DANCER from the DANCE 2021
WEDNESDAY 7 JULY - Schedule of Events
Cunningham Class / Ty Boomershine
10h IST / 111h CET / 5h EST
Live Zoom contemporary Cunningham-based Masterclass. Open to professional level dancers and advanced level participants
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Forsythe Workshop / Elizabeth Corbett
16h IST / 17h CET / 11h EST
Live Zoom Workshop: William Forsythe Improvisation Technologies and Phrase Modification with Elizabeth Corbett. Open to professional level dancers and advanced level participants.
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GATHERING 2: Platform Performance of Works in Progress/Emerging Choreographers
18h IST / 19h CET / 13h EST
Alessandra Azevedo
ARTIST PRESENTATION [1 min)
Music: A Call from Far Away by Michael Scott
African dances developed as a form of personal and artistic expression in areas where the African diaspora settled. Many rhythms and dances were created from these roots – movements that still echo the strength, culture, resilience and beauty of African communities.
Alessandra Azevedo is an Afro-Brazilian dancer, Capoeira performer and instructor from Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Since moving to Ireland in 2015 she has championed her culture by setting up a Capoeira training and performance group. From 2018 Alessandra established herself as a leading Afro-Brazilian dancer with performances at major festivals with her group Criola Dance. Since coming to Ireland, Alessandra has worked with Catherine Young, Selma Daniel, Andreia Williams, John Scott, Barra O Flanniagh, Yves Lorrhan, Tatiana Campelo, Shiv Ross, Vivian Brodie Hayes, Justine Doswell and Deirdre Murphy.
Aphra Hartmann
STATE OF OPPOSITION (5:45 mins)
Music: Paul James Prior
In this work, Aphra explores identity and gender. ‘State Of Opposition’ portrays an inner conflict of femininity and masculinity, and finding a unique balance of the two. This piece utilises soft movements contrasting with sharper quick movements to represent this duality of identity. It wrestles with the need to conform to one particular identity, and how this conforming is not necessary in being true to oneself. In the end it is realised that a balance can be found and that people can truly be multifaceted beings, and it is this that makes us so unique. Aphra worked with composer Paul James Prior to create a sound that resonated and reflected with this narrative.
Aphra Hartmann is a dance artist based in Dublin. Beginning her dance training in ballet and contemporary at Shawbrook School of Dance, Aphra went on to receive a QQI Level 5 award in Dance Studies from Inchicore College of Further Education in 2019. Since then, Aphra has performed for Dublin Youth Dance Company, choreographed in La Briqueterie CDCN, and was chosen as a choreographer for NOISE Moves’ EMERGENCE 2021 programme.
Cristian Enmanuel Dirocie
UNKNOWN (extract) (2:34 mins)
Music: A Call from Far Away by Michael Scott
Unknown is an evolving work reflecting ups and down in life, the struggle. Ups and downs in life are unknown - we only know it’s an up or down when it happens.
Cristian Dirocie is a professional dance and music artist from the Dominican Republic.
He specialises in the Street Dance styles – Breakdance, Krump and HipHop - and has won several competitions including SOAR UK – HipHop Masters (2017) Rep Your Style (2018) Juice Box 2019 and HipHop International 2020. He has been based in Ireland since 2014 working as a freelance dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and model
Eileen McClory/Maiden Voyage Dance
EPILOGUE: A DANCER DIES TWICE (3:50 mins)
Choreography: Eileen McClory
Dancers: Sandy Cuthburt, Jane Mooney
Poetry: Maira McManus
Film: Conor McIvor
Music: Edith Piaf
Epilogue: A Dancer Dies Twice considers the wonder of a lived-in body and the grace and wisdom held within tendons and bones that can accomplish more with less.
Taken from the famous Martha Graham quote, "a dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful."
The piece is a brutally honest reflection of the human cost of what 'the dance' took from and gave to, two exquisite (and previously) retired professional dancers now in their sixties.
As an established Dance Artist, Eileen McClory has received commissions from Quotidian: Word on the Street, At the Margins 2021, Maiden Voyage Dance Company: BRINK 2020, The Playhouse Derry: TURF 2018, Tinderbox Theatre Company: CUCK 2017. Residencies include Belfast International Arts Festival: Artist in Residence 2020/21, 2019 Creative Europe/Galway Theatre Festival’s Make-a-Move: Incubator lab, Galway. 2016 Dansmakers, Amsterdam: The Game Show supported by Arts Council NI. HATCH Artist, The MAC Belfast, 2013/14.
