DDF’s opening weekend continued in style on Saturday May 14 in the Courtyard at IMMA for Bumper 2 Bumper – the Festival’s headphone disco, presented in association with Phantom 105.2! DJs Claire Beck and Michelle Doherty were on the decks while the crowd put even our Festival artists to shame! Well, almost…

All photos by Studio Antanas Burokas.

Friday May 13 saw the opening of Dublin Dance Festival in the beautiful surroundings of IMMA! Stunning performances by Jodi Melnick and Yasuko Yokoshi were followed by a reception in the Chapel – take a look at the photos below.

The Chapel, IMMA

Dermot McLaughlin, chairman of the DDF board

Yasuko Yokoshi, Iseult Sheehy and Caroline Williams, DDF

Paul Johnson, Dance Ireland and Laurie Uprichard, DDF

Aideen McCole and Dermot McLaughlin, DDF

Sean Kissane, IMMA, Jodi Melnick and Burt Barr

With the Festival looming, on Wednesday it was high time to meet our team of volunteers! Some thirty wonderful people will join the DDF team to help at performances and events, and our meeting in the Resource Room in DanceHouse was a great chance to get to know them all and tell them what they’re in for over the next few weeks…

Ellie, Laurie and Kerry of DDF talking to the group

Ellie, Annette and Kerry of DDF talking to the group

All photos by Dave Soanes.

Here at Dublin Dance Festival we don’t want to have all the fun on our own – we want to share it with you! With this in mind, we’ve recruited two photo diarists – Al and Dave – to sneak you in behind the scenes and give you a glimpse of events leading up to and during the Festival.

Last Thursday (April 21) we joined forces with the Goethe Institute and the IFI for a preview screening of Wim Wenders’ Pina in 3D. The screening was followed by a conversation between DDF board member and former Tanztheater Wuppertal dancer Finola Cronin and the company’s current rehearsal director Barbara Kaufmann. Both the movie and the discussion were thoroughly enjoyable and insightful, and Al was on hand to capture a little of the evening:

L-R: Paul Johnson of Dance Ireland, Barbara Ebert of the Goethe Institute, Laurie Uprichard of DDF and Sarah Glennie of the IFI

L-R: Emmanuele D’Achon, French Ambassador, Hadrian Laroche of the French Embassy and Laurie Uprichard of DDF

Post-screening discussion with Finola Cronin (L) and Barbara Kaufmann of Tanztheater Wuppertal (R)

Laurie Uprichard of DDF enjoying the discussion!

All photos by Al Higgins. Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment!

Olwyn Lyons (third from left) with Raimund Hoghe and the cast of Young People, Old Voices. Barcelona, March 2011

Olwyn Lyons interned with DDF in 2010 and was also selected by Raimund Hoghe to join the cast of Young People, Old Voices, the centrepiece of the 2010 Festival, along with three other young Dubliners. She was recently invited to re-join the cast for two performances at the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona. Here are her thoughts on her involvement in the performance:

“My dream came true last weekend when I was invited by highly acclaimed German Choreographer, Raimund Hoghe to perform once again in his outstanding piece Young People, Old Voices in the beautiful historic city of Barcelona. This was my second encounter with Raimund as I was lucky enough to have been selected to perform in Young People, Old Voices, the centrepiece of last year’s Dublin Dance Festival. Imagine my excitement as I packed my bags and headed to Dublin airport. I felt a cocktail of emotions ranging from excitement to trepidation. My worries were quelled when I was warmly welcomed with genuine affection by Raimund. I became known as ‘Olwyn from Dublin’ for the next few days.

Over the course of four days in enchanting Barcelona I worked intensively with Raimund rehearsing  just ten minutes metro journey from Barcelona’s bustling city centre. I immersed myself in the relaxed Spanish lifestyle sampling paella on La Ramblas and ambling through the Old Town away from the busy tourist areas. The opening night performance was, as usual, an exciting, anxious event, which thankfully ran smoothly and was warmly received by the public – the audience demanded five encores!

