Gig of the Week: Winter edition of Dublin Dance Festival

GIG OF THE WEEK

Dublin Dance Festival Winter 2021 Edition
November 2nd-27th; Dublin; dublindancefestival.ie
"Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished." This is what we're all endlessly repeating to ourselves as we stutter through this Beckettian pandemic. It's also the sole line from Beckett's Endgame used in a powerful dance piece by French choreographer Maguy Marin, one of the highlights of this winter edition of the Dublin Dance Festival. May B features an ensemble of lost souls, moving in unison but diverging in subtle ways. The performance received the blessing of Beckett himself, who allowed Marin to use the immortal line from Endgame; set to the music of Schubert and Gavin Bryars, May B promises to be a sparse but potent work (O'Reilly Theatre, Dublin; November 5th-7th; 7.30pm; €20/€25). Also making their long-awaited premieres in and around the city are Junk Ensemble's The Misunderstanding of Myrrha, a collaboration with acclaimed visual artist Alice Maher retelling the Greek myth of Myrrha, who was cursed to fall in love with her oul fella. (O'Reilly Theatre; November 2nd-3rd; 7.30pm; €18/€22). And there's a creative collision between Liz Roche Company and Crash Ensemble for the premiere of Demos, an ambitious new work exploring the very timely topic of togetherness and separation (O'Reilly Theatre; November 11th-13th; 7.30pm; €20/€25).

London Concertante: Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Candlelight
November 7th; St Patrick's Cathedral; 7pm; €29/€38/€45; stpatrickscathedral.ie 
Classical music buffs are delighted to be able to return to a live setting and hear a performance as it should be heard: right there in the room with all the musicians. But classical music newbies should also rejoice, as they finally have the chance to experience the power of live classical music for the first time. And when it's London Concertante delivering the goods, that makes it even more memorable. This ensemble is famous for drawing first-timers into its magical musical orbit – 50 per cent of attendees have never been to a classical concert before, and once they've experienced London Concertante's impressive virtuosity and infectious sense of humour, they'll be going back for more. Founded in 1991, the ensemble is regarded as one of the Europe's finest, and they've got a seriously mouthwatering programme in store at St Patrick's Cathedral, starting with Handel's Messiah Overture, continuing with Elgar's Serenade for Strings and Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor and climaxing with a vibrant reading of Viv's most famous work.

Tulca Festival of Visual Arts
November 5th-21st; Galway; tulca.ie
Don't be fooled by the title of this year's Tulca Festival of Visual Arts, "There's nothing here but flesh and bone, there's nothing more". With contributions from acclaimed artists, film-makers and poets from around the world, this year's Tulca festival will also feature "wet caresses, soft affection, immortal loves, necessary resistance, quiet rest, careful togetherness, boundless longing, abiding loss, honeyed scents, close correspondence, vocal exaltation, enduring solidarity, unexpected intimacies, ecstatic whispers and deep tenderness". Phew – that's a lot to take in over the next three weeks. The festival, taking place in multiple venues across Galway city and county, is curated by Irishman Eoin Dara, who is head of exhibitions at Dundee Contemporary Arts, and among the contributors are Sophia Al-Maria, Claire Biddles, Miriam de Búrca, Patrick Hough, Jasmine Johnson, Theodore Kerr, Mira Mattar, Mícheál McCann, Tonya McMullan and Amanda Rice.

Nutcracker Sweeties
November 5th-6th; Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim; balletireland.ie
As we head towards the holiday season, thoughts turn to all things sweet, as we start to put the Quality Street and Roses on our Christmas shopping lists. Ballet Ireland's new production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite promises to deliver a sugar rush to audiences as it starts an island-wide tour that takes in Derry, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Limerick, Galway, Ennis, Tralee and Dublin, right though until December 23rd. Choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple has created a new confection based on the festive classic, set in a Dublin department store where Ciara and her brother Fionn are shopping with their parents. They wander off and find themselves lost in a world of sweets and treats, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and encounter various other delights and delectables. The show is performed by a cast of world-class dancers, and you don't need a sweet tooth to enjoy this festive box of choreographed celebrations.

Rust assistant director admits gun Alec Baldwin shot was not thoroughly checked

---

Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal to play married couple in Foe

---

Pat Egan: ‘I’m not at the coalface anymore... and I wouldn’t want to be’

---

Camerata Ireland – Barry Douglas
November 4th; National Concert Hall main stage; 8pm; €20 (livestream €10); nch.ie
There's much to celebrate this month as the National Concert Hall once again opens up for performances – and no one will mind the rigmarole they'll have to go through to stay Covid-compliant. In a quickly filling-up programme of events, Camerata Ireland will be combining great Irish musicianship with great Irish composers, with a programme that includes Irish composer John Field and young Derry composer Seán Doherty, whose Clandeboye Overture will open the proceedings. Field's Nocturnes in E minor and E flat for piano and strings, arranged by Douglas, will be aired, along with works by two Russian composing giants, Shostakovich's Concerto for piano and trumpet, Op 35 featuring Northern Irish trumpeter Niall Keatley, and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C major, Op 48.

Aslan
November 1st; 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; 7pm; from €33.50; ticketmaster.ie
Dublin's favourite rockers return to the stage after a long enforced downtime, and the mood will be celebratory as Christy Dignam and the lads reconnect with their devoted live audience. Before the pandemic hit, Aslan were going good-oh for the band, with sold-out shows in the Iveagh Gardens, the Marquee in Cork and the Olympia (when it was still called that), and the vinyl release of their three most popular albums, Feel No Shame, Goodbye Charlie Moonhead and Made in Dublin. And Dignam's autobiography, My Crazy World, charting his struggles through addiction, his salvation through music and family, and his latterday struggles with ill-health, became one of the bestsellers of 2019. When they were planning their 2020 gigs – subsequently postponed – the band reached out to fans on social media to get them to choose the band's setlist, so you can expect the band to pull out some of their lesser-performed numbers along with the fan favourites including Crazy World, This Is and Too Late for Hallelujah.

The Coronas
November 1st-3rd; Black Box Theatre, Galway; 8pm; from €39.90; ticketmaster.ie
The Dublin band's name has often been confused with that of a well-known Mexican beer, but when the pandemic hit, they must have wished they'd chosen The Carlsbergs as their moniker. But now that live music is back on the agenda, The Coronas are shaking off that viral connotation and going back out on the road for their aptly named True Love Waited tour. The fans have waited patiently for the return of Danny O'Reilly and the lads, so you might find yourself left out if you don't snap up a ticket for one of their three Galway shows. They'll also be playing a sold-out show in the Ulster Hall in Belfast on December 9th, and four sold-out gigs in Dublin's 3Olympia from December 16th-19th. With their latest album True Love Waits hitting number one in August, their fans' loyalty has remained undiminished, and this is one corona that everyone will be glad to catch in concert once again. And let's remember, being named after a disease never did Anthrax any harm.