DANCER from the DANCE 2021
TUESDAY 6 JULY - Schedule of Events
Cunningham Class / Anna Chirescu
10h IST / 11h CET / 5h EST
Live Zoom contemporary Cunningham-based Masterclass. Open to professional level dancers and advanced level participants.
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Anatomy Workshop / Peggy Gould
16h IST / 17h CET / 11h EST
Live Zoom Workshop: 'Functional Anatomy/Symmetry/Asymmetry' with Peggy Gould. Open to professional level dancers and advanced level participants.
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In the Bell's Shadow, a film by Mary Wycherley and Joan Davis (75 min)
18h IST / 19h CET / 13h EST
Film director: Mary Wycherley
Movement director: Joan Davis
Dancers: Joan Davis Maggie Harvey, Henry Montes, Mary Nunan, Nicholas Twilley and Simon Whitehead
Composer: Jürgen Simpson
Score recorded by The Irish Chamber Orchestra
Director of Photography: Eleanor Bowman
Producer: Niamh Mac Cárthaigh
Art Direction: Sonia Haccius
Costumes: Martina Garner
In the Bell’s Shadow weaves dance through vast and intimate landscapes in a sensuous interplay of humanity and nature. Poetic turns and abstract narratives intensify as this surreal episodic journey vividly explores cycles of life and decay in a world defined by the senses. Audiences will be transported to another world for the 75-minute duration of this exquisite work.
Joan Davis has been exploring the nature of creativity, particularly from a body based perspective, for over 40 years. She pioneered contemporary dance in Ireland in the 70s & 80s and has experimented with collaborative art as a professional artist and therapist.
Mary Wycherley is a dance artist whose work spans live performance, the moving image and curation. Interdisciplinarity is a key feature in her work, with collaborations connecting widely across a range of artists and contexts. Her work is experienced on stage, in cinematic and exhibition contexts, with work presented and commissioned both in Ireland and internationally for venues, galleries and festivals.
GATHERING 1: Livestreamed Dance Performance
19h30 IST / 20h30 CET / 14h30 EST
FOLLOWED BY LIVESTREAMED TALKBACK moderated by Jazmin Chiodi, Co-Founder of Tipperary Dance Platform and Iseli-Chiodi Company and new Artistic Director at Dublin Dance Festival, at approximately 20h30 IST / 21h30 CET / 15h30 EST
Raja Feather Kelly / the feath3r theory
UGLY (Black Queer Zoo) excerpt (6:41)
Written, directed and performed by Raja Feather Kelly
Lighting Design: Tuce Yasak
Set Design: You-Shin Chen
Sound Design: Emily Auciello
Photography: Kate Enman
Cinematography: Laura Snow and CJ Ferroni
Project Manager: Rachel Pritzlaff
Production/Stage Manager: Kimberly Golding
Choreographic Associates: Amy Gernux and Aaron Moses Robin
Part dance-theatre and part pop-culture collage, Raja Feather Kelly is UGLY and this is the latest from the Warhol-obsessed; Black; Queer; Drama Queen of the feath3r theory and his response to the dearth of nuanced black queer subjectivity in the mainstream.
Part dance-theatre and part pop-culture collage, Raja Feather Kelly is UGLY and this is the latest from the Warhol-obsessed; Black; Queer; Drama Queen of the feath3r theory and his response to the dearth of nuanced black queer subjectivity in the mainstream.
Raja Feather Kelly is a choreographer, a director, and the artistic director of the feath3r theory. He is a three-time Princess Grace Award winner (2017, 2018, 2019), two-time Lucille Lortel Award nominee (2019, 2020), and 2019 Chita Rivera Award nominee. In 2020 he was the Obie Award winner and Outer Critics Circle Award honoree for choreography for the Pulitzer-winning musical A Strange Loop. In 2019 he was an SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award finalist for both A Strange Loop and the Pulitzer-winning play Fairview. Raja is also the 2019–2020 Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist at New York Live Arts, an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and a 2019 Creative Capital award recipient. He is a current fellow of HERE Arts, the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, and a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. Over the past decade, Kelly has created fifteen evening-length premieres with his company the feath3r theory as well as directing and choreographing extensively for Off-Broadway theatre in New York City. His choreography has also garnered a 2018 Breakout Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) and the Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography (2016), and he was Dance Magazine's inaugural Harkness Promise Award (2018). He was born in Fort Hood, Texas and holds a B.A. in Dance and English from Connecticut College.
Liam Ó Scanláin / Liam Scanlon Dance
GLENHEST FLING (5 mins)
Choreography and dance performance: Liam Ó Scanláin
Music composition and performance: David Doocey
Glenhest Fling is a playful dialogue between music and dance. Drawing from the roots of their respective traditions, Liam and David use rhythmic patterns, steps, and musical motifs to jointly choreograph/compose. In this exchange, dancer inspires the music, and the new tunes in turn inspires the dance. Local accents and outside influences combine to create the language of the conversation.
