Ciseach: An Embodied Manifesto by Catherine Young Dance

Woman kneeling down holding a long stick or spear just above the ground

We are in shambles.

Ciseach is a pulsating contemporary incantation weaving dance, rhythm, live music and voice that seeks to rekindle our broken relationship with the land.

Pavilion Theatre

60 mins (no interval)

€25 full price / €23 conc.

Book Now

Thu 07 May 2026

When?

Thu 07 May

20:00

About

This stirring new work for six dancers and five musicians is an embodied manifesto – urging us to remember, to reconnect with our past, with nature and with each other. Gathering fragments of native wisdom, myths and kinships, Ciseach* looks to the body, and the collective, to weave together a new path toward solid ground.

Following works including Floating on a Dead Sea, A Call to You and State of Exception, Young once again takes on the urgent stories of our time, offering an experience that echoes long after the curtain falls.

* Ciseach (n.) shambles, mess; also a wattled walkway laid over a bog or soft ground to cross it.

Advisories

This performance contains sudden loud noises.

Credits

Director & Choreographer Catherine Young in collaboration with:
Dramaturg Hanna Slättne
Music Director Martin Schärer
Dance Collaborators Vanessa Guevara, Diarmuid Armstrong Mayock, Valentin Lemaitre, Emily Nicolaou, Simone O’Toole, Carmen Palacios Sáenz, (swing: Rocio Dominguez, 2024 performance: Nana-YAA Appiah)
Original Music created in collaboration Martin Schärer, Jess Kavanagh, Mícheál O’Dubhghaill, Fionn O’Neill, Jon Sanders (2026 tour: Seanan Brennan)
Set Design Sabine Dargent
Lighting Design Sarah Jane Shiels
Costume Design Cherie White
Sound & Sound Design Alan Kelly
Production Manager Jay Kavanagh
Chief LX Avram Rosewood
Stage Manager Eloise Hickey
Set Build Philip Dawson
Photographer/Videographer Pato Cassinoni
Graphic Design Clare Lynch Design
PR Kate Bowe Communications
Marketing Emer Casey
Producer Kristyn Fontanella
Executive Producer Mona Considine, Backstage Theatre

Funded by The Arts Council of Ireland’s Arts Touring Award with support from Backstage Theatre & Kerry County Council.

Trailer

Group of people stand in a group in natural coloured clothing staring with intense expressions

A dark stage with warm lighting illuminating the four dancers as they move

Two dancers carry a large piece of driftwood, one stooping forward, the other bending back

Six artists crouch down in a huddle against dark backdrop with warm lighting

"The Kerry-based choreographer has bushwhacked an individual route to create inclusive, socially engaged works that give voice to those on the margins of society."

The Irish Times (on Catherine Young)

Supported by