tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37939882259893014382011-07-08T07:25:54.344+01:00Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.comBlogger1721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-45401700823196738182010-08-04T23:15:00.005+01:002010-08-04T23:33:48.642+01:00

My new website has just gone live. You can find it at www.fearghus.netThis blog has been a important way for me to share my work with people and for that reason, the new website is still built around the blog. However, it means that the blog won't exist here on blogger anymore. So if you want to stay in touch with my work, please join me at www.fearghus.netMeanwhile, thanks to blogger for

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-75848452892886744032010-07-14T13:26:00.007+01:002010-07-19T09:22:18.848+01:00

I’ve just finished a project with five second year BA students at London Contemporary Dance School. I’ve been encouraging/facilitating/mentoring them to think about context when they are developing their choreography. In particular, I’ve focused their attention on Kings Cross, where the school is based, and which is the biggest city centre regeneration project in Europe at the moment. Mostly

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-26145230959785048502010-06-04T18:25:00.004+01:002010-06-04T19:47:42.029+01:00

Because Matthew was coming to do Match with me, and since Stéphane was already in Shanghai with his Australian partner, I offered Culture Ireland and the Pavilion that we could do some of the Niche material as an additional performance. Of course it wouldn't really be Niche without Mikel and Bernadette but I hoped the material would survive its being juxtaposed with the strange Expo environment.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-1196477359109646532010-06-03T07:54:00.008+01:002010-06-04T18:25:35.135+01:00

It was sad to say goodbye to Xiao Ke, He Long and Feng Hao at the end of our series of Dialogue performances in Shanghai. The challenges we faced cemented our relationship and made the piece stronger. But I did have the consolation of familiarity: Matthew and Stéphane were around for me second week in Shanghai so that we could perform Match and some of the Niche material at the Irish Pavilion at

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-34330973177848148092010-05-28T16:20:00.005+01:002010-05-28T17:00:08.127+01:00

Downstream Garage is an important venue for what we would call fringe performance in Shanghai. It is a place where young artists can meet, rehearse and perform, all free of charge since no tickets can be sold as the venue has no performance licence. I visited it on my first trip to China and helped then to buy a dance floor for the venue. It was good to be able to dance on that floor last week

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-59234999713658340282010-05-28T15:10:00.005+01:002010-05-28T15:47:39.578+01:00

We were looking forward to performing in the Ke Arts Center as part of the Shanghai Repertory Theatre’s International Spring Festival. Our producer, Zhang Yuan, got us a slot in the festival and I was very happy as it gave us a context for our performance and a potential audience. The Ke Center is a well established space, originally for visual art but increasingly for performance and the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-10030609874904619532010-05-28T02:37:00.005+01:002010-05-28T03:06:54.780+01:00

Performing at the Irish Pavilion in the Expo wasn’t easy. I think Xiao Ke, Feng Hao and He Long felt a little weird in the Expo environment as they felt it to be a manifestation of the Chinese government and its desire to present an image of harmony and success to the world. The Disney-style parade that passes through the Expo each day sings over and over the message ‘One World’, but my Chinese

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-51253286063752134252010-05-25T15:32:00.004+01:002010-05-25T15:40:57.103+01:00

Until I upload my own copy to Youtube or Facebook here's a link to RTÉ's Dance on the Box website where all the dance films are available to view.http://www.rte.ie/danceonthebox/films.htmlIt is amusing to reflect that my duet on the pitch at Croke Park provoked more public discussion than this solo dance in a church. Croke Park is clearly the holier ground these days.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-4019821515472829812010-05-18T16:10:00.006+01:002010-05-18T16:48:57.442+01:00

Last night, RTÉ screened my second Dance on the Box commission called Mo mhórchoir féin. I made the film while we were rehearsing for the Open Niche project and that is one of the reasons that I haven’t written about it until now. Because RTÉ was going to premiere the films, I also felt I had to keep it under wraps but also something about their protective sensitivity around the film made me

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-63950749941306635292010-05-16T15:30:00.004+01:002010-05-16T16:08:35.334+01:00

Three weeks in Beijing have passed quickly and tomorrow I leave for Shanghai and the whole Expo experience. As always, being in China has taught me a lot about myself, my habits and preconceptions, nowhere more so than in relation to traffic and travel.I spent the first week waiting for Platform China whose studio that I’m staying to provide the promised bicycle and in the meantime took a lot of

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-24836098400168996052010-05-04T04:16:00.007+01:002010-05-04T04:53:46.059+01:00

I've been in Beijing over a week now. I'm staying in Caochangdi, an artists' village beyond the famous 798 art district but not quite as far as Beigao where I stayed last year. I'm living in a studio that belongs to the Platform China gallery, one of the many galleries in the village. The whole place, however, is under threat of demolition by Government-sanctioned developers despite its

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-41474280122616162842010-04-29T04:29:00.006+01:002010-04-29T05:51:54.195+01:00

