From large-scale productions and heartfelt solos to family performances and free outdoor installations, enjoy superb dance in all its forms in venues and spaces throughout the city at DDF 2023, from the 16th - 28th of May.
The Abbey Theatre will be home to three outstanding shows that foreground music from diverse genres:
Opening the 2023 Edition, The Köln Concert from celebrated American choreographer Trajal Harrell and Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble is a brave and tender celebration of genres, gender roles and personal triumph. Interpreting the most famous solo piano recording of all time, The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett, this elegantly subversive piece seeks to unite people with different world views, languages, identities, and beliefs.
Oona Doherty, one of Europe’s major choreographic talents, returns to DDF and the Abbey stage with Navy Blue, her most ambitious work to date. Featuring music from Sergeï Rachmaninoff and Jamie xx, this compelling new work, created by Doherty in collaboration with a cast of twelve exceptional dancers, explores crisis, redemption, and re-birth.
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LOVETRAIN2020 by Emanuel Gat Dance Company is an exuberant contemporary “musical” for 13 dancers, set to the hits of 80s duo Tears for Fears. Gat, one of the most renowned choreographers of his generation, returns to DDF with this feast for the senses, with sumptuous baroque-style costumes and dramatic lighting adding layers of texture and colour to his exhilarating celebration of connection, life and love.
At The Complex, acclaimed Irish choreographer Emma Martin presents KING | SHRINE, a ceremonial performance and installation work celebrating the end of the world as we know it and imagining a new beginning. In this dual work, KING is a performance created for dancer Mufutau Yusuf (Junior) and sound artist/ DJ, Mick Donohoe. SHRINE, the accompanying installation, evokes a grotto-like space through sculpture, light and sound.
Project Arts Centre will be home to five exceptional artists:
Award-winning Irish choreographer and current DDF Artist in Residence Luke Murphy premieres [The Prometheus Project]: The Archivist. Adapting the classic story of Prometheus, the god who gave fire to humans, and anticipating the moment when Zeus took it away, in this immersive piece we accompany the protagonist as they await Zeus’ inevitable retribution.
Best Regards from Italian dancer and choreographer Marco D’Agostin is a touching and clever tribute to his beloved mentor - Nigel Charnock, co-founder of DV8 Physical Theatre. In this heart-warming, energetic and highly entertaining one-man show, D’Agostin takes a light-hearted and original approach to tenderly consider grief, memory and the passage of time.
The Pretty Things from Compagnie Catherine Gaudet is a cathartic journey to liberation via repetition and revolt. In this critically acclaimed work for five dancers, the award-winning Canadian choreographer examines the false pretences of the show business apparatus and seeks out a space where desires can be reborn.
Yes and Yes from Liz Roche Company is an evocative contemporary response to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Featuring four exceptional dancers, this piece explores the sensuality, absurdity, release, and resignation of Joyce’s masterpiece through movement, film, sound and design.
Pan Pan presents the world premiere of The Sudden. Exploring everything in reverse, The Sudden starts with a closing night party. By all accounts, it hasn’t gone well. The cast of dancers use the audience to put together the final scene in an innovative experiment in live direction, authorship and choreography.
DDF continues to explore new formats to engage with our city. In free performances at Wood Quay Amphitheatre on Friday 26th & Saturday 27th May, Finnish choreographer Taneli Törma will present his meditative work ALIEN created with 9 local dancers. This large-scale, moving and living statue will create a striking tribute to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger - an outsider - an “other”.
DDF also presents some exciting new works and initiatives as part of the 2023 Edition:
The Race by Marc Brew at the Ark
In 2022, The Ark, Dublin Dance Festival and Arts & Disability Ireland joined forces to commission a new dance production for children, which would be created by a choreographer who identifies as an artist with a disability. Entitled the MOVE Commission, acclaimed international choreographer Marc Brew was invited to create this piece.
The MOVE Commission set out to create a dynamic new work for young audiences, bringing diverse voices and perspectives to the project, while stimulating and growing accessibility in dance-making practice in Ireland. The team, composed of Irish based and international collaborators, is delighted to now present the premiere of this new work - The Race.
The Race entwines three of Aesop’s Fables to create a fun, interactive and colourful world of animals, puppets, theatre and movement for children aged 4+. Cheer with the cast of animals as the Tortoise and the Hare set off for the finish line, join the Grasshopper in gazing with fascination as the Ants collect food for the winter ahead, and root for the little Mouse as she faces down the mighty Lion. Watch as their journeys unfold through beautiful movement and dance, and share in the lessons they learn along the way.
Presented by a cast of disabled and non-disabled dance artists, all performances will have integrated ISL and are also accessible without captions thanks to the show’s highly visual style. Audio description and touch tours will be available for every show but will require advance booking. Every performance is relaxed in nature, offering an inclusive audience experience that is welcoming to children who are neurodiverse.
Kindred by Liz Roche & Lightscape at ESB Head Office
Commissioned from Dublin Dance Festival by the ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund in partnership with Business to Arts, Kindred is an innovative digital dance installation exploring nature and human connection.
Dance and technology combine in Kindred, inspiring us to think about our relationship with nature, with ourselves, with one another, and with the planet. This immensely topical new digital dance work brings together one of Ireland’s most celebrated choreographers Liz Roche, in collaboration with the award-winning Lightscape, who use cutting edge technology to create spectacular experiences for audiences across the world. The resulting innovative public installation will be free and open to all to experience daily from 9am to 7pm, Friday 19th May – Sunday 28th May at ESB’s new sustainable headquarters on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Street.
Kindred explores elements of the natural world as we experience it; seeing nature as both existing independently of human activities, and as the nature we encounter within ourselves and within other people. Accompanied by a soundscape by Ray Harman, working with sound designer Brian Crosby, and filmed by José Miguel Jiménez, Kindred places the moving body at the centre of this exploration with evocative performances from dancers Finola Cronin, Mufutau Yusuf, Emily Terndrup and Amir Sabra.
Integrating emerging technology and a range of moving image techniques, Kindred will evoke multiple sensorial experiences of human nature and the elements. Video of the dancers will be interwoven with animations, appearing on LED screens in the ESB courtyard. This unique combination of movement, film, technology, design, and sound will create a dynamic and charged space in which audiences can connect with nature as an intense force.
Explore & Book Tickets at dublindancefestival.ie