Pictured at the launch at the Mansion House on Sept 27th, of Dublin City Council’s Dublin’s Culture Connects: The National Neighbourhood are (l to r) Councillor Claire Byrne; Muirne Bloomer, CoisCéim Dance Company; Daron Smyth, Hugh Lane Gallery; Councillors Mary Freehill, Ruairi McGinley and Anne Feeney; with Barbara Dawson, director of the Hugh Lane Gallery; Philippa Donnellan, CoisCeim Dance Company; and Dodder Sea Scouts cub scout member Aayush Gajare (9).
Photo by Marc O’Sullivan.
ALIGHT!, an exciting new dance, art and performance project coordinated by Dublin-based dance company CoisCeim, is looking for creative involvement from community members in Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount and Pearse Street.
CoisCeim has already facilitated taster workshops in the area and November 21st saw a storytelling workshop in Pembroke Library, Angelsea Road, which encouraged local people to tell their own stories with a view to developing them into creative projects such as art and design projects, dramatisations, sound recordings and dance choreographies. More events are coming up and everyone is welcome to get involved.
Launched in September, the four-month Dublin City Council initiative will offer locals a chance to participate in a range of arts projects.
The programme will culminate in a week of performances and other events in late February 2017, which will see a specially commissioned ‘Number 1 bus’ connect local communities on a trip that will take participants on a journey of discovery through local neighbourhoods connecting with the Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Gallery, as well as to the sea, the river and the canal, and offer opportunities for participation along the route.
Riccy’s Youth Café; Sandymount Dodder Sea Scouts; Sandymount Tidy Towns; the Spellman Centre and Andrew’s Resource Centre along with visual artist James Ó hAodha will work with communities on a project that explores maritime signalling systems. Locals can get involved on an open basis and join in for the whole project or just enjoy individual events.
Muirne Bloomer of CoisCeim explained: “There are lots of ways to get involved: performance-dance, drama, storytelling and music are all a major feature of this project.
Depending on your interests, this project offers you the chance to create dance and ‘light choreography’, write songs, create dramas or perform in a series of specially created dance theatre performances that will take place along the number 1 bus route, stopping to perform at selected locations along the way, which will be mapped out with the help of our participants.
This part of the project begins this month [December] and culminates in a burst of performances throughout the last week of February. During this time, our bright and colourful bus will move audiences and performers throughout the neighbourhoods, and act as a performance backdrop, meeting place and stage.”
ALIGHT! Is part of Dublin’s Culture Connects, a citywide initiative that seeks to put culture at the heart of DCC’s corporate strategy for the first time. In a range of projects across the city, Culture Connects seeks to create connections between neighbourhoods, National Cultural Institutions, city libraries, artists, and city residents.
The initiative, which arose from a series of legacy projects developed from the Dublin 2020 Capital of Culture Bid, will develop new ways of working that acknowledge how culture can bring neighbourhoods together.
Speaking at the launch of Dublin’s Culture Connects at a special event in September at the Mansion House, Lord Mayor Brendan Carr commented: “I am delighted to see that all the work that went into our Capital of Culture bid is being rewarded. Thousands of Dubliners engaged with Dublin City Council over a number of months to suggest projects and programmes and The National Neighbourhood is just one of the great ideas to come out of the process. Culture is an important part in building neighbourhood spirit and it is an ambition of Dublin City Council to continue to give the opportunity for people to learn and participate in the arts in their neighbourhood in all parts of the city.”
CoisCeim’s Muirne Bloomer explained to NewsFour that the project is still in its early stages, but that things are starting to gather creative momentum: “Getting involved will give people the chance to get to know new people and have fun with the ones they already know. It will give people the chance to encounter neighbouring communities, to build skills, to express themselves creatively and to get the chance to work with a team of professional artists. A key thing is that the community members are contributing to the ideas and creative processes in every way, so it’s a great opportunity to have their artistic expression blossom,” she said.
Established or budding D4 artists and performers interested in getting involved should contact project manager Cleo Fagan at info@dublinscultureconnects.ie or check out: DublinsCultureConnects.ie
By Harry Bradley