Originally commissioned by The Linenhall Arts Centre as part of Emer Mayock’s New Music of Mayo series in spring 2021.
“Authentic, cativating, and joyous,” - Dance Ireland Associate Artist and winner of Corn TG4, Liam’s dance practice is firmly rooted in a sean nós and percussive dance tradition. Liam’s inquiry finds him drawn towards the exploration of the symbiotic music-dance relationship.
Zoë Ashe-Browne (with choreographic collaborator Aaron Shaw)
ASA (4 mins)
Dancers: Zoë Ashe-Browne and Aaron Shaw
Music Soundscape created by Howard Jones.
Original base track “Regnantem Sempiterna” by Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble
ASA is a duet that explores the theme of Irish identity, combined with the experience of emigrating from home. Zoë was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland while her collaborator Aaron Shaw was born and raised in Queensland, Australia, but is Irish by decent.
They both left home at 16 to professionally train as dancers abroad, and have predominantly worked and lived away from their home ever since.
Together they explored themes of cultural differences and emigrating to compare what bridges and divides their experiences of being Irish and connecting to that notion of nationalistic identity.
Through researching and developing chosen themes, this duet aims to convey feelings of weight, responsibility, belonging and curiosity for the spectator.
Zoë Ashe-Browne is a professional dance artist and choreographer from Dublin. She trained at the English National Ballet School between 2006-09 and subsequently danced for English National Ballet, National Ballet of Ireland and BallettVorpommern in Germany. She is now a dance artist with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and guest dancer with Company Eastman Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, both of which are based in Antwerp, Belgium.
Mintesinot Wolde / Mintesinot Wolde Dance Company
SEE YOU IN THE GREEN (11 mins)
Produced by: Mintesinot Wolde Dance
Choreographed by: Mintesinot Wolde
Production manager: Nathalie Wolde
Dancers: Mintesinot Wolde, Eilise Sullivan and Kate Lohan
Costume: Nathalie Wolde
Director of Photography: Emma Brennan
Filmed and Edited by: Emma Brennan
Original Music by: Martin Schaerer
Original lament by: Laura O'Gara
Singers: Lemlem Hailemichael. Performed a capella: “Hager malet sew now” (A country is its people)
Laura O’Gara - Performed “Cailin Alainn” by Tomás MacEoin and read a poem “Géibhean” by Caitlín Maude
Amharic song translator: Wubit Mekuria
Lighting Design: Anthony Quinn
Photographer: Brian Farrell
Work in Progress Dancer: Roisin Whelan
See you in the Green is a contemporary dance piece that was created to symbolise the bright side of our life, reflecting on the waves of our life path of birth, death and the challenges we go through to survive, people's unity, and the importance of our humanity. The dance piece does not have a specific story but has been left open to the viewers to visualise their thoughts, to connect with their imagination or memories. See you in the Green was first presented via Roscommon Arts Centre website from 28 January - 11 February 2021. Supported by Creative Ireland, Roscommon County Council and Roscommon Arts Centre.
Mintesinot Wolde is a professional contemporary dance artist who graduated with an MA from the University of Limerick. He's the artistic director of Mintesinot Wolde Dance Company. He’s an active member of Dance Ireland, Artist Panellist for Roscommon County Council, and was recently appointed as a new board member of Galway Dance Project.
Seán Curran with Benjamin Freedman / Seán Curran Company
LIEDERKRIES (7 mins)
Seán Curran with Benjamin Freedman / Sean Curran Company
LIEDERKRIES (7 min)
Note: Excerpt, work in progress
Choreographers/dancers: Seán Curran in collaboration with Benjamin Freedman
Music: Robert Schumann, recording
Poetry: Heinrich Heine
Seán Curran and Benjamin Freedman are creating a new work set to Robert Schumann’s 1840 song cycle for voice and piano, “Liederkreis, Op.24,” which includes poetry by Henrich Heine. In the full evening work, some of the cycle's nine songs are sung, in the original German, by baritone Darren Cross who appears onstage alongside Freedman and Curran. Other lyrics have been adapted using contemporary language and are recited onstage by Curran, in English, during interludes between Freedman’s dancing. Thematically, the work explores beginnings and endings, with the performers representing different facets of the same individual. Curran has been dancing professionally for 35 years, and his time as a performer is winding down. Freedman is half his age, with a bright future ahead. This juxtaposition results in an unusual collaboration imbued with humour and poignancy. It draws inspiration from traditional and contemporary portraiture, from poetry, from Curran’s longstanding role as a mentor and teacher, and from the emotional qualities in the music.
