Community, chaos and ritual will be celebrated with two weeks of daring and exhilarating dance at Dublin Dance Festival’s (DDF) 21st Edition, taking place May 13th – 24th. Thrilling new performances from Irish artists and leading choreographic voices from around the world will take centre stage, plus there’ll be more opportunities than ever for audiences to come together and to dance.
Opening this milestone edition in the magnificent setting of Bord Gáis Energy Theatre will be the highly anticipated debut performance from Luail – Ireland’s National Dance Company. Witness history in motion as Luail’s new ensemble of exceptional dancers take to the stage for the first time to perform Chora, a captivating triple bill that includes works by acclaimed choreographers Liz Roche, Mufutau Yusuf, and Maria Campos and Guy Nader. For this world premiere, Luail joins forces with the Irish Chamber Orchestra to create a seamless interplay between dance and live contemporary and baroque orchestral works, drawing on themes of home, memory and landscape.
Also returning to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre between May 20th – 24th as part of its 30th anniversary tour is Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake which took the dance theatre world by storm when it was first staged in 1995, becoming the longest running full-length dance classic in the West End and on Broadway. Best known for replacing the traditional female corps-de-ballet with an all-male ensemble, this is a thrilling, bold, witty and audacious reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece.
Ireland’s national theatre, the Abbey Theatre, will once again be home to three powerful and contrasting dance productions as part of Dublin Dance Festival.
Rooted in Irish folklore and her personal family history, visionary choreographer Oona Doherty returns to the Abbey Stage with Specky Clark, running May 14th-17th. An unflinching blend of fiction and biography where myth and reality overlap, Specky Clark traces the journey of Oona’s great-great-grandfather as he arrives in Belfast. With nine international dancers, accompanied by haunting music by Lankum, a powerful narrative unfolds through a series of theatrical images on Halloween night.
An electrifying spectacle that immerses audiences in Nigerian culture past and present, Re:INCARNATION by groundbreaking choreographer Qudus Onikeku comes to the Abbey Theatre with performances on May 20th and 21st. Set to a pulsating Afrobeats soundtrack infused with jazz, soul, funk, and traditional African rhythms, this exuberant performance channels the dynamic spirit of Lagos – its chaos and beauty. Ten dancers and two musicians embody the powerful and joyous narrative, paying tribute to Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage while celebrating how a new generation reimagines ancestral traditions to reveal new paths to the future.
Part crime-drama, part psychological thriller, Scorched Earth by DDF’s current Artist in Residence Luke Murphy unearths a haunting tale of ambition, land and legacy inspired by John B Keane’s The Field. On at the Abbey Theatre 23rd and 24th May, the creators of the multi-award-winning Volcano transport the audience into a stark interrogation room where a detective and suspect exhume the ghosts of a long-unsolved murder, piercing into a dark but fundamental element of the Irish psyche. With engrossing storytelling, striking visuals and visceral movement, Scorched Earth’s cast of Irish and international performers plunge us into a world of memory, ambition and resentment.
Project Arts Centre will host two critically acclaimed productions, and a vibey, neuro-inclusive club night that’s redefining the future of nightlife.
Trailblazing choreographer, Boris Charmatz brings his dreamlike yet powerfully physical solo SOMNOLE to DDF’s 21st Edition, with performances on May 15th and 16th. Accompanied only by the sound of his own whistling, Charmatz draws audiences into moments of intensity, calm and humour as he explores the tension between the mind’s longing for stillness and its restless motion.
Following five-star reviews and an award-winning run at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023, MOSH by Rachel Ní Bhraonáin will be at Project Arts Centre on May 23rd and 24th. Hurling itself into the heart-pounding chaos, the adrenaline rush, the raw connection, and the wild ritual of the pit, MOSH features incredible dancers, raucous dance, live music and interviews with real mosh pit devotees.
Making its Irish debut on May 21st at Project Arts Centre, Disco Neurotico will offer an eclectic selection of DJs and a dance floor that is a space of freedom and expression, alongside chilled sensory-friendly areas and creative experiences to explore. For those who find clubs overwhelming, claustrophobic or unpredictable, this is the future of nightlife, a safe, neuro-inclusive, more welcoming space – a place where we can all be ourselves.
Dónal Dineen presents a special edition of his renowned Backstory Dance along with the Dublin premiere of his short autobiographical documentary in Dance To Remember at The Sugar Club, on May 23rd. Celebrating music, dance and community, this screening will be accompanied by live set-dancing and accordion performances, followed by a special edition of Backstory Dance featuring special guest Ethiopian DJ, Hewan Mulugeta.
Younger audiences are in for a treat too with When the Moon Spun Round – a magical performance of captivating aerial dance, traditional music and storytelling from Ireland’s Fidget Feet & Ceol Connected, presented by Dublin Dance Festival and The Ark. With six performances at the Samuel Beckett Theatre between May 22nd-24th, this mesmerising production is for audiences aged 6+.
The 21st Edition is also an invitation to come together and dance, with a Hip Hop Jam offering cyphers and workshops at Project Arts Centre, post-show DJ sets at the Abbey Theatre and The Sugar Club, and masterclasses with festival artists in DanceHouse. DDF’s 21st Edition includes captioned, audio-described, signed and relaxed events to increase accessibility for audiences.
Explore it all and find out more at dublindancefestival.ie
