A Time to Dance

It is a great pleasure to welcome the internationally acclaimed Coiscéim Dance Theatre to Wexford Opera House on Saturday February 13.

Until the opening of Wexford Opera House professional dance was rarely seen in Wexford, despite the emergence of Myriad Dance Co, now resident in the award-winning building. 

To celebrate 15 years of award-winning productions, CoisCéim Dance Theatre will open 2010 with a double bill of work – As You Are, directed by long-time CoisCéim dancer Muirne Bloomer who is making her CoisCéim directorial debut and *Faun, directed by CoisCéim artistic director, David Bolger.

Since 1995, CoisCéim has earned itself a considerable reputation for creating quirky and accessible dance theatre. The unique and contemporary approach of the company allows an articulation of stories and emotions relevant to the landscapes in which we live. In the past 15 years, CoisCéim has created 22 works for stage, 5 off-site/non-theatre based works and one dance feature film. The company has toured 17 shows around Ireland and 8 shows internationally to 9 countries. More than 150,000 people have seen a CoisCéim show or participated in one of its many dance classes, workshops or Broadreach programmes.

Reviewers all over Ireland have been raving about this particular production, which is beginning a national tour of Ireland at the end of January.  This is a great opportunity to experience some the best artistic entertainment that Ireland has to offer.  With tickets priced at €16/€12, it is the perfect time to try something new!  

On the back of this production is the National Dance Company of Wales, coming to Wexford March 6. Making their first visit to Wexford under their new name National Dance Company Wales, the award-winning company, also present a double bill from leading figures Itzik Galili and Andonis Foniadakis.

Full of pulse-raising energy, you will be drilled to your seats as the dancers surf the music in this physically exhilarating choreographic delight.    “atmospheric & striking” (Veil of Stars) The Guardian

*Note – CoisCeim’s production of ‘Faun’ contains nudity

Review – CoisCeim ‘Faun/As You Are’
Irish Independent – Wednesday, January 20, 2010

“DANCE is the poor relation in the family of popular culture:  classical ballet is seen s po-faced and elitist; modern dance is wilfully obscure.  That’s not reckoning with CoisCéim, though, the company whose mission seems to be to make dance as darn entertaining as possible.

In these two new short pieces, CosiCéim again attempts to drag the medium of dance, high-kicking and screaming, into the harsh glare of the mainstream.  And their dancers shine in the limelight: sexy, smart, assured, funny.

The first pieces, ‘As You Are’, choreographed by Muirne Bloomer, is a more artful version of what I would do had I a supple limb in my body and an eye for arranging other peoples: she pours her dancers into sci-fi style catsuits, and has them kick and chop and ka-pow at each other, super-hero style.

In the background, though, Robert Jackson’s naked contortions suggest a more trouble reality lurking underneath the futuristic fantasy.

In the second piece, ‘Faun’, CoisCéim’s artistic director, David Bolger, gives us a reflection on the groundbreaking, controversial ballet of 1912, Nijinmsky’s  ‘L’Apres Midi d’un Faun’, which culminated with the Faun apparently copulating with a Nymphs’ scarf, to outrage in the stalls and salons of Paris.

Mixing something of the deadpan performance style of Pan Pan with echoes of ballet, classical and modern, plenty of comic touches, and a soundtrack stretching from Debussy to Queen, this is flagrantly entertaining dance, with a  sensual streak.

‘I Want to Break Free’, sings Freddy Mercury, and that is precisely what I want to do: go down and join them.  The sound design, by Ivan Birthistle and Vincent Doherty, is absolutely integral, and the dance is strikingly framed by Maree Kearns’s set, effectively lit by Lucy Carter.”

-    Colin Murphy – Irish Independent

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A Double Bill
As You Are / Faun
February 13 | WEXFORD OPERA HOUSE | 8pm
€16/12 | Purchase online

Directed by Muirne Bloomer and David Bolger
Lighting by Lucy Carter  | Costumes by Paul Shriek  |Sound by Ivan Birthistle and Vincent Doherty

Cast: James Hosty, Robert Jackson, Eddie Kay, Megan Kennedy, Lisa McLoughlin and Emma O'Kane

David Bolger
David Bolger is the Artistic Director and founder of CoisCéim Dance Theatre.  He has created over 20 works for stages around the world and regularly works in theatre and opera both in Ireland and internationally. He also wrote a dance feature film HIT & RUN and has created and directed large-scale spectacles for wider cultural events such as the Ryder Cup (2006) and the Special Olympics (2003) when they were held in Dublin. His work has been seen on Broadway and in the West End.

Muirne Bloomer
Muirne Bloomer has performed with Dublin City Ballet, Vienna Ballet Theatre, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Ireland and Coisceim Dance Theatre. Her choreographic work includes: Dancing at Lughnasa (Gate Theatre, An Ghrianan and Bucharest National Theatre), Dandy Dolls (Peacock), The Tempest, A Doll's House, Drama at Inis, Cavalcaders (The Abbey), Wallflowering, Hue and Cry (TallTales Theatre Company).  She has also worked extensively on large scale community projects and directed the Macnas/Galway Arts Festival Parade in 2004 and 2005. She directed The Brighter Futures Pageant in 2005 and 2006 for the St. Patrick's Festival Parade and choreographed the opening ceremony for Special Olympics Ireland in Belfast (2006).
 

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