Martin O Donoghue 2026
Rince féilire Ceilteacha

Martin O Donoghue 2026

Rince féilire Ceilteacha

31 August to 4 September 2026

Rincí féilire Ceilteacha – Celtic Calendar Céilí” reimagines the ancient ritual calendar as a living dance cycle, creating six new communal dances that invite people in West Cork to move together through the year’s turning – from Imbolc’s awakening to Samhain’s darkness and the winter solstice’s fragile renewal of light.

I wish to develop the choreography and music required for an immerse social dance project, oriented around 6 key dates of the Celtic calendar. Using ritual, rhythm and movement to encourage people of all ages and abilities to dance ecstatically together. The project’s focus is on blending traditional music, ritual structures and contemporary participatory choreography.

For the last two years I have worked on a dance project called the Solstice Céilí for Cork Midsummer festival. To date more than 500 people have participated, learning new dances related to the Summer Solstice festivals origin in the Bronze age through to contemporary celebrations.

I define myself as a ludic artist, using playfulness, dance, music and props to create immersive events that bring people together to experience the shared ecstasy that moving together in time to music can evoke.

I work in a participatory manner, collaborating with other artists and inviting the attendees to become an integral part of the work.

I look forward to workshopping some of the new dance movements with members of the public during my residency at Uillinn. I will invite people in to learn the sequences created and together we will evolve how they are combined into the shape of the final dance(s).

As Uillinn has access to a large community of people interested in dance, I hope this partnership will enable the project resonate with a portion of this audience.

I have been working part time as an emerging artist since 2021. Previous to this I was the Business Development Manager in Cork Opera House and I have also worked freelance as a creative producer for festivals including, Sounds From a Safe Harbour, which I helped set up.
I have received commissions from IMMA, Body&Soul, Cork Mid-Summer Festival, Skibbereen Arts Festival and Cork City Council.