Knothead
Uillinn Dance Season 2026

Knothead | Elaine Mc Cague | detached.collab

Wednesday 11 November at 7:30pm | 25min | over 12 | WARNING: noise and strobe light

Tickets available to purchase here.

Knothead is an ongoing research project exploring the shifting relationship between body and material through a counterweight hair practice. Using the strength of the hair as a point of suspension, the body becomes both an anchor and a moving counterweight, supporting, lifting and negotiating the weight of other objects and materials. Through this counterbalance, the body is itself suspended and displaced in ways that would not otherwise be physically possible, creating new relationships between weight, gravity, trust and control.

Through experimentation with aerial rope, movement and installation, the work investigates risk not as spectacle but as a lived, embodied condition. This phase of research focuses on developing new physical languages, allowing material to lead the choreography and uncovering how presence, tension, resistance and balance can become both the subject and the structure of the work.

PRESS

Raven Eyed: “another unique theatrical half world, mesmerising and atmospheric, allusive and seductive” ☆☆☆☆☆ The Irish Times

Behind the Dark: “The festival’s first unmissable moment” ☆☆☆☆☆ The Irish Times

CREDITS

Artist/ performer: Elaine Mc Cague

Artistic eye: Mairéad Vaughan

BIOGRAPHY

Elaine Mc Cague is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the expressive potential of the contemporary circus body beyond its traditional forms. Her work bends the boundaries between physical performance, visual design, film and sound, creating site-responsive works that challenge genre and convention.

Since 2014, Elaine has been creating ambitious, interdisciplinary performance work, most recently through her rural Ireland-based platform Detached.collab, where she develops collaborative projects that bring together circus, movement, installation and visual arts. Drawing from a diverse background in film, writing, production and extensive training in contemporary circus, her work creates immersive experiences that resonate with both arts audiences and the wider public.

Elaine was selected as a finalist for the 2027 Circusnext European Platform, recognising her distinctive artistic voice as a contemporary circus author. Since relocating to West Cork in 2020, she has continued to collaborate with local artists and communities, including her role within the creative team behind the annual Jazz Funeral Parade for the Ballydehob Jazz Festival.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Supported by Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, The Arts Council and Cork County Council.