and international choreographers and directors. Her choreographic work has been supported by The Arts Council, Dance Ireland, THEATREClub, Project Arts Centre, Liz Roche Company, The Lir Academy, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Dance Limerick, Shawbrook and Dance Resource Base.

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