After the visa and volcano induced panic that preceded my arrival to Shanghai, it was reassuring to realise that I don't feel as anxious about arriving in China as I have in the past. I know what to expect though this may be a dangerous misconception in a culture where so much is still impenetrably incomprehensible to me. At least I'm getting a sense of how much I don't know.I've begun to

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-13167918624775953112010-04-21T07:59:00.002+01:002010-04-21T08:08:53.260+01:00

I'm hoping to leave for Shanghai today, volcano permitting. Problems with visas and flights made it seem as if I might not be able to go, but everything is back on track now. I'm performing during May, primarily in the Irish Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo but also in the Ke Center for Contemporary Arts and at the Downstream Garage in Shanghai centre. I'll spend three weeks in Beijing prior

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-17206721357121695242010-04-17T16:05:00.003+01:002010-04-17T16:27:55.390+01:00

Saidhbh at Feenish has uploaded Sweetspot to Vimeo and though it may appear out of synch with my Open Niche, Mo mhórchoir féin and Shanghai EXPO preoccupations, there are lots of reasons why it's appropriate to reconnect with Sweetspot.First of all, the out-of -synchness of this post reminds me that my work doesn't develop in a linear way (a useful note as I contemplate building a website whose

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-89796895618120157982010-04-15T18:26:00.006+01:002010-04-17T16:36:20.397+01:00

We finished Open Niche in Cork just before Easter and since then I’ve had a chance to go on holiday and stand down my brain from the state of high alert it needed to be in through March with its tour, its film-making and its preparations for performing in Shanghai next month. Open Niche was deliberately demanding for me and for the team: we weren’t just fitting the existing Niche performance

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-47567908027691625882010-03-25T23:40:00.008Z2010-06-21T20:29:20.663+01:00

Arriving in the beautiful Daghdha space on Monday I was daunted by the amount and variety of participants that I needed to bring together to make the piece work. Six dancers from the MA programme in UL with whom I'd already made a short piece, Lucy Suggate who contributed the demented but fiercely precise energy of her Latin Beach, Ed Schouten's focused duet for Isa and Yesse, and the trio of

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-88181399076799224402010-03-24T00:16:00.004Z2010-03-25T23:40:20.803Z

We opened Niche at Pavilion with the dancers from Dublin Youth Dance Company crossing the space from auditorium to stage to join us during the performance. The ease with which they entered and left the playing space, moving from watching to doing to watching again helped to underline the sense that the dancers are not in a separate world but that we all share the same space, are citizens of the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-2477062882819003952010-03-17T22:50:00.002Z2010-03-18T10:33:58.732Z

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-79014822166706348172010-03-14T20:31:00.003Z2010-03-14T20:51:43.272Z

Matthew, Mikel, Stéphane and Bernadette have gathered again in the wonderful studio 4 in Dancehouse and Niche is being transformed in to Open Niche. We were joined this week by dancers from the core professional company of Siamsa Tíre, The National Folk Theatre. I was expecting that Anne, Adrienne and Jo would come but unfortunately injury prevented Jo from taking part so the material we had

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-78815684298668102010-02-23T20:53:00.005Z2010-02-23T21:35:19.070Z

I've started rehearsing a solo for Mo mhórchoir féin, the film I'm making with Dearbhla Walsh for the Dance on the Box commission. The title is from the Confiteor, the part of the Catholic mass where the congregation confesses 'to Almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I've done and what I've failed to do.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-33665763376687157442010-02-19T12:37:00.002Z2010-02-19T12:53:44.608Z

Talking Heads is a an exhibition of work at the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art The information that they sent out to publicise the event connected to the thoughts that my residency with Roberta Lima prompted. It is also relevant as I begin preparations for making a new film with Dearbhla Walsh for the RTÉ/The Arts Council Dance on the Box series. Taking its title from the filmic convention

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-51129538732122835962010-02-14T00:07:00.005Z2010-02-14T21:41:40.489Z

I've spent the past week in the studios at the University of Limerick working with the MA students on a piece of material, some of which will be included in the Limerick performance of Open Niche. The MA students are Karen, Katrin, Kasia , Patric, Lisa and Erika, a diverse group that is notably bonded. They dance together, eat together, travel around campus together. That cohesion was

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-39198635082610139112010-02-11T20:50:00.006Z2010-02-13T23:58:40.025Z

Until the end of April, my time and creative energy will mostly (though not exclusively, thanks to a successful Dance on the Box application of which more quite soon) be consumed by Open Niche. After I made Niche in 2008, I knew I wanted to continue the life of the piece and to share it with different venues around the country, but it didn't feel right that a piece made in response to a

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-40586306976123657572010-01-31T21:24:00.002Z2010-01-31T21:32:12.883Z

It's nice to be reminded of what we achieved with Pick'n'Mix:The Dance Selection; and it's useful encouragement to get on with the next incarnation. Maybe it will be in a library on Walthamstow's High Street?

