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DDF News — 13 Mar 2019

The Full Programme for the 2019 Edition has been announced!

The Full Programme for the 2019 Edition has been announced!

A world of party, politics and power with international superstars, local challengers and breathtaking talent.

The 15th Edition of Dublin Dance Festival will be a celebration of brilliant, awe-inspiring and thought-provoking dance from across the globe, taking place across Dublin 1st-19th May. Opening with RIOT starring the Queen of Ireland Panti, and closing with master of contemporary dance Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, this year’s programme offers the chance to witness ground-breaking work by legendary dance artists; a space in which to contemplate the politics, environment and technology of our spinning world, and for every body to cut loose, party and DANCE.

Worldwide smash hit sensation RIOT from THISISPOPBABY will open the 15th Festival with a bang after setting hearts alight around the globe. Uniting the hottest stars of Irish stage and screen, this disorderly cocktail of bangin’ jigs, mind-blowing moves, jaw-droppingly sexy circus and gut-punching spoken word will leave audiences dazzled, dizzy and ready to change the world.

The Abbey Theatre will be home to pioneers from the dance world, artists revered for their craft and their drive for innovation. Hugely anticipated collaboration Session will see leading Irish dance artist Colin Dunne perform with Olivier Award-winning Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, renowned for his collaborations with some of the world’s greatest dance artists. In this unique exploration of movement and sound, which just premiered in France this February, these two performers draw on the rich rhythmical and sonic aspects of Dunne’s traditional Irish dance, joined on stage by composer Michael Gallen and musician Soumik Datta. Former Dance Director of the Venice Biennale Virgilio Sieni makes his Irish début with the overwhelmingly beautiful La Natura Delle Cose. In this hypnotic production, five dancers portray a character moving through the entire cycle of life in one hour, creating a rich visual poem, lyrical and unforgettable. Sieni created this definitive work in 2008. An undisputed masterpiece of contemporary dance will bring the 15th Dublin Dance Festival to a close – Rosas danst Rosas by Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Created in 1983, this piece for four female dancers showcases a tension that is characteristic of De Keersmaeker’s work; where structure contrasts with emotion, and aggression with tenderness. This is the Irish premiere of this seminal production, fifteen years after De Keersmaeker’s company performed on the Abbey Stage and Keersmaeker herself on the Beckett Theatre stage with the Festival’s 2004 Edition.

At Project Arts Centre, controversial Italian choreographer Roberto Castello explores a life engulfed by endless desire in We go around at night consumed by fire. Fusing cinema, dance and theatre, four dancers move together, yet apart – their striking tribalistic movement relentlessly driving them to carry on, like characters in a Beckett play. A piece for drones and dancers, Phoenix by Eric Minh Cuong Castaing is a collaboration between French and Palestinian artists that starts playfully, as drones on stage interact with three performers. Then a live connection is made via Skype with artists in Gaza who live with the constant threat and roar of drones. They share their dances and experiences with us - their artform, an act of resistance. In Ensemble, five performers ranging in age from 32 to 76 share a journey that lays bare their strengths, efforts and possibilities. Light and poignant in equal measure, this work by Aerowaves Twenty 19 artists Robbie Synge and Lucy Boyes from Scotland is a joyous physical expression of togetherness.

DDF 2019 offers a chance to explore the strength and diversity of work by Irish dance artists. Liz Roche Company, DDF Company in Residence, will present the Dublin premiere of their beautifully compelling and critically acclaimed I / Thou. This captivating exploration of human connection with live music, dance and song was created in response to a series of wall paintings by iconic visual artist Brian O’Doherty. AFTER by Liv O’Donoghue dives head first into the unknown when the world as we know it has ended. Dark but shot with humour, AFTER uses film, physicality and performance to explore our fear of endings, and was one of the hits of the 2018 Dublin Fringe Festival. Inventions by Irish Modern Dance Theatre centres around two extraordinary women: Oona Doherty, one of Europe’s most gifted dance artists, and 84-year-old American dance legend Valda Setterfield. Inventions’ exceptional cast, including Merce Cunningham star Ashley Chen, Kevin Coquelard and Mufutau Yusuf, portrays two contrasting couples – one falling in love, the other falling into an abyss – in a thrillingly intense performance.

As always, DDF 2019 is offering an excellent programme of events for younger audiences. A gorgeous, playful, multicultural adventure, W.A.M. We Are Monchichi by Company Wang Ramirez is for ages 7+. Presented by Dublin Dance Festival and The Ark at the O’Reilly Theatre, the two performers mix storytelling, hip-hop, classical and contemporary dance, as they playfully search for harmony in today’s multicultural world. A free family event in Meeting House Square, Princesses Can Be Pirates by Mónica Muñoz Marín is a hilarious escapade for ages 4+ that turns stereotypes upside down, playfully questioning what “normal” behaviour is for girls and for boys.

