Dance Ireland and Theatre and Dance NI, in collaboration with Dr Aoife McGrath (QUB) and Dr Victoria Durrer (UCD), undertook a research project funded by the Co-Operation with Northern Ireland funding scheme within the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
‘Dance Conversations’ addresses a need articulated by professional dance artists at the Co-Motion Dance Conference in October 2019 and in the March 2021 Dance Think Tanks Report for collaborative development of North/South creative exchanges and better understanding of the shared living and working conditions of dance artists across the island of Ireland.
The project curated conversations between pairs of artists working on each side of the border that will explore their shared working experiences through dance performance and discussion.
These ‘Dance Conversations’ were presented and shared to public audiences through online events and a documentary dance film co-directed by Mary Wycherley and McGrath, as well as serve as a complement to Dance Ireland’s research on working conditions being carried out in the forthcoming ‘Dance Counts’ whole sector survey, led by Dance Ireland.
Dance Conversations is a creative, cross-border exchange exploring shared experiences of dance artists across the island of Ireland.
3 dance artists from Northern Ireland were paired with 3 dance artists from Ireland to engage in danced and spoken conversation about their living and working conditions.
Credits
Choreography, performance and filming:
Yumi Lee, Aisling McCormick, Maeve McGreevy, Kelly Quigley, Laurie Schneider, Maria Svensson Directed by Mary Wycherley & Aoife McGrath
Concept: Aoife McGrath
Editor: Mary Wycherley
Composer: Jürgen Simpson