Eoin Ó Fíannachta
OCRAS (5:50 mins)
Choreographer/performer: Eoin Ó Fíannachta
Soundscape: Domhnaill Corrigan
Text: Eoin Ó Fíannachta
Voiceover: Aoife Hayes, Claire Healy, Fianna Nolan, Barry Pierce
Filming/Editing: Luca Truffarelli
What if our bodies articulated our thoughts instead of our minds? For Eoin Ó Fíannachta, one answer to this question is his debut piece ‘Ocras’. Named after the choreographer’s experiences with severe binge-eating during depressive episodes, ‘Ocras’ (meaning ‘Hunger’ in Irish) is a deeply personal work in response to a period of history where many had become more isolated than ever. The piece was developed through the distortion of balletic positions, and improvisation inspired by the choreographer’s own journal entries during such an episode, with soundscape by Domhnaill Corrigan. Though the inspiration is dark, ‘Ocras’ is a dance that fights against despair, arguing that if our bodies articulated our thoughts instead of our minds, we may be able to fight back.
Eoin Ó Fíannachta is a choreographer from Cork City. Through his work, Eoin endeavours to bridge the gap between what is codified and instinctive, internal and perceptive, casual and performative. This September he will begin his undergrad in choreography in London.
Mufutau Yusuf
ÒWE – An Indigenous Way of Knowing (5 mins)
Note: Excerpt, work in progress
Music: RV
Lighting: Matt Burke
Choreographic assistants: Alexandros Anastasiadis & Beno Novak
Òwe is a solo work inspired by meditations on a collection of Yoruba proverbs, proverbs that have been and remain an archive of ancestral knowledge, intuitions, and values of the Yoruba people. This archive is also defined through individual, collective, and ancestral memories, and is furthermore preserved in language, stories, history, music, dance and spirituality. This dance solo specifically intends to decode a personal and fragmented archive and observe it through the scope of these cultural and historical archives, as well as investigating how a ritual/traditional archive can coexist with a modern/digital archive.
Nigerian/Irish performer Mufutau Yusuf is a graduate of Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, currently working as a freelance artist between Ireland and Brussels. His interest lies in multi-disciplinarity, which he aims to implement in his own works.
This work was made possible with support from the Arts Council, Maison de la Creation Bockstael and Firkin Crane.
Fionnuala Doyle-Wade
TRAUMA LINES (5:25 mins)
Music Composition: Séamus Boland
Trauma Lines is a contemporary dance work that explores recent research in the field of Epigenetics and findings that suggest emotional trauma can be passed down through multiple generations. In other words, the effects of traumatic events experienced by our grandparents and parents, can ultimately be felt by us, their children and grandchildren. The work investigates the cycles and lineage of both lived and ancestral traumas, and the sensations that arise in the body when remembering these experiences.
Fionnuala Doyle-Wade is a dance artist and teacher originally from Seattle and now based in Galway city. She creates within contemporary and modern forms of dance, and has regularly worked with the Galway Dance Project and Genevieve Ryan Dance Academy. Most recently, Fionnuala took part in Brú Theatre’s artist development program, Remote Control, receiving mentorship from Oona Doherty.
Simone O’Toole / SoToDanceCompany
THE BECOMING (4:30 mins)
Choreography: Simone O’Toole
Dancer: Mollyanna Ennis
Filming/Editing: Joshua Mulholland
Music: Shane Nolan
The Becoming is about a young woman trying to break free from the pressures and expectations that society places on her. She wants to walk away from the idea of how she should look, act and feel to make others feel comfortable. The challenges of breaking these moulds creates a battle inside of her head with what she wants to do with her life and what society has made her believe is expected of her. Is it easier for her to just follow the crowd or should she walk her path alone? The youthful dancer fights to rewrite her own rules and step into her power.
After graduating in 2018 with a BA from Fontys Dance Academy, The Netherlands, Simone O’Toole has gone on to work and tour with choreographers such as Catherine Young (Ireland), Guillherme Miotto,Corpo Máquina (Holland) and John Scott of Irish Modern Dance Theatre (Ireland).
Simone is currently back in Ireland researching new works and developing her own company SoToDanceCompany.
GATHERING 3: Livestreamed Dance Performance
19:30h IST / 20:30h CET / 14:30h EST
FOLLOWED BY LIVESTREAMED TALKBACK moderated by Laurie Uprichard, Independent Performing Arts Consultant, Curator and Producer, at approximately 20h30 IST / 21h30 CET / 15h30 EST
Kristyn Fontanella / Fontanella Dance Company
PLURABELLE [3:36 minS)
Choreographer/performer: Kristyn Fontanella
Director: Kristyn Fontanella
Camera: Kristyn Fontanella, Darach Ó Ruairc
Editor: Shane Vaughan
Curator: Ríonach Ní Néill
Producer: Ciotóg
What is the relationship between traditional Irish dance and traditional Irish weather? Kristyn Fontanella draws from her knowledge of traditional dance to make new rhythmical patterns and shapes inspired by the fall of rain on her body and the South Galway landscape. Listening to the raindrops, to the wind. Listening to what is happening around to hear what is happening within. Finding new movement patterns from playing in puddles where raindrops fell. A Hope it Rains commission for Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture.
