Uillinn Dance Season 2023
27 October to 5 November 2023
Welcome to our sixth Uillinn Dance Season. UDS23 offers audiences and performers an opportunity to experience and take part in a vibrant array of live performances, film screenings & discussions in a unique location.
Uillinn Dance Season is part of West Cork Arts Centre’s growing and ambitious contemporary dance programme which presents opportunities for dance research, classes and workshops, professional development, performance and project work with communities both onsite and off.
Recognising the challenges facing the development of dance in regional areas, we are working with a dance curator and artists to seek new and innovative ways of creating and presenting ambitious work, unique to our location.
Now in his third year curating the UDS, we welcome the insights and expertise of Luke Murphy, Contemporary dance is a broad field and for me the craft of programming is a dialogue with you about what’s happening in Ireland in contemporary dance, where the form is going and how the audiences and artists of west cork are an active ingredient in that development.- Luke Murphy, UDS23 Curator, 2023
You can view and download the programme pdf HERE
Easy read version of the Programme.
You can book tickets to all events by using this Eventbrite Collection link - https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/uillinn-dance-season-2023-2661399
Uillinn Dance Season 2023 Launch and Wine Reception
Friday 27 October | 7.30pm
Free event, no booking required
Come along to the launch of Uillinn Dance Season 2023, a cutting edge and dynamic programme of dance performance, film, workshops and discussions curated by award winning choreographer, Luke Murphy.
Unseen: A Multidisciplinary Performance by Croí Glan
Friday 27 October | 8.00pm - 9:15pm
Saturday 28 Oct | 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: €12 matinee or €15 evening
A multidisciplinary performance looking at invisible but vital parts of an ecosystem - from benevolent microscopic organisms, to hidden disabilities, and the invisible forces that change the course of lives. Performers: Tara Brandel and Stacey White.
The Dance: Film Screening and Discussion
Saturday 28 October | 12noon – 2:00pm
Tickets €10
The Dance (87 mins) is an observational feature documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins and Harvest Films that thrillingly documents the creation of the dance show Mám by Michael Keegan-Dolan. The screening is followed by a conversation between curator Luke Murphy and director Pat Collins.
Illusion of Loss - Bathroom Dreams - Bone Stone Dune: Online Screening and Discussion
Wednesday 1 November | 11.00am – 12.15pm
Free event, booking essential on Eventbrite, link above.
Croí Glan presents three short dance films (approx 40mins) by Artistic Director Tara Brandel, followed by a discussion with the artist. The films will also be presented in Gallery II from 28 October to 2 November.
Tara Brandel will be in conversation with Gavin Buckley in a special podcast release for Uillinn Dance Season exploring dance and the environment in the context of our changing climate. Check out social media #UDS23
Split Bill Performance
Wednesday 1 November | 8.00pm - 9.30pm
Tickets €15
Alienation, otherness and sweaty dancing. Let’s imagine a realm beyond the binary. Let’s be intimate and vulnerable together and imagine what the future could be. Don’t worry, I’ll be dancing, you’ll be engaging.
Choreography and Performance: Isabella Oberländer. Artistic Mentor: Lucy Suggate
You gotta trust the future is gonna be a bit sexy: NAF Dance
How to emotionally navigate the passing of time? A coming-of-age story, this dance and theatre piece is presented in the format of a black and white film, with influences from the worlds of cinema, literature and music.
Choreographer: Nóra Ní Anluain Fay. Performers: Nóra Ní Anluain Fay, Sorcha Murphy
Dance Masterclass
Thursday 2 November | 10.00am – 11.00am
€10 and free places for a limited number of dance students
Booking essential through Uillinn at 028 22090
Dance artist and choreographer Isabella Oberländer will lead a masterclass for dance artists and students.
TRIPLE SPIRAL: Film Screening and Discussion
Thursday 2 November | 8.30pm – 9.15pm
Tickets: €5
Composer Justin Grounds draws inspiration from Baroque into a contemporary context, the result is a vibrant work linking traditions of the past with the energy and vitality of the present day. Featuring Sarah Groser (viola da gamba), Yonit Kosovske (harpsichord), and Yumi Lee (contemporary dance).
DETACHED: An Interdisciplinary Performance by Elaine McCague
Friday 3 and Saturday 4 November | 6:30pm – 7:00pm
Friday 3 and Saturday 4 November | 8.00pm – 9:30pm
Tickets: €8 matinee or €10 evening
Each evening performance will be followed by a Drinks Reception and Audience Discussion
Combining film, installation, live aerial acrobatic dance and soundscape, DETACHED explores the complex relationship between personal identity and the impact of our surroundings and the concept of home on our sense of self.
