Dance at the 2019 Dublin Theatre Festival

Dublin Theatre Festival kicks off in just a few days and as a fellow dance lover, you might be interested to know what dance performances are included in this year’s stellar line-up, so we’ve made it easy for you.

Here are some shows that should find a slot in your dance calendar this October:

Dance Consortium, UK

LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO

For more than 40 years, the all-male comedy ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (affectionately known as the “Trocks”) have been delighting audiences of all ages at sell-out performances featuring their fabulous sense of fun and their flawless dance. Established in New York, the Trocks are now loved world-wide for their sassy spoofs and hilarious homages to classical ballet, where 18 dancers each transform into two personas, both male and female! Every performance frivolously froths with tutus and testosterone, blush-pink ballet pumps, fierce false eyelashes and prima ballerina attitude however, what makes this company extraordinarily special is their immaculate technique, daring physicality, surpassed only by their impeccable comic timing.

‘If you’re looking for a happy night out, it’s hard to beat the Trocks’ The Times

‘All hail the drag queens of ballet! They are drop-dead fabulous and an international treasure’ The Stage

Venue: Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
Dates: 9 & 10 Oct, 7.30pm
Tickets: €25 - €48.50
Duration: Approx. 2 hrs 20 mins incl. interval.

Cast and Creative Team

Swan Lake Act II
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: after Lev Ivanovich Ivanov
Costumes: Mike Gozales
Décor: Jason Courson
Lighting: Kip Marsh

Pas de Deux/Patterns in Space
Choreography: after Merce Cunningham
Taped Music: Andrew Franck
Live Music: after John Cage
Costumes: Ken Busbin
Lighting: Tricia Toliver

Esmeralda
Music: Cesare Pugni
Choreography: after Marius Petipa
Staged: Elena Kunikova
Costumes: David Tetrault
Lighting: Kip Marsh

Paquita
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Choreography: after Marius Petipa
Stage: Elena Kunikova
Costumes and Décor:Mike Gonzales
Lighting:Kip Marsh

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Junk Ensemble, Ireland

THE BYSTANDER

‘I didn’t want to get involved.’ — Anonymous Neighbour The Bystander is an intriguing and adventurous production by multi-award winning dance theatre innovators Junk Ensemble. Taking its name from the ‘bystander effect’ phenomenon of the murder of Kitty Genovese outside her apartment in New York City in 1964, whereby thirty-eight witnesses saw or heard the attack, yet none of them called for help, The Bystander brings to the surface some of the murkier and complex behaviours of contemporary society. Performed by an internationally acclaimed cast and drawing on the expertise of a psychologist, The Bystander gets under the skin of how we behave as individuals and groups. What makes us help someone and what makes us simply stand by? ‘The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.’ — Albert Einstein

Venue: axis:Ballymun
Dates: 4–6 Oct, 8pm
Tickets: €18
Duration: Approx. 60 mins. No interval.

Direction and Choreography: Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy in collaboration with the cast

Performers: Stephanie Dufresne, Stephen Moynihan, Tilly Webber
Set Design: Sabine Dargent
Lighting Design: Zia Bergin-Holly
Costume Design: Sarah Foley Music
Sound Design: Denis Clohessy

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Louis Vanhaverbeke/CAMPO, Belgium

MULTIVERSE

In the beginning there was nothing, and then that too exploded. In this marvellously inventive and humorous piece, Louis Vanhaverbeke plays a multifunctional DJ, who needs little more than turntables and a myriad of colourful household objects to bring his music and creations to life. He samples and resamples, incorporating sources as diverse as Baywatch, Elton John and the story of creation into his performance. Vanhaverbeke pumps out the hits and brushes references off them until the thoughts bounce and blow the audience into a new dimension. A living colour wheel is born out of the playful exploration of song, dance, and invention Vanhaverbeke orbits the world he creates, but can he escape this tsunami of words and objects? Are these the tools he needs to keep ahead of the flow, or will all this mess absorb him?

Venue: Samuel Beckett Theatre
Dates: 27 & 28 Sept, 7.30pm 29 Sept, 6pm
Tickets: €20–€25
Duration: Approx. 65 mins. No interval.

Creator and Performer: Louis Vanhaverbeke
Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
Advisor: Matias Daporta
Technical Design: Bart Huybrechts
Technical Support: Simon Van den Abeele

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Company SJ, Ireland

COMPANY by Samuel Beckett

‘A voice comes to one in the dark. Imagine.’ Opening with this tantalising directive, Samuel Beckett’s Company reads almost as an experiment into the notion of being itself. This is an intensely moving and lyrical work, which interrogates the truthfulness of memory and finds company in the haunting sculpture of, ‘one on his back, in the dark’. Company strips down human existence to the body in space and time. Sculpted from the darkness, Raymond Keane explores Beckett’s prose through the use of projected text, live and recorded voice, and the body in movement and stillness. Beckett’s words draw us into a sensory world of memory and imagination. Supported by Dublin City Council and Irish Theatre Institute. This production is funded by the Arts Council.

Venue: Project Arts Centre (Space Upstairs)
Preview: 3 Oct 7.30pm
Dates: 4 & 5 Oct, 7.30pm 6 Oct, 2.30pm & 7.30pm 7 Oct, 2.30pm
Tickets: €15–€25
Duration: Approx. 80 mins. No Interval.

Adaption and Direction: Sarah Jane Scaife
Performer: Raymond Keane
Projection Design: Kilian Waters
Lighting Design: Stephen Dodd
Costume Design: Sinead Cuthbert
Sculptural Figure/Puppet Design: Roman Paska
Sound Recording and Mixing: Tim Martin
Additional Sound Editing: Ciaran Byrne

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For Young Audiences

Second Hand Dance, UK

GRASS

Look down. What are you standing on? Explore the ground and all of its wriggling inhabitants in this quirky dance show for young children. Featuring worms, slugs, snails, spontaneous outbreaks of ant dancing and plenty of obscure insect-related facts, Grass uses performance, puppetry and projection to delve down into the world beneath our feet whilst breathing in the scent of freshly-cut grass.

Ages 2–5

Venue: The Ark
Dates: 27–29 Sept
Tickets: €12:50
Duration: 35 mins. Plus 15 mins stay and play time. No interval.

Direction and Choreography: Rosie Heafford
Performers: Patrick Keir and Helena Webb
Set and Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Sarah Gilmartin
Music Composition: James Marples and Amir Shoenfeld
Sound Design: Edward Lewis
Projection Animation: Ben Walden

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