As a choreographer/dance artist Kristyn Fontanella focuses her past knowledge of Irish step dancing and presents it in a contemporary context. Having toured for many years with Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and as lead soloist in Gaelforce Dance, her current mission is to show another side of the complex world of Irish Step dancing to future generations.
Nic Gareiss
SOLO SQUARE DANCE (4:50 mins)
Music: traditional, arranged by Gareiss
Inspired by a 1968 film of Bascom Lamar Lunsford swinging and singing dance calls for a film crew documenting the dance of the Appalachian region, Solo Square Dance initially emerged from Gareiss' work with the band This is How we Fly and the quartet's own tradition of each member improvising a solo piece every show. In 2016, Gareiss and Colin Dunne spent a week developing the solo as part of the Irish Arts Center's Masters in Collaboration series before its premiere in 2017 at the Historic Turner Dodge House in Lansing, Michigan. Solo Square Dance is the titular finale of Gareiss' one-person show which explores the 1935 Irish Dance Halls Act and other historic dance bans through percussive dance from Ireland, what's known as Canada, and what's known as Appalachia.
One of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch," Nic Gareiss (he/they) is a percussive dancer living in what's called Lansing, Michigan. In 2020 they received the Michigan Heritage Award, their state's highest distinction for traditional artists. They have performed in sixteen countries including at London's Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center.
Tobi Omoteso
PLAY (extract) (5 mins)
Dancers: Tobi Omoteso, Toviyah Omoteso
Music: Gavin "The Main Event" Kelly
PLAY is an exploration through the lens of a child’s sense and approach to playing. As adults we quickly get conditioned to have more serious approaches to interact with world around us, especially giving the situation we now find ourselves, from working from home, calls, meetings, while the children around us simply embody the art of play. The world is their playground, they are the artists, so let them teach us before we teach them.
Tobi Omoteso is an internationally acclaimed B-boy (breakdancer) and Hip-Hop Freestyle dancer. Trained at Broadway Dance Centre New York, Tobi has been dancing for over 15 years and is dedicated to supporting the foundations of this dynamic and influential dance form. Tobi is curator and director of TOP 8 at Dublin Dance Festival. Now heading into its 7th year, the event continues to grow in size and popularity.
Jessie Keenan
SO WHAT IS SURFACING (A STUDY) (5 mins)
Composer: Robbie Blake
“I am interested in questions around personal archive, live response and creative practice as investigation. I return again to this original study to reconnect with the liveness of the task.
Going back to go forward.”
This work emerged as an early development step in a larger project - Don’t Anticipate the Ending - a collaboration with academic researcher Dr Zosia Kuczyńska and composer Robbie Blake. So What Is Surfacing (a study) functioned as a container in which to make a live response to creative input. The idea developed into a trio which was then filmed at the Museum of Literature, Ireland.
Jessie Keenan is a choreographer making work that crosses over into science, visual art, architecture and archives. Interdisciplinary connections are at the heart of her work. Current project: Don’t Anticipate The Ending, a collaboration with composer Robbie Blake & academic researcher Dr Zosia Kuczyńska, presented online by the Museum of Literature Ireland, Summer 2021.
Róisín Whelan
AT THE END, WE BEGIN (4 mins)
Music Composition: Aoife Kavanagh
As the light of the soul leaves our body, what is left behind are the memories, images that flick through the minds of those who remain stranded on earth. For every moment that a person comes back to your mind there is a concoction of emotions: sadness, heartache, joy. We are brought on a journey of one women, experiencing this simple moment of memory. She is transported back for a brief time to experience the moments spent with a lost loved one and as the moving images flicker she walks through the garden of her mind repeating to herself ‘If I had a flower for every time I thought of you I could walk in my own garden forever’.
Róisín Whelan is a dancer and choreographer based in Carlow. As a performer, Róisín has worked with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and Black Box Dance Company.
Ciara Sexton
FÁINNE ÓIR (4:06 mins)
Choreography: Ciara Sexton
Composer: Kathy Fahey
Dancers: Shannon Burke, Caoimhe Ennis
A selection of choreography from the brand new music and dance show, Fáinne Óir.