There will be opportunities for everybody to dance and party their way through the 15th Festival. The Top 8 Street Dance Battle with Tobi Omoteso will be back with the freshest street dancers from Ireland and abroad. This festival favourite will feature live DJs, MCs and international street dance legends in an epic outdoor celebration of street dance and hip-hop culture in Meeting House Square. That weekend Top 8 and the Red Bull Dance Connect team will also be giving high-energy Street Dance Workshops for all dance abilities aged 10+ at DanceHouse. The following Saturday 11th May, Company Wang Ramirez will be leading a fun workshop at The Ark for ages 7–12 incorporating hip-hop and contemporary dance techniques.

Tiny Dancer: A DJ Set for Kids will see kids aged 0-9 taking over the dance floor as DJ Donal Dineen hits the decks with dance anthems from every era. Bounce Club Night, a club experience for adults with intellectual disabilities comes to Dublin for the first time. Bounce creates a fun, safe and accessible space for people of all abilities to socialise with their friends and dance the night away. And DRAFF are teaming up with Dublin Digital Radio (ddr.) to host a night of music by Kevin Gleeson with his drone haunted pop songs, and Luca Truffarelli with his alternative deep house set, developed during Oona Doherty’s Hope Hunt tour.

Presented by Dublin Dance Festival in partnership with The Digital Hub the award-winning Selina Thompson is bringing The Missy Elliot Project to Dublin this year - an opportunity for women and girls of colour, aged between 14 and 18, to make a VR experience with all of the energy and excitement of an old-school Missy Elliott video. Taster workshops for this live performance and digital exchange project will take place during DDF 2019, with an intensive week-long workshop taking place in June.

DDF 2019’s Dance on Film programme will include a screening of Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance by director Charles Atlas. This documentary is a tribute to an extraordinary artist, whose revolutionary take on modern dance is brilliantly explained. Dance on Film also features a screening of a curated programme of six short films including a selection of Light Moves Festival 2018 Award Winners and the premiere of CoisCéim’s How to Sink a Paper Boat.

The Festival will present works-in-development by two of Ireland’s most exciting dance artists. Here Be Dragons by United Fall / Emma Martin is looking at religion, myth, art and sex. Dēmos by Liz Roche Company is a collaboration between Liz Roche and composer David Coonan, leading to a major new work for orchestra and dancers in 2020. The First Looks Programme is another opportunity to see new works-in-development by dance artists in Ireland, this year taking the form of an exciting mixed bill of three studio sharings by Lucia Kickham, Headonbody / Deirdre Griffin with Craig Cox and David Bolger & CoisCéim Dance Theatre.

For those who want to deepen their understanding of the artform of dance, DDF’s popular Fast Track programme offers a chance to be immersed in a weekend of dance, guided by the Live Collision team. The Fast Track group will attend world-class performances and participate in meet-the-maker sessions and facilitated group discussions.

Benjamin Perchet, the Festival’s current and 4th director, says, «The distinguished reputation of the festival on the choreographic European and international scene, developed over its 14 editions, is a thrilling achievement. With the 2019 festival programme we’re offering an audacious selection of works which unite creative singularity with sensitivity to social themes. This year again, the programme is giving Irish audiences space for both spectacle and reflection, sensuality and seriousness. »


THANKS


Dublin Dance Festival would like to thank:

Funders:
Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Dublin City Council

Media partners: RTÉ Supporting the Arts, The Irish Times, Lovin Dublin, Entertainment.ie

Accommodation partner: The Castle Hotel

Cultural partners: Aerowaves, Creative Scotland, Culture Ireland, Embassy and Consulates of Belgium in Ireland, Flanders State of the Art / The General Representation of the Government of Flanders in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Fondation BNP Paribas, Embassy of France in Ireland, Goethe-Institut Irland, Instituto Italiano di Cultura, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali

Programme partners: Abbey Theatre, Dance Ireland, Draíocht Arts Centre, FRINGE LAB, Live Collision, Mermaid Arts Centre, O’Reilly Theatre, Project Arts Centre, Red Bull Dance Connect, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, The Ark, THISISPOPBABY

Supporters: Dance World, The Digital Hub, Dunne and Crescenzi

Brand & design partner:
aad

For further media information please contact Stephanie Dickenson
Tel: +353 (0) 87 993 7650 E stephaniedickenson12@gmail.com


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