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-17135640250144047602010-01-29T19:41:00.004Z2010-02-04T09:26:21.711Z

I flew directly from New York to Limerick to start a two-week residency at the Daghdha Dance Company. I applied for the residency so that I could work with the video artist Roberta Lima whom I met in Beijing during our residencies at the RedGate Gallery. The video work that she made there with my help has already been shown in an exhibition in Tirol. Coming from a practice which had involved

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-31589223152011754612010-01-16T14:01:00.004Z2010-02-10T20:52:16.992Z

On a snowy Friday morning, we met with the Culture Ireland team and a New York press photographer to take pictures of Niche on Brooklyn Bridge. We recreated the original poster image and variations of it that included Bernadette with the iconic bridge in the background and a fortuitous construction worker in high-vis vest passing through the shot.The pictures (photographer Bryan Smith) were used

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-36211187718407111462010-01-09T05:06:00.005Z2010-01-16T14:47:57.065Z

This week I've been rehearsing an excerpt of Niche at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. We're preparing for a Culture Ireland showcase of Irish choreography there that's happening as part of APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters). Apart from the thrill of seeing Baryshnikov there, it's been wonderful to rehearse in the studios with their panoramic views of the upper west side.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-26974692986227923432010-01-04T01:32:00.003Z2010-01-04T02:20:52.501Z

I've been roused to post after the Christmas hiatus by an email from Xiao Ke. She sent me a link to the Chinese contemporary art website Art-Ba-Ba where, quite unexpectedly, photos from my performance of Cosán Dearg in Shenzhen in 2007 have turned up. I can't work out why they've surfaced now. The discussion, prompted by nudity, is about freedom, and while I can't decipher the precise

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-50577705675367929062009-12-15T00:42:00.001Z2009-12-15T00:45:02.758Z

We preview Sweet Spot tomorrow and though the film is still not finished, I'm sure that by tomorrow it will be. I've enjoyed seeing Stéphane dance the solo that acts as a balance to the soft and female energy of the film: time with Xiao Ke in China appears to be having its influence on the work in a variety of unexpected ways. Meanwhile, Michael Seaver has written a warm feature in the Irish

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-40024792018859578532009-12-05T23:58:00.002Z2009-12-06T00:04:35.513Z

Rebecca, Ríonach and I were interviewed by Clíodhna Shaffrey about Triptik for one of Create's podcasts.In Part One the three choreographers talk about the genesis of Triptik and the way this work challenges preconceptions of who should be on stage, who can make art and who can dance.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-50941777476786652222009-11-26T14:23:00.005Z2009-11-26T15:31:24.150Z

With Sweet Spot, I've been checking that I am guided by my artistic instincts and not by a therapeutic intentions. One of the ways that I thought I could be true to my artistic instinct is that I would use this project to learn something and to push myself into a new area of practice. The piece is called Sweet spot and in it, I’m trying to explore joy. Of course, joy for me doesn’t mean

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-66340922519133737582009-11-26T13:48:00.005Z2009-11-26T15:32:28.441Z

For the past three weeks, I’ve been working on a commission for an evening of work called Triptik.The evening is produced by Ríonach Ní Néill and her company Ciotóg (in association with Project Arts Centre) and it will take place in Project Arts Centre from 15th-19th December. Ríonach also runs the Machusla Dance Club for over 50s and has been finding ways to extend the club and her own

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-87414411978391117762009-10-31T12:08:00.002Z2009-10-31T12:11:44.161Z

What distinguished Cunningham from all other great choreographers was the degree of his inclusiveness. He invented dance movements that were modern and new, but even more revolutionary was the way he placed them in the world in which we lived.Cunningham could never take his eyes off the street, and the dynamic that we all witness everyday is what he embraced. And he proved that music, costumes,

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-35469768186095432292009-10-30T18:08:00.003Z2009-10-30T18:20:22.375Z

Some of the performers and choreographers with the Mayor, Cllr Anna Mbachu who joined in with enthusiasm in the workshop that Shelby Williams and Stephen Berkley White led for New Adventures.Shahla Tarrant dancing among the letters of the Woolworths signage in my piece 'For Woolworths'Pieter Symonds and Thomasin Gülgeç in Kim Brandstrup's DK60And some fun coverage in the local newspaper

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-33085016299979296202009-10-26T17:38:00.003Z2009-10-26T17:44:24.632Z

On Saturday, for Pick'n'Mix:The Dance Selection in the empty Woolworths in Leytonstone, eight Waltham Forest choreographers presented seven pieces, of which three were new works. The works were performed by 20 dancers. A new visual art installation illuminated the shop windows.300 people, from toddlers to pensioners, attended the three performances.Matthew Bourne's New Adventures dancers led

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-3274961683051577382009-10-23T23:08:00.010+01:002009-10-25T01:02:15.159+01:00