Ciara Sexton is an Irish dancing professional, choreographer, lecturer, television announcer and presenter. She is a five-time World & All-Ireland Champion and has starred as lead dancer in Riverdance, Heartbeat of Home and in both Lord of the Dance and Lord of the Dance 3D, alongside Michael Flatley. After producing, directing and choreographing her first commercial Irish Dance show 'The Celtic Gift' in 2017, in 2019 Ciara directed, choreographed and starred in a new production, ‘Fainne Oir’ which premiered to sold-out crowds in Ireland and then on Broadway. Ciara has been a lecturer at The Irish World Academy at The University of Limerick since 2014.
Justine Doswell
A PIECE OF MY HEART (4:53 mins)
Choreography: Justine Doswell in collaboration with the cast
Cast: Alessandra Azevedo, Joanna Banks, Kama Bugala (DYDC), Millie Daniel-Dempsey, Rebecca Reilly and Emily Kilkenny Roddy
Music: Veinte Años, 1935 by María Teresa Vera and Guillermina Aramburu (Kassner Associated Publishers Ltd UK), performed and recorded by Isaac et Nora (2019) | Madame Vodevil.
Poster of La condition humaine II, 1935 by René Magritte. “… we sometimes remember a past event as being in the present. Time and space lose meaning and our daily experience becomes paramount. This is how we see the world. We see it outside ourselves, and at the same time we only have a representation of it in ourselves.” René Magritte
Fixed camera filmed by Luca Truffarelli at the Complex, Dublin.
Six women are present. Aged 18 to 81, their presence is singular and plural, individual and collective, real and imagined. Together they sculpt the space in nostalgic reverie, editing their recollections in each step they take; yearning for past selves, for connection to the versions of themselves they once were and those they have loved, still love. A Piece of my Heart is a bittersweet vignette, a succession of moments that explore love and loss, nostalgia and regret. A subjective progression of past, present and future, a personal memoir tinged with joy and melancholy.
“Why do we lose ourselves in memories instead of living in our present? Because once upon a time, they were the happiest place we knew.” Ranata Suzuki
Supported by the Complex. Preliminary 2019 research funded by the Arts Council, supported by a Dance Ireland residency with dance artists: Salma Ataya, Muirne Bloomer, Kama Bugala, Ella Clarke, Justine Cooper, Millie Daniel-Dempsey, Aoife McAtamney, Liv O'Donoghue, Emma O’Kane, Rebecca Reilly, Mariam Ribon and Emily Kilkenny Roddy.
Justine Doswell is a dance artist, choreographer and creative producer based in Dublin since 1997. She has worked with numerous notable Irish and international choreographers, directors and companies. Inspired by dynamic structure and living systems her choreographic practice has been supported by The Arts Council, Dublin City Council, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Dublin Dance Festival, Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, LD Dance Shawbrook, Liz Roche Company and The Lir Academy, THEATREClub, Dance Resource Base, The Complex and Dublin Youth Dance Company. Justine is an Irish Modern Dance Theatre 2021 Associate Artist. www.justinedoswell.com
Anne O’Donnell / The National Folk Theatre of Ireland | Siamsa Tíre Theatre
BLUE HEART (6:15 mins)
Music: “The Guiding Moon” | Composed by Neil Martin | Performed by the West Ocean String Quartet
The piece is filmed in the small coastal fishing village Fenit in Co. Kerry.
I experience the world, and comprehend it, through my senses. The sea, especially, is such a multi-sensory experience. Simply looking at the sea puts me in a more meditative, calmer state. It’s visually stimulating with a thousand shades of constantly moving blue, wave-exposed coastlines, smells and sounds. These all have an effect on my sense of wellbeing. And that’s before I dive into it! If ever I’m having a tough day, I head straight for the sea. The shock of the cold-water immersion gets me out of my head and into my body in a way that it is literally breath-taking. I am zapped back into the present moment with profound efficiency. I am in the here and now. No matter how poor my mood is or how low my energy levels are, when I go into the sea, I come out, fully charged. Whatever baggage from my day I bring into the ocean, it leaves me in the water, and I come out refreshed and energized. It’s my sense of place. My pause, reset and begin again place. I find solace of mind and body. I am alive, I am healthy, I am happy. For this gift that the sea has offered me – I am grateful.
Our heart mirrors the circulation of ocean currents. “Planet earth”, to quote ocean scientist Sylvia Earle, “is actually a beating blue heart. We depend utterly on this blue heart for our survival, development, and wellbeing. It connects us all.” It draws us in, fascinates us and inspires us. It’s where we came from originally and it’s where we naturally go to recharge, reconnect and make sense of it all.
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
It’s always our self we find in the sea.” -E.E. Cummings, 100 Selected Poems
Anne O’Donnell started her training with the National Folk Theatre, Siamsa Tíre, at the tender age of 8 and has been performing with the company for 4 decades. She completed an MA in Contemporary Dance Performance at the University of Limerick and is currently head of Training & Development at Siamsa Tíre in Tralee.