Dublin Dance Festival will burst back onto Dublin’s stages and streets 17th – 29th May with a stunning programme of boundary-breaking, energetic, and thought-provoking works from Africa, Brazil, Europe and Japan.
From cutting-edge contemporary and fierce flamenco to a collective African dance and works that challenge stereotypes with humour and empathy, this series of works from leading international artists will get you inspired and ready for more at this year’s festival.
Siguifin
Amala Dianor
Tues 17 & Wed 18 May, 7:30pm
Project Arts Centre
Tickets: €22 / €18
A constellation of talents from Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso will open DDF2022 as Siguifin, a collaboration between three choreographers under the direction of Amala Dianor, has its Irish premiere at Project Arts Centre. In Siguifin – which means “magical monster” in the Baramba language of Mali – nine young dancers revel in the vitality of a collective African dance that explores cultural contrasts, celebrates individuality and finds power in connection. As choreographer Naomi Fall (Mali) explores striking individuality, Ladji Koné (Burkina Faso) searches for connection and cohesion, and Alioune Diagne (Senegal) delves into the cultural contrasts between neighbouring countries, the ensemble creates powerful, pulsating magic through the collective.
Siguifin by Amala Dianor © Laurent Philippe
Encantado
Lia Rodrigues
Fri 20 & Sat 21 May, 7:30pm
Abbey Theatre
Tickets: €13 – €40
Extraordinary Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues will present her latest creation as part of DDF when Encantado comes to the Abbey Theatre. In Afro-American culture, an “encantado” is a magical being, believed to traverse the natural landscape creating sacred places. Performed by an ensemble of eleven dancers with rivers of bold fabrics and set to songs of the Guarani people that call to recognise endangered ancestral territories, Rodrigues’ hypnotic journey into a world of enchantment explores our connection to the earth. Created in the context of the current health and environmental crisis, Encantado invites audiences to return to a natural source of strength and rediscover the power of the collective.
Fallen From Heaven
Rocío Molina
Tues 24 & Wed 25 May, 7:30pm
Abbey Theatre
Tickets: €13 – €40
Boundary-breaking star of the flamenco world, the multiple award-winning Rocío Molina has been described as “punk and glorious” by The Independent. For DDF2022, she is bringing her radical celebration of womanhood Fallen From Heaven (Caída Del Cielo) to the Abbey stage. Performed to live music, this daring work transforms the traditional dance form into an explosive, theatrical experience as Molina cycles through multiple incarnations of the feminine archetype – from virtuous beauty to bondage-clad toreador to bloodied supernatural being, expertly fusing the fiery intensity of flamenco with a contemporary feminist aesthetic.
Fallen From Heaven by Rocío Molina © Simone Fratini
Graces
Sivlia Gribaudi
Fri 27 & Sat 28 May, 7:30pm
Project Arts Centre
Tickets: €22 / €18
Italian choreographer Silvia Gribaudi will bring her generous humour and radical empathy to the Project stage as she elevates ideas of human imperfections to an artform in Graces, going well beyond the expected or the cliché. Questioning gender stereotypes with wit, joy and tenderness, the three male performers together with Gribaudi search for new meanings of the word ‘grace.’ This work, inspired by mythology and The Three Graces – a sculpture representing Zeus’ daughters, was described by Movement Exposed as “an homage to the poetic powers of imperfection.” For more than a decade, Gribaudi has been questioning gender stereotypes and the concept of virtuosity in dance and daily life, blending the boundaries of dance, theatre and performing arts. In Graces, she reveals a vital and welcome core of humanity with warmth and lightness.
Any Attempt by Jan Martens & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
Any attempt will end in crush bodies and shattered bones
Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble
Fri 27 & Sat 28 May, 7:30pm
Abbey Theatre
Tickets: €13 – €40
“Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones” said Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019, in relation to the right to protest and demonstrate. Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble have taken his words as the title of their production addressing this all too timely theme. Their uplifting production embraces diverse voices and the strength of shared movement, with a seventeen-strong, atypical dance ensemble ranging in age from 17 – 70. Each individual seeks out their own voice to a soundtrack full of protest songs from different eras, with pieces from Henryk Górecki to Kae Tempest. The production – the third of the festival’s trio on the Abbey stage – is a celebration of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and the unique power that lies in being out of step.
Explore more and discover more exciting events in the DDF2020 Programme!
Book tickets at dublindancefestival.ie
