Moving and shaking in Manhattan

ArtScape:Where have all the arts folk gone? If it seems like an exodus, it is (and with the hope of many more in the future), writes Deirdre Falvey.

The largest Irish delegation of arts and culture movers and shakers is heading to New York for APAP - the 51st Conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, from January 11th to 15th.

Over 40 people from 30 of Ireland's leading theatre, dance and music companies are part of a Culture Ireland delegation on its first performing arts promotional mission to the US.

A sort of gigantic arts trade fair, complemented by hundreds of theatre, dance and music showcases across Manhattan, APAP is the key arts market for securing US performance opportunities for international theatre, dance and music.

Irish arts organisations have gone to APAP before, sometimes with the Irish Theatre Institute (two delegates from which will be in New York this month and are working closely with Culture Ireland on this project), but this is the largest and most focused - and best financed - delegation so far, and it hopes to capitalise on Ireland's growing artistic international successes. The delegation is backed up by promotional brochures for each art form, with details of specific shows available for touring, plus showcase performances by Gare St Lazare Players, and three trad bands, Dervish, Danú and Lúnasa.

And it's not bad timing for an Irish arts vibe in the Big Apple: the Abbey's production of Mark O'Rowe's Terminus opened this week at New York Public Theater's prestigious Under the Radar Festival, and Conor McPherson's The Seafarer has been getting rave reviews on Broadway.

Culture Ireland chief executive Eugene Downes sees it as a great opportunity: "Some outstanding work is being produced, and artists and companies are now thinking and working in a global context. Securing tours to major US venues is hugely important for Irish artists in building their international reputation and career prospects."

It's a wide-ranging and high-profile group heading to New York, with trad particularly well represented, by Slide, Téada, At First Light, Beoga, Gráda, Líadan, Lúnasa, Danú and Dervish. Theatre delegates include the Abbey, Rough Magic, Druid, Fishamble, Pan Pan, Corn Exchange and Gare St Lazare, while in dance Coiscéim, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Rex Levitates, Daghdha, Dublin Dance Festival, and Dance Ireland are represented. Also in New York will be the Contemporary Music Centre, Irish Chamber Orchestra, National Chamber Choir, Crash Ensemble, Improvised Music Company and RTÉ Performing Groups.

APAD offers this cross-section of Irish arts organisations a chance to network and establish relationships with key US bookers, festival directors and venue managers, as well as international "rainmakers" - key influencers in the arts world.

Many of the companies have high quality, proven productions that are ready to set up and tour internationally, and so hope to initiate or make deals at APAP.

Downes points out that other state agencies such as the IDA, Tourism Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, have extensive networks in the US, and have done well promoting Ireland - he sees Culture Ireland as building on that, emphasising the high quality, contemporary creative work that is being made here, and making waves internationally.

Pat Murray's helping hand

Leading the way in a series of recent announcements from the Everyman Palace Theatre is news of the Pat Murray Bursary, created in memory of the work and influence of the theatre designer who died almost exactly a year ago in Cork, writes Mary Leland. Intended to facilitate a young theatre artist - be it set, costume or lighting designer, actor or dancer - in the furthering of a professional career in drama, the bursary was introduced by Everyman's artistic director Pat Talbot at the gala memorial concert at the theatre before Christmas.

Worth €14,000 for its inaugural year, it is sponsored by Thomas Crosbie Holdings, Cork City Council and the theatre itself, and advertisements for submissions will appear this month.

Whether or not this will continue as the intended three-year support system depends on the ability of the city council to pledge funds in advance, but the fact that Murray was so regularly commissioned by City Hall, together with the council's own commitment to honouring talent and achievement in Cork, suggests a positive approach by the city's arts committee.

Another development at the Everyman Palace is the appointment of Eimear O'Herlihy as general manager, replacing Ciara Ní Shúilleabháin, who has gone to Mary Immaculate College in Limerick as marketing and PR officer. Manager of the Corona Cork Film Festival for the past five years, Eimear O'Herlihy has also served on the panel for European Co-Ordination of Film Festivals, and her career in arts management began with the National Sculpture Factory before she moved on to work with the Mercier Press. She takes up her new position immediately.

Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre has two nominations for this month's ninth Critics' Circle National Dance Awards in the UK. Michael Keegan-Dolan is nominated for Best Choreography (Modern) for The Bull, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre at the Barbican (other nominees are Javier De Frutos for Los Picadores and Paseillo, Phoenix Dance Theatre; and Mark Morris for Mozart Dances, Mark Morris Dance Group at the Barbican).

Colin Dunne is nominated for the Spotlight Award, Male Artist (Modern) for performances with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre (other nominees are Dane Hurst, Rambert Dance Company; and Ash Mukherjee, Srishti).

The awards were established by the Critics' Circle in 2000 to highlight the range of dance in the UK, and the ceremony venue alternates between the Royal Opera House and Sadler's Wells. This year, it takes place on January 22nd in London's Royal Opera House.

Buí Bolg's artistic director Colm Lowney this week left for Singapore to deliver masterclasses in the street theatre company's brand of puppetry at the Chingay Parade of Dreams, which celebrates the Chinese New Year. Lowney's masterclasses over the week are with the Carnival Artists of Chingay - who make the huge paper illuminated floats for Singapore's Chingay parade and choreograph hundreds of people in the most complex routines. Lowney will be showing them techniques he has evolved with Buí Bolg in prop and puppet construction, in a collaboration supported by the Arts Council and the People's Association of Singapore.

The Chingay parade, on February 15th and 16th, is the largest Chinese New Year parade in Asia, with an audience of one million on the streets and more than 20 million on TV. Buí Bolg has been involved with Chingay since 2006 - though the multicultural melting pot that is Singapore has been celebrating Chinese New Year in this way since 1880. The word Chingay was coined from its phonetic Hokkien equivalent, which means "the art of costume and masquerade". See www.chingay.org.sg/ 2008/about_chingay/ index.asp.

Arts Council chairwoman Olive Braiden this week pledged to continue to push for choreographers to be included in the tax exemption. At the jolly first-birthday celebrations at DanceHouse, Braiden said the Arts Council "will continue to strongly support the case that choreographers should become eligible for the Artists' Tax Exemption on the same basis as other creative artists.

I know that this is a case that has been listened to with a genuinely listening ear by ministers and officials, as well as Oireachtas committees in the past. And I know too that every single year there are competing priorities for inclusion in the Finance Bill. But as anyone in this room can tell, the number of choreographers who are in the happy position to enjoy a taxable income from their choreography are few.

The income foregone to the State would be negligible and the resulting, if occasional, financial boost to talented people that Ireland is lucky to have would be significant for them. "Most especially the Artists' Tax Exemption is conspicuous in being an isolated remaining example, where dance still does not enjoy parity of esteem with other art forms."