Return to the Presence of Dance – The 10th Dublin Dance Festival…and the National Dance Archive.

This year’s Dublin Dance Festival is a special one, marking a tenth anniversary – though the festival began as a bi-annual one back in 2002. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, fostering new Irish work and young dance companies and bringing some of the best of international dance to Irish audiences.

This year’s programme is a rich mix of Irish and international, of high energy and slow reflection. Samuel Beckett features in two new works, six Irish choreographers premiere new work, there’s dance on the street, in the Abbey theatre, the annual Re-Presenting Ireland forum, dance on film and just about everywhere.

Tonight we’ll look at what’s coming up, hear from many of those involved, celebrate the energy and focus of contemporary dance in Ireland – and hear about the national dance archive at the University of Limerick.

In studio: Julia Carruthers, Director of the Dublin Dance Festival.

Seona MacReamoinn, Dance Critic

Deirdre Mulrooney, Dance Historian.

Included on our recorded interviews:

Choreographers Liv O’Donoghue, Gavin Quinn & John Scott, Morleigh Steinberg.

We also feature Patrick Fox, Director of CREATE,

Madeleine Boughton of Culture Ireland

And Anna Maria Hajba, Director of the National Dance Archive of Ireland in the University of Limerick.

The website for the Dublin Dance Festival is www.dublindancefestival.ie

The website for the National Dance Archive of Ireland is

www.nationaldancearchiveireland.ie

Boxes of archive material waiting to be sorted at the National Dance Archive in the University of Limerick.

A Poster for Joan Denise Moriarty’s production of “The Playboy of the Western World” in New York,  and a handmade Irish dancing costume donated to the Archive.

Arts Tonight is produced by Aileen O’Meara for Digital Audio Productions. Contact us at artstonightrte@gmail.com