Seán Curran’s 35-year career includes Bessie Award winning performances with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and as an original cast member of STOMP!; 25 years as Artistic Director of Seán Curran Company; and choreography/direction for numerous opera productions. He is Chair and Arts Professor at NYU Tisch Dance.
Benjamin Freedman has danced with Mark Morris Dance Group, Keigwin + Company, Seán Curran Company, Third Rail Projects’ The Grand Paradise, The Bang Group, Company XIV, Santa Fe Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU Tisch Dance and has presented his choreography in NYC.
Morgan Bullock
BUTTERFLY DANCE (2:13 mins)
Choreography and performance: Morgan Bullock
Morgan’s new dance piece BUTTERFLY celebrates transformation and freedom. This June, the US will celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday for the very first time. Juneteenth has always been an annual commemoration to acknowledge the end of slavery in the United States, and has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s. The butterfly symbolises that same faith where we have to see a continuous shift in the right direction for a more understanding and just world.
Morgan Bullock is a 21 year old American, world-ranked, Irish step dancer who began dancing at an early age, but at ten years old she saw Irish dancing for the first time and was instantly drawn to the intricate footwork and grew to love the discipline it required to master the steps. She gained popularity when she decided to choreograph, record and post her version of a popular TikTok dance to Beyonce and Megan the Stallion’s megahit “Savage”. It went viral with over three million views to date. Morgan’s talent as a dancer/choreographer as well as her poised presence as a social media influencer drew attention from around the world. Since then, the popular theatrical Irish dance show Riverdance has invited her to perform in the UK and USA tours this year.
Morleigh Steinberg / ARCANE Collective
RECONSTRUCTION (6:10 mins)
Director, Camera, Editor: Morleigh Steinberg
Original Score: The Edge
A spontaneous duet between a space and a body in this time of reconstruction.
The space called out to me. A small, half-built room with a story to tell. As I inhabited the space, the story emerged and I emerged in it; both changed by interaction; a vulnerable, hopeful and enduring state, as in this time of RECONSTRUCTION.
Morleigh Steinberg - a native of Los Angeles California - is a dancer/choreographer, lighting designer, filmmaker and visual artist. She toured with Momix, ISO Dance and ARCANE Collective. She has shot and directed several dance films. Morleigh co-founded ARCANE Space in Venice, California producing and presenting visual arts in a “gallery” setting.
Darrah Carr / Darrah Carr Dance
DANCING THE CORAL SUITE (excerpts) (7 mins)
Dancers: Cavan Byrne, Michelle Esch, Kendal Griffler, Caitlin Kelaghan, Timothy Kochka, Trent Kowalik, Jonathan Matthews, Laura Neese, Melissa Padham-Maass, Alexandra Williamson
Music by Dana Lyn & Kyle Sanna – excerpts from “The Coral Suite”
The Bessie Award-nominated Darrah Carr Dance reunites with fiddler Dana Lyn and guitarist Kyle Sanna for a musical and choreographic exploration of The Coral Suite, the trad duo’s concept album inspired by the reef’s miraculous biodiversity. Lyn and Sanna perform nuanced interpretations of traditional Irish music; artistic director Darrah Carr’s champion dancers perform in her trademark style of ModERIN, a unique blend of traditional Irish step and contemporary modern dance.
Darrah Carr is the Artistic Director of Darrah Carr Dance - a Bessie-Award nominated professional Irish dance company that specializes in ModERIN – a unique blend of traditional Irish step and contemporary modern dance. Recent performance highlights include: Good Morning America, NBC’s The Today Show, a performance with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, The Duke Theater on 42nd Street, Celebrate Brooklyn, Victory Dance at the New Victory Theater, and the company’s annual New York City season at the Irish Arts Center. Darrah Carr Dance is represented by Siegel Artist Management.
Yoshiko Chuma / The School of Hard Knocks
IRELAND: I HAVE TO THINK (9 mins)
Choreography and camera: Yoshiko Chuma
Editing: Ryuji Yamaguchi
Voice: John Scott
Ireland: I Have To Think is the latest chapter of A Blind Eye Cast Unknowing “the worst thing is that we cast a blind eye to catastrophes that aren’t even what we think they are”, an ongoing multi-disciplinary performance series conceived, created and performed by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks. Chuma continues a lifetime investigation of ideas regarding borders, conflict and war. In the course of the ongoing pandemic, Chuma has developed a unique camera and performance technique reflective of our chaotic times.
Yoshiko Chuma (conceptual artist, choreographer/artistic director of The School of Hard Knocks) has been a firebrand in the post-modern dance scene of New York City since the 1980s. She has been consistently producing thought-provoking work that is neither dance nor theatre nor film nor any other pre-determined category.