I haven't had time to post updates about Pick'n'Mix. It's been a lot of work but tonight as I locked up, I felt calm and pleased by what we've achieved and hopeful that it will be ok tomorrow. Yesterday Stephanie Schober rehearsed with her dancer weaving a complex pattern thoughtful energy between the Woolworths' columns.Today I watched Seeta Patel and Kamala Devam rehearse in the Woolworths

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-20137864855474592442009-10-05T18:34:00.003+01:002009-10-05T18:51:59.663+01:00

We're almost there, by which I mean that by Wednesday I hope that I will have the key to Woolworths to allow us to start rehearsing there in preparation for Pick'n'Mix:The Dance Selection on the 24th October. We visited today to allow some of the choreographers- Bettina Strickler and Dean James - to see the space for the first time. It was great to see their excitement and enthusiasm at the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-21317569006370390442009-10-01T18:59:00.003+01:002009-10-01T19:08:11.631+01:00

I was delighted to see that Dearbhla Walsh won an Emmy recently for her work on Little Dorrit. I met her when she directed my dance film Match that was commissioned by RTÉ/An Chomairle Ealaíon for the Dance on the Box series. Dearbhla was already a successful director of TV series then but she was still prepared to work on art projects like our film because she felt those projects kept her

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-43014062677471678412009-09-26T12:35:00.003+01:002009-09-26T13:02:43.335+01:00

I visited Liverpool this week to find out whether my work could have a place there. I'd been invited to participate in a roundtable discussion at FACT between arts organisations, artists and the NHS. Liverpool is trying to rebalance the health inequalities in the city and to improve its very poor health statistics. The aims are laudable, as is the desire to acknowledge the value of the arts in

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-61944917898552698182009-08-30T20:49:00.007+01:002009-08-30T23:09:07.867+01:00

To mark Heritage week and to see the ending of the Tattered Outlaws installation, Caroline Cowley invited me back to speak about how Dan and I made the piece. I'm used to trusting my work to performers to give it life but it was strange and delightful to see how the installation, not a live performance, has developed since we left in July. I notice the visitors' book damp from its time in the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-46311839577586359712009-08-23T12:00:00.005+01:002009-08-23T12:36:16.168+01:00

This post isn't about dance but having just performed in Edinburgh alongside the very talented Matthias Sperling whose Riff deliberately samples and reworks excerpts from the choreography of William Forsythe, Shobana Jeyasingh and Laila Diallo, I have been thinking about influence, mimicry, borrowing, plagiarism, and creative appropriation. In the age of audience engagement, mash-ups and

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-42090206407001905292009-08-20T17:45:00.004+01:002009-08-20T17:53:34.087+01:00

photos by Maria Falconer

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-79786786804778607452009-08-07T11:09:00.002+01:002009-08-07T11:13:33.384+01:00

DialoguePosted by Rebecca King, Fri 07 Aug 2009Rebecca King enjoys a thoughtful dance-chat.Fearghus O Conchuir studied at Oxford University before going to London Contemporary Dance School; this is an unconventional way of training as a dancer and indeed Conchuir’s Dialogue is an unconventional piece. O Conchuir works with musician Yin Yi and fellow dancer and choreographer Li Ke to create a

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-57666608689295638052009-08-06T18:28:00.003+01:002009-08-06T18:35:01.412+01:00

DialoguePosted by Gareth K Vile & Iwona Wilk, Thu 06 Aug 2009China is currently at the forefront of artistic interest. Gareth K Vile meets an Irish choreographer who wants to communicate.Dialogue is the creation of one Irish and one Chinese dancer, with input from a Chinese composer. While not a debate about inherent differences between East and West, or a simple act of cultural tourism, it uses

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-45976451189355810172009-08-03T17:09:00.006+01:002009-08-03T17:49:58.973+01:00

Thank you for your submission to Artists taking the lead.I am sorry to inform you that your idea has not been shortlisted.We received in excess of 2,000 submissions and the artist advisor panels faced a real challenge in deciding a shortlist of just 60, as there are were many exceptional ideas to choose from....We understand that you will be disappointed by this outcome. We hope this may be the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-28239367569463404452009-07-29T23:20:00.002+01:002009-07-29T23:26:53.482+01:00

Michael Seaver's review of Tattered Outlaws of History pleases me not only because it is sympathetic but because it recognises the choreography in the work that extends beyond the steps.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-1154893891725889412009-07-24T20:16:00.003+01:002009-07-24T20:48:41.379+01:00

“I sometimes feel that we are losing an intuitive sense of our own bodies,” Mr. Ito lamented at one point during my visit. “Children don’t run around outside as much as they did. They sit in front of computer games. Some architects have been trying to find a language for this new generation, with very minimalist spaces. I am looking for something more primitive, a kind of abstraction that still

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-57662366757700907632009-07-21T20:44:00.008+01:002009-07-23T20:25:55.684+01:00