Throughout the experience I felt an immense  sense of pride representing Ireland abroad as a dancer, amongst a cast with a varied array of nationalities including French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese and German. My performance was all the more memorable as after a nine years run of this wonderful show this was its final European performance. I am sure for Raimund it was a proud emotional experience. My Barcelona adventure unfortunately came to an end with a heart warming meal with Raimund and all cast members, enjoyed in the early hours of the morning in Plaza De Realia. This was definitely the perfect end to a stunning stay in Barcelona, between dance, good food and new found friends I could not have asked for anymore. The experience left me with a greater thirst for performing.”

Time Codes Dance Festival
25-27 October, 2010
Munich, Germany

AND

tanz_house Festival
28-29 October, 2010
Salzburg, Austria
Abigail Sebaly

Although the Oktoberfest hoopla dominates Munich’s reputation, the Time Codes Dance Festival showed a city that is also eager to embrace contemporary dance.  The festival’s opening night event was a multimedia happening coordinated by Richard Siegal (The Bakery).  The event took place at the Muffathalle, in what seemed to be a converted mill or turbine plant.  The ceilings were soaring and there was plenty of room for performers, audience, musicians, and even a bar.  Among the acts, there were men in traditional lederhosen dueling with a troupe of men in more contemporary garb, a group of women dancing with wine jugs balanced on their heads, hip hoppers, rollerskaters, singers, and projections flashing away on a scrim.  It was a movable feast, with the audience doing as much moving as the performers.

At the Gasteig, Raimund Hoghe presented a lecture demonstration on his work.  My interest in Hoghe was piqued after his choreography was featured as part of the 2010 DDF. Throughout the lecture, I was sorely wishing for instant German fluency (as I often wish that my brain had a meta translator, capable of recalibrating to wherever I am…).  But the movement sections were thought provoking.  At one point he demonstrated a segment wearing a dress and heels.  In another vignette, he transported glasses of milk around an empty stage.  His movements were both absorbing and mystifying; it was impossible to guess Hoghe’s next move.

At the Schwere Reiter, a new breed of Deja Donne performers presented Not Made for Flying.  I loved the Schwere Reiter performance space, with its whitewashed walls and high sloped roof.  A temporary seating bank was set up, and I sat in the first row.  Deja Donne founders Simone Sandroni and Lenka Flori worked with a group of Munich student dancers and Deja Donne dancers over a concentrated residency period to create the piece. Gravity and weight were common themes; through text and movement, the dancers mused how their movements would appear on planets with more or less gravity than Earth’s.  Although the cast was young, they had a mature presence.  I am excited to see what will come from Deja Donne next.

On the spur of the moment, I decided to hop over to Salzburg, which was also having a dance festival at the same time as Time Codes.  Salzburg is only about 2 hours from Munich via train, and you go through country that looks fit for a Ricola commercial.  Salzburg has a new performance complex, ARGEkultur Saal, at one end of the city.  The night I arrived at the tanz_house Festival, I went to a performance by Beda Percht and the Cataracts.  The piece was completely in German, and included a woman sewing a pillow with a sewing machine, a man reading from a German translation about explorer Ernest Shackleton’s explorations in Antarctica, and another women creating a map-like mandala out of stones.

On my second day in Salzburg, it snowed for the first time of the season. Amid the slush and intermittent whiteouts, I trekked up to the Capuchin monastery, which offered an expansive view of the city.  The monastery juts up against an extensive series of walking trails.  Because of the snow, these paths were mostly deserted, and I walked in the magical quiet until cold fingers and toes started to take over.

Thanks to the likes of Mozart, Salzburg is an eternally musical town, and it’s hard not to miss the many concert posters, people walking around with instrument cases, and the numerous music schools.  With a few hours to kill (read: needing a place to plop down!)  I wandered into a student solo clarinet concert at the Universitat Mozarteum, put on by kids who will no doubt one day be populating Europe’s most famous orchestras.

