Jazmin Chiodi, Artistic Director of Dublin Dance Festival, tells us about this year's edition, which will runs from 16th - 28th May.
As Artistic Director of Dublin Dance Festival, it will be a pleasure and a privilege this May to present the works of extraordinarily talented artists based here on this island as well as artists who come from different corners of the world.
This year’s festival edition invites our audiences: "Let go. Take Heart. Begin Again."
I am so excited to open our festival with a piece by Trajal Harrell, an artist whose sensitivity and vision marked me when I first saw his work in New York back in 2009 and who I have been following ever since. His The Köln Concert is a delicate and tender piece that will set the tone of our festival, welcoming openness and diversity as an artistic and poetic expression.
I am also delighted to bring Marco D’Agostin’s Best Regards, his moving tribute to the radical artist, Nigel Charnock. Marco is a very talented performer and this work touched me personally as it talks about how we deal with loss and also celebrates life in all its expressions - something that is not always easy to bring to audiences and which I feel is important to share and traverse collectively.
The power of the collective and our capacity for change is also very present in Navy Blue, the latest creation from North of Ireland choreographer Oona Doherty, one of her most ambitious works to date. The Pretty Things, a delicate yet powerful work from Catherine Gaudet, will move us all with the endurance demonstrated by her dancers, and will slowly draw out our own human empathy, leading us to re-signify our human connection.
New works by artists based in Ireland are very present this year’s edition. Luke Murphy will premiere [The Prometheus Project]: The Archivist, performed by Luke for an audience of just 15 people per showing, bringing us into the life of this particular character in the last hours of the world as we know it.
Also in this strand of works where audiences are active protagonists, we are presenting Emma Martin’s dance and sound installation King|Shine where we will be invaded by sound, lights, and movement to re-connect with the sense of celebration of new beginnings.
We also welcome back Liz Roche Dance Company with Yes and Yes, a beautifully choreographed adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses, and from Pan Pan the premiere of The Sudden, an adventure with five dancers that will bring audiences on an upside down journey.
I’m particularly excited to share with audiences two new commissions which are coming to fruition in 2023. These commissions are creating new inclusive spaces, pushing boundaries to model new ways of working, and inviting us to think about ourselves and the world around us - highlighting the values which are important to us as a festival and which are important for me personally as a former dancer and choreographer.
The Race by internationally acclaimed choreographer Marc Brew, co-commissioned with our brilliant partners at The Ark and Arts and Disability Ireland, is a unique dance piece for children, entwining three of Aesop's Fables to create a fun, interactive world of animals, puppets, theatre, and movement, presented by a cast of disabled and non-disabled dance artists - with all performances offering an inclusive audience experience.
And a project that is close to all of our hearts is Kindred, commissioned by the ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund in partnership with Business to Arts. This innovative digital dance installation created by Liz Roche and Lightscape will explore the intensity of nature, human connection and sustainability. Kindred, housed at ESB’s new sustainable headquarters on Fitzwilliam Street, will be free and open to everyone during its run from 19th - 28th May.
The festival is always a new adventure, a moment inside a moment of our life where we can re-connect with each other as the power of dance is revealed. This year we will celebrate the end of our 2023 festival journey with a work that I have at heart because it takes me back to my youth of passion, love, and exuberant makeup and hairstyles!
LOVETRAIN 2020 by Emmanuel Gat will close the festival with an explosion of dance and music by Tears For Fears that will bring audiences to the point of letting go, and falling in love again.
I invite you all to explore the full festival programme and to be touched by it, and to be encouraged by these performances. We look forward to seeing you all in May to join us on this year’s journey and to witness the incredible works of art that these artists have created.
Dublin Dance Festival runs from 16th - 28th May - find out more here.