I suppose I was concerned that the TV coverage of Tattered Outlaws didn't really mention anything about the choreography. But then I realised that by focusing on the opportunity for people to get inside the towers and to reflect on what that heritage means, the coverage is acknowledging the most important aspects of the choreographic work. For the people who enter the tower, the experience is

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-18931815104447443182009-07-17T23:30:00.009+01:002009-07-23T15:25:56.373+01:00

A friend of mine was tickled by the sight of Dan and me side by side at the start of this piece. The physical differences between us are matched by differences of approach and temperament, however Tattered Outlaws has been about connecting the different and acknowledging the common DNA of buildings/people/experiences that don't look so similar on the outside. I'm always surprised when I'm asked

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-51975122287232793042009-07-17T23:04:00.009+01:002010-06-13T11:43:17.756+01:00

Owners came, friends came (having painted walls in the tower while rain seeped down them), a mayor spoke. Dan and his son, Zach, wore linen suits. We gave Caroline flowers to thank her for joining us on the journey. We had a big marquee and Irish music. There were queues of people to make it to the viewing platform. I had to breath deeply when I couldn't turn on the power and Dan couldn't

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-30963023244259174652009-07-14T23:58:00.006+01:002009-07-23T15:18:05.990+01:00

Even though I am used to the vagaries of Irish weather, when you organise an indoor event for the middle of July, you don't expect that torrential rain will be a problem. I arrived in Skerries today to start the preparations for the opening of Tattered Outlaws of History on Thursday. When we opened the door in to the tower it was clear that the drips and dampness we'd had to contend with in the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-77100498427805103252009-07-07T22:32:00.002+01:002009-07-07T22:56:13.558+01:00

Xiao Ke and I have been exchanging emails asking each other questions like: "What did you feel about your body at 5, at 15, at 25?", In what ways are you typically Chinese/Irish, in what ways atypical?Then Xiao Ke asked me what I mean by independent, particularly when I describe her and myself as an independent artists. She's asking in the context on violence in XinJiang province where, like the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-84689174915834095062009-07-02T19:11:00.007+01:002009-07-23T15:19:24.056+01:00

I've been discussing with Waltham Forest Council the possibility of using the empty Woolworths in Leytonstone for an evening of Waltham Forest choreography. I'd been calling the evening Pick'n'Mix but Leytonstone Arts Trail has used the Woolworths first and adopted my title too. They've put part of their annual visual art exhibition into the Woolworths and the opening party last Friday was

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-23252358626757127382009-06-27T12:37:00.007+01:002009-07-23T15:27:02.889+01:00

Cosán Dearg is a piece I made in 2005 with director Jason Byrne(whose Phaedra's Love won best production last year in the Irish Times Theatre awards), composer Julie Feeney (whose critically acclaimed new album Pages is just released) and fellow performer Bernadette Iglich . It grew out of a collaboration that started when we were participants in a workshop organised by the Dublin Fringe

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-10412952895949600372009-06-25T17:35:00.004+01:002009-06-25T18:31:50.166+01:00

Anna Minton has just published a book called Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First-Century City. In it she describes the increasing privatisation of public space and claims that it is responsible for a climate and fear and mistrust that blights people's experience of the city.More property is being built in Britain than at any time since WW2 - from high security gated apartment

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-55462124960541098072009-06-11T11:25:00.006+01:002009-06-11T12:09:45.093+01:00

I spent this morning working with Roberta Lima, another of the Red Gate residents, whose work focuses on her own body, and in the past has included live and video-mediated performances that involve piercing, costume and feminist iconography. She is moving away from that kind of extreme engagement with her body (suspended by hooks in her knees, pierced by needles in her hips) but was still

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-22632584904696967582009-06-11T10:59:00.004+01:002009-07-23T15:29:24.552+01:00

The Goethe institute in China has published a pamphlet called Beijing Parkour, assembling a series of maps and elevations of various districts in Beijing that together creatively revisioning space in the way that Parkour encourages. The pamphlet contains an interview with Michael Kahn-Ackermann. He was an exchange student in Beijing in the seventies and returned there as director of the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-25849697691693741052009-06-09T20:39:00.004+01:002009-06-09T20:49:44.686+01:00

20 years ago the Chinese army began its violent crackdown on the Tiananmen demonstrations. Since last month, the internet censors in China have been curtailing access to websites such as Youtube and blogger (which is why it’s been difficult to update this blog) and Flickr, Twitter and more recently BBC news reports that refer to Tiananmen. The period is being referred to as Chinese Internet

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-20855948336939002912009-05-30T18:35:00.001+01:002009-06-09T20:26:52.745+01:00

On the airport side road, near Chaochangdi, there's a gallery complex with this unfinished gallery space. I was told that the Osage chain of galleries rented it for two years with the intention of opening a new branch there but the downturn stopped that. A little shimmying under a gate and the distraction of a small car crash on the adjoining road helped me get in. There were barking dogs