Detached (9 min) by Elaine McCague is a collaboration with filmmaker and photographer Olga Kuzmenkowill be presented on loop in Gallery II from 3 to 5 November
Tempo Rubato | Alexandre Iseli
A Tipperary Dance Production
Sunday 5 November | 3:00pm - 3:40pm
Sunday 5 November | 8:00pm - 9:15pm
Tickets €12 matinee or €15 evening
At the heart of Tempo Rubato, a new dance trio made with a creative team from diverse backgrounds, is a slow pulse, a form of resistance, opposing the breakdown of a world that is witnessing the disruption of its biological, social and geopolitical paradigms.
Created by Alexandre Iseli in collaboration with choreographic collaborator: Polina Kremasta
Dancers: Robyn Byrne, Rocio Dominguez and Eleni Roberts Kazouri
The matinee performance will be followed by a discussion with choreographer Alexandre Iseli and curator Luke Murphy.
ADMISSION INFORMATION:
- Booking is essential for performances through Eventbrite. Please call 02822090 or email info@westcorkartscentre.com if you need assistance booking.
- No booking required and free entry to film screening and exhibition in galleries.
- Free participation in online events, booking required through Eventbrite.
- Take advantage of our UDS23 season ticket, which gives you priority seating to 5 events for just €60 - Booking essential on Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/uillinn-dance-season-2023-season-ticket-tickets-718583471507
- https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/uillinn-dance-season-2023-2661399 - book for one or all events using this link.
- For blogs related to Uillinn Dance Season Blogs
All events are live and indoors and are subject to government restrictions at the time.
For access information on where to find us, options for parking and supports SEE HERE visit
A word from the Curator
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to attend a forum for dance programmers, the intent was for young (which I apparently still qualified as!) and experienced programmers to come together and discuss the nature of programming. Over four days the group of fifteen saw thirty dance performances and spent twenty hours discussing the work, the contexts of our own locations and audiences and the considerations and needs of that area from an artists, audiences and stakeholders perspective. One of the main questions posed to the group was “What is the art of programming?” In turn each participant shared their answer, a kind of personal manifesto or philosophy on how to compose a journey of works and proposals for an audience or community. For me I found myself actually far more interested in the craft rather than the art. It's great to have a philosophy, we all have opinions and ideas but how are they manifested? How do you reconcile the purity of a philosophy against the practical restrictions of facilities, resources, timetables. To me the craft is where creativity really gets to sing. The craft is the doing. Much like making a dance work, the doing is always the interesting part.
In my third year at Uillinn I’m pleased to be focusing on range and balance. A balance of needs and range of approaches. A range of voices and a balance of experiences. The craft is in supporting and promoting artists local to the West Cork area, while introducing audiences to the work of artists from across the country. Offering access to the process and works of Ireland's most prominent artists alongside emerging voices. Contemporary dance is a broad field and for me the craft of programming is a dialogue with you about what’s happening in Ireland in contemporary dance, where the form is going and how the audiences and artists of west cork are an active ingredient in that development.
Our programme this year opens with a welcome return by longtime partner Croi Glan, live performances of Unseen are paired with a selection of films by the company running for numerous days in the upstairs gallery. I am very pleased to meet Pat Collins who will screen The Dance, a documentary exploring the creation process for Michael Keegan Dolan/Teac Damhsa’s acclaimed production Mam. The screening will be followed by a discussion. Later in the week we welcome our first mixed bill with shorter works by Limerick based- Isabella Oberlander and Nora Ni Anluain Fay. The mixed bill will be followed by Elaine McCague also presenting a mixture of live performance and film works. For the final presentation of the programme I’m thrilled to welcome Tipperary Dance and their ensemble work Tempo Rubato by Alexandre Iseli.
We look forward to a busy, exciting and diverse week of dance in West Cork and thanks as always for taking part.
- Luke Murphy, 2023
Uillinn Dance Season 2023 is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media's Night-Time Economy After Hours at the Museum Scheme.
The Contemporary Dance Programme at Uillinn is in partnership with Cork County Council and supported by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
Proud members of Dance Ireland.
We extend our gratitude to our Curator and Dance Artist in Residence, Luke Murphy, the artists, arts workers, funders and everybody involved in bringing you this live and exciting programme.
Design Credit: Robin Hannon