On my final evening in town, I saw Roberto Olivan‘s Bodhi Project perform a piece about female identity.

December Dance Festival
11-16 December, 2010
Brugge, Belgium
Abigail Sebaly

On the heels of the Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform, I headed directly from Sweden to Belgium (thank you again, Ryanair!) and stayed for a week of performances as part of the December Dance Festival.  Samme Raeymaekers, Artistic Coordinator for the Concertgebouw Brugge, explained that the festival is curated in an alternating fashion; one year a guest curator is chosen to select the festival’s content (past curators include Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker).  In alternate years, the festival highlights artists from a particular geographical region.  2010 was a regional year, with a focus on Central Europe.

The first piece that I saw was Within, by Milan Tomášik, who is also a member of the Les SlovaKs collective.  The lighting for the piece was particularly beautiful in the way it bordered and structured an otherwise empty stage.  Tomášik’s movements were thoughtful and I was drawn to his delicate hand gestures.  This piece was performed in what appeared to be a “pop up” black box space backstage of the Stadsschouwburg.  The towering height of backstage rafters added to the intensity of the piece.

That same night, Sasha Waltz & Guests were on the main stage at the Concertgebouw Brugge.  The set for the piece Impromptus consisted of two overlapping platforms, angled at such a steep rake that the dancers seemed liable to tumble at any minute.  At one point they covered themselves in richly colored powder, and then later got these pigments wet, creating runnels of deep browns, reds, and oranges which bled down the steep raked surface.  A pianist and singer provided a bonus of a live performance of Schubert’s Impromptus.

Les SlovaKs collective performed at the MaZ performance space in Sint Andres, just west of the city center.  It was nice to venture away from the crush of Brugge’s Christmas market visitors and check out this less mobbed part of town.  Les SlovaKs’ Journey Home left many audience members smiling.  In spite of their diverse physical proportions and movement styles, the five Les SlovaKs cast members seemed like brothers contributing to a common purpose. Simon Thierrée, a dynamic musician, sat on stage throughout the piece playing various instruments, and at one point he even joined in singing a Slovak song with the rest of the cast.

On my last night, I saw Josef Nadj‘s Cherry-Brandy, a dark piece that used Anton Chekov’s Swan Song, among other sources, as its inspiration.  The piece had an extensive array of props, projections, and bodies in silhouette.  At times, the performers began to resemble the 2-D black paper cutouts more than actual people.

Because the festival’s performances were mainly at night, I occupied my days with activities like going to an exhibition of Van Eyck and other old Dutch masters at the Groeninge Museum.  And of course things often turn to food in a region that is known for its chocolate, frites, and waffles, among many other yummies.  I went to a chocolate museum and saw a live demonstration of pralines being prepared.  Apparently the integrity of Belgian chocolate is so high because it uses only cocoa butter, whereas chocolate from other sources may use cheaper palm or vegetable oils (Hershey’s, be afraid…).

Brugge is lucky to have gems like the December Dance Festival, which make it a significant stop on the culture map.

Budapest Autumn Festival
October 8-13, 2010
Budapest, Hungary
Abigail Sebaly

In mid October, I headed out on my first journey under DDF’s auspices to the Budapest Autumn Festival.  Laurie’s eyes got particularly bright when she talked about her own travels to the city, so I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy the experience.

First, a bit of setting: I stayed in an apartment on the Pest side of the Danube (or the Duna, as it is referred to in Hungary).  Most of the Autumn Festival’s activities took place in various venues in this area of the city.  Many of the buildings in the Pest side of town are soaring with long windows, beautiful external detail work, and hidden courtyards.  At night, it was a treat to peer up at the windows, where there might be silhouetted figures smoking on ledges, or glimpses of high-ceilinged interiors.  Budapest also has one of the most efficient transport systems that I’ve ever experienced, so getting between festival events usually meant only a short walk to a tram or train.