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-65227396517082259772009-05-30T18:24:00.001+01:002009-06-09T16:03:45.681+01:00

According to a recent article in the Guardian, ()4 new highrise buildings are finished each day in China. My local village in Beijing doesn't have highrises but the pace of construction here is relentless. I wish I'd filmed the village when I arrived so I could show how quickly houses have been knocked down and rebuilt. But it's taken until now for me to be able to negotiate the streets on my

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-40207203780587726652009-05-27T06:13:00.001+01:002009-06-09T20:03:27.224+01:00

Next to the red brick gallery in which I danced last week is a compound of unfinished studio spaces. On Stéphane's last day in Beijing I brought him there to see if we could use the space. There were a couple of guys hanging around but when I approached them to ask them what they knew about the place, they said they didn't know. They cleared off, leaving us the expanse of courtyard to play

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-43598913801246861682009-05-22T16:57:00.002+01:002009-06-09T19:17:44.603+01:00

Working on Dialogue, Xiao Ke and I continue to explore the different information in our bodies, acknowledging the different training systems that have contributed to our understanding of movement and also the wider cultural ideologies that shape our approach.Teaching the dancers of LDTX, I’ve been confronted by the differences again. I saw the company dance last week and was impressed by their

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-19530588970281254812009-05-18T09:20:00.001+01:002009-06-09T19:11:16.053+01:00

Opposite the unfinished gallery mentioned in my last post is the village of He Ge Zhuang which has become an exemplar of refurbishing villages in traditional style but with contemporary facilities. The project is the work of the couple who run the very tranquil Orchard restaurant in the village and who have set up the YinYang community centre too ( a mixture of Western Psychotherapy practice,

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-64607633075010688452009-05-18T09:11:00.002+01:002009-06-09T18:37:01.278+01:00

I do go on about building in China but I’ve also come across a number of stalled building projects. Near where I’m staying there’s a huge space which was intended to be an art gallery but remains unfinished because there isn’t the money to complete it. Next door is a series of spaces that were intended for use as artists’ workshops but these too are empty because there may not be the demand for

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-43396830621821602172009-05-10T17:12:00.003+01:002009-05-10T17:18:41.105+01:00

"One thing I like about my work is all the different ways it can be in the world," he says. "A local could walk by and not notice it, or notice it and not know anything about me. Or someone could come upon a circle and know it was a circle of mine. I really like the notion of the visibility or invisibility of the work as well as the permanence and transience.""I guess I'm an opportunist, really.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-73337232573804962282009-05-09T16:34:00.007+01:002009-05-09T17:25:02.618+01:00

The hum and hiss under 798's art factory market

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-49114174652730175192009-05-09T16:13:00.004+01:002009-05-09T16:34:07.491+01:00

While I'm here in Beijing, Xiao Ke, Yin Yi and I are rehearsing Dialogue, the piece we made in Dublin last year. We will perform the piece in Edinburgh in August but more pressingly here in the Penghao Theater at the start of June. For these rehearsals, we're using a great studio that's also in the village of Fei Jia Cun (just beyond the modeling school - that's modeling school as in America's

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-2995235199349999382009-05-08T18:08:00.003+01:002009-05-08T18:19:52.530+01:00

The Irish Times Digest keeps me in touch with news in Ireland so I was happy to read this feature about Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy who are representing Ireland in this year's Venice Bienale. The feature alludes to the couples 'exemplary professionalism' as some kind of counter to the questions that were raised about their youth and profile when their selection was announced. I'm glad they

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-75739427560107294282009-05-07T14:44:00.004+01:002009-07-23T15:30:05.207+01:00

In the morning I hear firecrackers and late in the evening too. It puzzles me as I don't know of any festivals going on at the moment. I asked my composer friend why people are setting of firecrackers and he explained that in the villages people set off firecrackers to celebrate the completion of various stages of construction: the foundations, the walls, the roof. Each stage is also an

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-91130470708715898232009-04-30T10:20:00.007+01:002009-07-23T15:29:44.414+01:00

I've just arrived in Beijing and am holding jet lag at bay with the western food I bought en route from the airport. I'm installed in one of the Bei Gao Studios (BG3) that are run by the Red Gate Gallery. The studios are in Fei Jia Cun, a village not far from the airport, beyond the 5th Ring of the city - that means far out from the centre. It's a quiet place full of artists' studios and

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-24781615225485289522009-04-21T13:52:00.003+01:002009-04-21T14:04:17.281+01:00

Jonathan Haidt is a psychologist who has been mapping how different political affiliations are the products of very different ethical systems. This article caught my attention because I've been aware that my interest in bodies and buildings is a that the relationship between them is a metaphor for the negotiation between individuals and the systems (groups, institutions, families, nations) with

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-79881039199308651632009-04-16T22:45:00.005+01:002009-07-23T15:18:34.467+01:00

