Space: Bodies in relation

In the fifth episode of Embodied, Irish dance artist Liv O’Donoghue and architect Laurence Lord of AP+E talk about the importance of collaboration and a democratic approach to making in their respective fields, as well as the need to focus on the individual experience of the ‘user’.

Laurence Lord is an architect, curator and teacher. He co-founded with Jeffrey Bolhuis the architecture studio AP+E, which is a research and design studio based in Cavan & Amsterdam. He is a co-curator and commissioner for the Irish National Pavilion, Free Market, at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 and currently runs a unit, Country Living, in the Cork Centre for Architectural Education.

Liv O’Donoghue is a maker and performer based in Dublin. She trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and her work as a choreographer has been presented widely both nationally and internationally. She has previously performed with companies including Dead Centre, Liz Roche Company, Fearghus Ó Conchuir, Emma Martin Dance, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, and junk ensemble, touring widely throughout Europe, Australia and the USA. Liv is also a co-founder of DRAFF, an international platform, in print and online, which focuses on process in dance and theatre.

Material: Dancers and Technology

The body is traditionally the focus in dance, but for some artists what’s important is the body in relation to other objects and materials. Originally an aerialist, Emily Aoibheann is forging a unique practice that is both somatic, and dependent on equipment and physical environment. Her research brings her into close proximity with urban and wild contexts. In this episode, Rachel introduces Emily to award-winning author Mark O’Connell, author of To be a machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death for a discussion around our relationship with technology and materials.

Impact: The Power of Art?

What does it mean to make ‘socially engaged’ art? Is all art socially engaged by default? Can a dance performance be socially transformative? In episode 3, Impact, Rachel speaks to Irish choreographer and performer Ruairi Donovan and theatre maker and activist Grace Dyas (THEATREclub) to consider how live performance and putting bodies on a stage can effect social and political change.

Borders: The edges of bodies

Recent research has shown that more than 50% of the cells in our body are not human. The non-human part is known as the ‘microbiome’ and is a growing area of research for scientists.
Episode 2 of our Embodied series, Borders, brings together Catalan choreographer Aimar Perez Gali and Ireland’s foremost microbiome researcher Dr. Gerard Clarke to talk about how shifting ideas around where our bodies end and begin can affect how we think about community and our connections with each other.

Gut-punch – How dance works on an audience

In Dance Ireland’s new podcast series curated and hosted by Rachel Donnelly, Oona Doherty and neuroscientist Francesca Farina (co-author of the book Why Science Needs Art) speak about ‘bodily memory’ and mirror neurons, and what this means for how dance acts on an audience.
In this episode in the Embodied Series, our guests discuss: what is the language in which dancers are communicating if not using words? Is it possible for a dancer to ‘transfer’ the emotional state they’re experiencing on stage to the audience? On what level does dance affect an audience; is it a bodily or a cognitive level?

Gut-punch – How dance works on an audience

Tanzmesse NRW 2018

See the full programme of performances and delegates from Ireland at this year’s Tanzmesse NRW.

Tanzmesse NRW 2018
Producer Toolkits

Producer Toolkits

In 2022, Dance Ireland Producer in Residence Gwen Van Spÿk with programmer Julie Kelliher, producer Michelle Cahill and creative producer Hillary Dziminski delivered 3 online Producing Toolkit workshops: Creating a Production Pack, Contracts & Contracting, and Marketing and Communications.