Dublin Dance Festival’s 2024 Edition presents a world of dance from 14th-25th May, showcasing thrilling, ground-breaking artistic voices that bring diverse identities, beliefs, histories, and perspectives. Dance that takes a stand, ditches convention and demands to be heard. It’s time to DANCE OUT LOUD.
The Lineup
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Asia’s leading contemporary dance company, the world-renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan is returning to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre to open the 2024 Dublin Dance Festival with the exquisite and fantastical world of 13 Tongues!
Hailed as ‘Extraordinary’ (The Guardian), ‘Sumptuous’ (The Financial Times), ‘Astoundingly good’ (The Times) and ‘Electrifying’ (The Washington Post), 13 Tongues promises to transport us to the vibrant streets of Taipei. With astounding control, fluidity and grace, the Cloud Gate dancers conjure a thrilling representation of the sights, sounds and vitality of Taipei’s oldest district, Bangka.
Beginning and ending with the sound of a single hand bell, the evocative musical score interweaves Taiwanese folk songs, Taoist chant, and electronica to bring us on a journey from the ancient to the contemporary. Amidst light projections of brilliant colours, shapes, and images, the dancers create an immersive and exhilarating representation of Bangka’s bustling street life, bridging generations of behaviours and beliefs. This sensational performance by one of the finest dance companies in the world is not to be missed.
CARCAÇA
The Abbey stage will be home to three powerful productions. Following sold-out and critically acclaimed performances throughout Europe, Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira comes to Ireland for the first time to present his hugely successful new production CARCAÇA. In this dynamic, joyful choreography, ten performers take street dance, hip hop battles, and club culture as their base to dismantle and then reclaim traditional European folk dances that have been frozen in time.
BLKDOG
As tradition and contemporary collide, they create a rebellious, colourful and vibrant exploration of identity. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2019, Botis Seva’s highly acclaimed BLKDOG is a beautifully brutal commentary on how the youth of today navigate a world not built for them. In this emotionally charged performance fuelled by the potent physicality of hip hop, BLKDOG questions how we can fight through our vices to find a sense of peace.
Night Dances
Acclaimed Irish choreographer Emma Martin presents her work on the Abbey stage for the first time with Night Dances, an ode to the body and a visceral, sweaty love letter to dance in all its forms from clubs to competitions to ceremonies. It unleashes the exhilaration of getting lost in your own rhythm where nothing else matters, just the sweat and the groove.
What’s on at the Project Arts Centre?
Impasse
Emerging choreographic talent Mufutau Yusuf (Ireland) premieres his highly anticipated new work, Impasse, a compelling exploration of ethnicity, identity, and the experience of the Black diaspora.
Cellule
Rooted in its historic anger, raw emotion and hard-hitting physicality, Krump is re-envisioned in Cellule, an explosive and captivating solo by French choreographer Nach.
My Body of Coming Forth by Day
Radical French choreographer, Olivier Dubois, hailed as one of the twenty-five best dancers in the world by Dance Europe Magazine, extends a rare and personal invitation to the audience to become co-creators of a wildly entertaining participatory performance, My Body of Coming Forth by Day.
Project Arts Centre will also be home to a celebration of hip hop culture and French Irish exchange DanceScapes, hosted by trailblazing French hip hop artists from Collectif FAIR-E, marking the first time that Breaking will be included in the Olympic Games (Paris 2024).
DanceScapes – Hip Hop Nights will be a chance to dance the night away with talented artists from France and Ireland, while the DanceScapes – Workshop will be a chance to dive into the dynamic world of hip hop, its iconic moves, and electrifying beats.
At The Ark, a whimsical space traveller invites children aged 6+ to embark on a galactic adventure and see the world around us with fresh eyes in the joyful, interactive dance show Cometa by Roser López Espinosa & Vorpommern tanzt an (Spain/Germany).
This is it | 8 dance portraits, an innovative series of short films at the Irish Film Institute, is a multifaceted exploration from Laura Murphy Dance (Ireland) of eight women in dance in Ireland. Inspired by Dublin’s canals and surrounds, Bench #3 is a new dance piece in a series of works from award-winning CoisCéim Dance Theatre (Ireland) to be performed on canal banks across the city. With free outdoor performances, Bench #3 is an invitation to take a breath and discover dance.