I arrived in Skerries yesterday to see what our installation of twelve Tattered Outlaws films look like. From the Skerries tower you can see the Martello Tower on Shenick's Island, so I'm reminded straight away that however solitary each tower seems, it is an echo of another tower. It is part of a family that share a structural DNA, however the vagaries of history may have shaped its members in

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-56522396222906819832009-04-03T23:29:00.008+01:002009-04-03T23:53:17.176+01:00

Tonight, after the curtain calls, a child splashed in the water onstage, near where the barking dogs were chained, by the mangled car where the Andy Warhol lookalike had finished the show, the blood where the white horse shifted nervously, the puddles where the cast has slit each others throats in decorous fall and rise - all between giant framing quotation marks. She picked up the basketball

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-70489805700050294552009-03-30T17:01:00.006+01:002009-11-27T18:25:14.578Z

Match made an impact in Vancouver it seems. The Vancouver Sun picked it out as a 'perfect example' of the programme's 'arty sport films or sporty art film'. There was something illicit about seeing such intimate physical contact between two men in a competitive setting.Meanwhile in Holyoke, on the other side of the American continent, Matthew and I performed the live version of the piece, part

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-45974082856391080022009-03-16T22:19:00.003Z2009-03-16T22:44:36.648Z

I've been at home for over a month and thinking about what it would be like to make more work here. I've started to think about being Artist in Residence in Waltham Forest, by which I mean, I've been starting to look at the Borough in which I live and see the stories and ideas that its people and places convey. Part of the reason for thinking about Waltham Forest in this way is to decrease the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-85208593236287116312009-02-23T11:21:00.003Z2009-02-23T11:38:16.371Z

This month, as part of the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, Match is being shown in an art installation/film festival called ContainR (because the installation is made of shipping containers). The theme is the relation between dance and sport on film. When I watch rugby and soccer on TV now (usually when I'm at the gym, let's be honest), I'm struck by how varied, dynamic and quite beautiful the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-36557659600377179672009-02-18T18:30:00.002Z2009-02-18T18:40:13.396Z

The Guardian and the BBC have run pieces on how artists are reusing the shops that have been closed in the recession. It seems to work primarily for visual arts projects but I'm sure there's potential here for performing arts too. What heartens me is not only the artistic appropriation of the failed commercial space but the positive reporting of it. It suggests that there's a space for

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-70642405808237151232009-02-14T22:34:00.007Z2009-04-02T10:37:30.832+01:00

I spent a few days in Paris this week at the invitation of Le Centre Culturel Irlandais. There's the possibility of bringing Niche there but the question is where exactly. The Centre is beautifully situated, just behind the Pantheon, with a courtyard space in which Rex Levitates has already shown work. However, I'm not sure that Niche would be best presented in that environment. I considered

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-59301178812003307222009-01-31T18:41:00.003Z2009-01-31T19:09:06.631Z

I was in Bristol today when I came across a container on the waterside not far from Arnolfini. Realising that it was an artist at work and feeling some sympathy, I dropped in to see what was going on. And I'm really glad I did. The project is called Container Studio and it's the work of Eamon O'Kane who was on reworking some urban plans and architectural drawings with felt pen when I dropped

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-59549417219866551992009-01-26T15:59:00.004Z2009-01-26T23:14:44.915Z

Someone sent me a link to this Washington Post article about an experiment where Joshua Bell, 'one of the world's greatest musicians', played his Stradivarius in Washington DC metro station during the morning rush hour. The gist of the article is that most people ignored him, even though people had paid $100 to hear him play sell out concerts the week before. The article is interesting because

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-76240517612386985572009-01-09T22:12:00.001Z2009-01-09T22:15:24.572Z

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-56100927972102836482009-01-09T21:17:00.006Z2009-01-10T21:26:43.079Z

I don't know why I thought to make little drawings when we've been working on this piece. I guess it's useful for Rachel and me to have another medium to meet in that's separate from our dance and music home-arts. It helped make the rehearsal space more ours too.We were clear about the structure of the piece from quite early in the process. It would have three parts. Rachel connects those

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-62123940766518735792009-01-09T21:10:00.003Z2009-01-09T21:17:09.435Z

Just one week until the premiere of Casadh Arís. Dan arrived with his double bass today, changing the acoustic and physical space with his presence and that of the large resonant bass.For Casadh Arís, Rachel has been working with live and electro-acoustic sound and I’ve realised that the recorded sound in particular sets up a kind of architecture for the live bodies to inhabit. I say live

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-74457876202357916182008-12-31T19:20:00.003Z2008-12-31T19:36:11.606Z

Thanks to the Irish Times for mentioning my dance film Three+1 as one of the highlights of dance in 2008. It refers to Rebecca Walters' Walk Don't Run too - another film of dancers' bodies negotiating the intersection at George Street and Dame Street. Wolfgang, Katherine, Rebecca and I braved traffic, pedestrians, gardai and lunacy to dance in the 15 second gaps when the traffic lights created a