Laurie connected me with several of the masterminds behind the festival, including Gergely Tello of the Workshop Foundation.  I first met Gergely and his wife after a screening of international dance film shorts, and he continued to be a generous and knowledgeable host (and translator!) throughout my stay.   After the film shorts screening, I also saw Louise Lecavalier and her company perform at TRAFÓ, a multidisciplinary arts center.  Lecavalier, formerly of La La La Human Steps, has formed her own ensemble in Montreal and is actively commissioning and performing new works.  She is an incredible force on stage.  After the show, I had the pleasure of meeting up with her other dancers and touring team over a meal of hearty Hungarian chicken soup.

The following night, I saw Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui‘s D’Avant at the Madách Színház.  The set for the evening-length work looked like a life-size version of the game Mousetrap, with all manner of scaffolding, ladders, ropes, poles and trap doors that give away.  When a harmony of acapella voices started to sing what sounded like Gregorian chants, I looked around for the musicians, but it was actually Larbi and his fellow performers.  They kept up the vocals throughout the whole work, once even giving Bonnie Tyler her due with a random rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”  I was moved by Larbi’s work, and the rest of the audience was too, as their applause fell into synchronous claps through many curtain calls.

My final show of the festival was also particularly memorable.  I started the evening with a shuttle bus ride to the Artus Contemporary Art Space on the Buda side of the river.  The Artus collective leases space in an old textile (?) factory.  There are two formal performance spaces, one of huge bowling alley-esque proportions and the other more modest and heated. But this performance occurred in the unrefurbished part of the building, a maze of concrete rooms, paint peeling, dusty, bare, and echoey.  At the outset of the show, we viewers were offered coats and blankets to ward off the cold, and then artist Cilla Nagy lead us on a site specific journey, inhabiting various rooms with short performance vignettes.  At one point she brought us into a low ceilinged room whose only light came from the blue flame of a gas heater.  The room was covered in dried leaves, which scratched and crunched and filled the room with a strong, earthy, autumnal smell.  It was both haunting and comforting as we stared into the blue-flamed darkness, and I felt very aware of the singularity of the moment.

Budapest in autumn glows.  I happened to hit a week that was still somewhat warm, so when I visited the famed Gellert thermal baths, I was still able to swim in one of the outdoor pools.  It felt a little surreal to be in a pool with leaves falling and autumn clearly in full swing.  Another meaningful experience was visiting the Kerepesi Cemetary near the main train station.  It’s a bit off the beaten path, but an ideal (and free!) place to get away from the city’s bustle.  Some of Hungary’s notable citizens are buried there, and walking around the many elaborate tombs and monuments was like visiting a sculpture garden.

Budapest has many festivals throughout the year, but the Budapest Autumn Festival captures the city at a particularly beautiful time.

A parting image:  Michael Jackson, immortalized in a life-size marzipan sculpture at the Szabo Marzipan Museum in Szentendre, not far from Budapest.

Barcelona, Spain
29-31 October, 2010
Abi Sebaly

While Laurie and other members of the DDF crew traveled to different corners of the world, I was given the opportunity to visit Barcelona to view The Room, an evening-length work by choreographer Thomas Noone.  My trip was graciously supported by both DDF and the Institut Ramon Llull.  The performance was held at the Teatro Mercat de les Flors, a theatre that is part of an impressive arts complex in the leafy Sants-Montjuïc neighbhorhood of the city.  The set design for The Room resembled a cell, or a raw holding space.  The floor was covered wall to wall with gray foam squares, which absorbed the dancers’ sock-footed steps.  This padding enabled the dancers to hurl themselves around with great abandon, yet it was as if someone had uncannily hit the mute button on the sounds of their bodies. Noone worked with a talented cast of dancers, and the piece was very engaging to watch.

