DDF News — 19 Apr 2019
#FestivalFlashback - Opening Performance No. 13: Colin Dunne (2017)
One of the stars of DDF's 15th Edition, opened the 2017 Festival with a solo that set out to do what was widely considered the impossible - dance to the iconic album The Liffey Banks by vituoso traditional Irish fiddle player, Tommie Potts.
Leading traditional Irish dance artist, Colin Dunne opened the 2017 Dublin Dance Festival at Project Arts Centre with a creative, and in many ways controversial solo.
Tommie Potts' iconic 1972 album, The Liffey Banks, is renowned for its delicate, melancholic and playful qualities, but is also widely considered to be unsuitable for dancing to.
Dunne proved this sentiment wrong...
© Maurice Gunning
Collaborating with Sinéad Rushe, director of his Olivier Award nominated solo Out of Time; and acclaimed composer Mel Mercier,Dunne embodied the lonesome nature of the music, but with a unique style this is as evocative and idiosyncratic as Potts's own.
The setting was simple - sheets of flooring, an LP, tape recorder and a set of speakers - but the result was enchanting.
Rich rhythms and mesmerising interaction between movment and sound.
© Maurice Gunning
Renowned for pushing the boundaries of traditional Irish dance and creative exploration of sound, Dunne set the tone for the 2017 Festival with his opening performance and is back at the Festival this year with a highly anticipated collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Catch these artists on stage at the Abbey Theatre, along with composer Michael Gallen and musician Soumik Datta for Session.