Aside from seeing the performance, I did a fast paced museum blitz,  including the Fundació Joan Miro, where Swiss artist Pipilotti Risti had a temporary exhibition, Friendly Game-Electronic Feelings.  The exhibition allowed visitors to meander through different rooms and lay on floor cushions to observe ceiling and wall video projections (floor cushions seemed to be a recurring theme this trip!).  I also did a quick spin through Museu d’art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and took the train out to the Salvador Dalí Museum in Figueres.

Aside from the performance, some of my favorite moments were spent in quieter parts of the city, walking in the Jardins de Laribal and in the surrounding hills.  I watched little kids playing among olives that had just fallen from olive trees (wow, they really grow on trees and not in jars!) and passed through rows of lemon and orange trees.  After hiking around on some of the trails of the Tibidabo Mountain, I got an impressive view of the city, and the shining Mediterranean beyond.

Although the city is hard to cover in such a brief time, I am grateful to DDF and Thomas Noone for giving me an introduction.

ICE HOT: Nordic Dance Platform
Stockholm, Sweden
December 1-4, 2010
DDF Travellers: Abigail Sebaly and Tiina Ylonen

DDF was recently out in double force at the Nordic Dance  Platform, Ice Hot, a joint initiative coordinated by dance entities from Sweden, Finland, and Norway.  Both Tiina Ylonen and I (Abigail Sebaly) layered up for the bite of the Swedish winter and headed to Stockholm for 4 full days of performances and events.  When our plane arrived and we stepped on to Ryanair’s red carpet (aka the tarmac), the air was sharp and clean, and the snow underfoot was so cold that it squeaked.  Here I felt the environment snapping its fingers, imparting an alertness that would be carried over into the buzz of the platform’s events.

The platform kicked off at Dansens Hus, with a 3-hour performance curated by Charlotte Engelkes.  Engelkes invited a combination of over 40 notable dance, sound, and visual artists to realize a piece that morphed from pure movement to spoken word to people manipulating amplified Sleeping Beauty-style spinning wheels, and a thousand other tableaus.  It was a rare experience to see artists like Tom Caley (a former Merce Cunningham dancer, now co-founder of Scentrifug with Petter Jacobsson), Julie Atlas Muz (New York-based performance artist), and members of Sasha Waltz & Guests, among many others, all sharing the same stage!  It was miracle enough that everyone could coordinate their schedules, let alone create a performance together.

Shifting venues, on Stockholm’s island of Skeppsholmen, we climbed up a snowy path to the Moderna Dansteatern, where Finnish choreographer Sanna Myllylahti presented Closer to Heaven, a piece for 5 strong women who continually ran toward, and retreated from, the audience members in the theatre’s expansive space.

Back in the center of town, at the Stockholm Stadsteater, Oded Graf and Yossi Berg’s Animal Lost wove a dialogue of wry idiosyncratic statements like, “I am a Danish dentist. I earn a lot of money and I make a lot of mistakes” alongside inventive, gestural movements.  Humour and darkness were inextricable from each other as the dancers slipped animal masks on and off.  In Reich + Szyber’s Unknown Pleasures, one dancer offered a hilarious, scrupulously detailed narration of several Michael Jackson videos, complete with the moonwalk, that iconic diamond glove, slouch socks and loafers, and high pitched “Ow!” In Philippe Blanchard’s How About You?, a pair of strikingly similar brothers performed an intriguing piece which reflected two close bodies operating in separate but parallel worlds.

Each time we exited the theatre, we were plunged back into Stockholm’s pre-Christmas frenzy.  Christmas markets were in full swing all over the city (selling mulled wine, Swedish gingersnaps called pepparkakor, all manner of candies, hot waffles, Santas made with sheep’s wool beards, straw reindeer, etc).  Even though the sun set at an improbably early 3pm, many windows and entrances were lit with small lights and candles.

The Ice Hot platform was very well organized and it was exciting to see that the Nordic dance scene, even in the depths of winter, is far from in hibernation.   Sweden, I will be back!