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-90284354008269895362008-12-14T23:42:00.002Z2008-12-14T23:45:49.617Z

For their letter to the Sunday Tribune today.And to everyone else who offered private support.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-564420896287001952008-12-04T22:40:00.006Z2009-01-02T13:46:21.134Z

Dad in the distance across the flats of wet sands. The greyhounds straining on leashes to follow him or worse any random impulse or canine fancy on the wind. My anxiety that it should all happen as he’d instructed. Waiting, muscles taut to restrain the hounds until the moment that he would shout. Then in a flash of adrenaline, slip the leads, properly, to let the dogs streak across the wet

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-15163126724380109422008-12-01T22:31:00.004Z2008-12-01T22:53:58.873Z

I am very grateful to the people who, in the wake of the article, have been in contact to express their support of my work. I’ve tried to be rational about the article and to understand the journalistic instinct that inspired it and react accordingly. Nonetheless, it does hurt and I did feel attacked.It was great, therefore, to start on a new piece today – a solo called Casadh Arís – with the

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-48884579096398063052008-12-01T22:21:00.002Z2008-12-01T22:30:29.561Z

I was expecting the article. I knew some time ago that a journalist had submitted a freedom of information request to Dublin City Council to find out the details of my residency. Of course all the information was already in the public domain (how much the residency offered, how much the Arts Council awarded me) and I’ve kept this blog for anyone find out what I’ve been up to – so I wasn’t

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-31984472042179252582008-11-26T13:45:00.003Z2008-11-26T14:08:40.382Z

I came across Misnomer Dance Theater when I was looking at arts organisations that are working comfortably with online technology.Misnomer Dance Theater has made a name for itself as a company that exploits for dance the resources that indie bands and songwriters have successfully utilised to get their work distributed to a wider audience. For those who were reminded at the New Media, New

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-55456398849332902562008-11-26T11:00:00.004Z2008-11-26T14:09:44.469Z

I attended the Arts Council's New Media, New Audience? conference in Dublin Castle yesterday. Going there and particularly having been invited to be on a panel, I felt a bit of a charlatan since my engagement with online media is this blog, some facebook advertising and youtube - hardly cutting edge. However, in comparison to the majority of arts organisations in Ireland, it appears that this

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-76921782819766327482008-11-19T23:04:00.002Z2008-11-19T23:10:41.330Z

The figure runs close along a stretch of tall buildings. Scurries. Hides. Evades. Makes it to bare room. Hides. Evades.Buster Keaton's distinctive if older physicality makes the opening of this unusual Becekett film an interesting dance in the city, a body making its way against a set buildings, under surveillance from the camera.Another unexpected antecedent.

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-46052212924301083312008-11-14T21:47:00.002Z2008-11-14T21:48:06.848Z

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-58214747453004226702008-11-07T14:10:00.006Z2008-11-28T18:46:28.674Z

I arrived today at Artium, an unexpectedly interesting art museum in the Basque city of Vitoria. It’s the first venue of a tour called ‘A Man’s Touch’, organised by Mikel Aristgui who is Basque and who just danced in Niche. It was thanks to him that I brought Match to Bilbao this summer and now I’m back with Match and the solo from Cosán Dearg that I performed in China last year. The evening

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-40482985611065450502008-11-01T13:04:00.004Z2008-11-01T13:12:44.710Z

I’ve been thinking about perspective. We’ve just finished performing Niche and I’ve been comforted and confronted by other people’s perspective on the work. I think I’ve made a piece that invites a particular way of viewing, an attentiveness to what’s going on in the space (a shared space of performers and audience) rather than an attempt to decode symbols that stand in for something else. Of

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-20142533832872057832008-10-27T23:44:00.003Z2008-10-27T23:48:34.416Z

I asked some people who had come to see Niche to respond to three questions: What did you see? What did you feel? What did you think?Many thanks to Eithne Doyle for these answers:Niche = A place of retreat or retirementWhat did you see?I did not see a place of retreat or retirement. Rather, I felt that in that dark space there was a sense of cosmic loneliness.What did you feel?I felt the young

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-80790522753990450692008-10-26T01:12:00.004+01:002008-11-07T14:43:42.903Z

Colin Murphy's article about Niche in today's Irish independentFinding his own niche dancing on the streetsSaturday October 25 2008One afternoon during the summer of last year, Fearghus Ó Conchúir put on his black overcoat, put the hood up, and walked out into the rain. He was looking for something.He wandered through Dublin's northside till he found himself on a corner in the docklands, on Guild

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-62416598976318572372008-10-24T12:47:00.003+01:002008-11-07T14:44:53.088Z

REVIEWSIn this section »Perfect parables of futilityThe Irish Times writers review the latest in the arts worldNicheProject, DublinChoreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir didn't set out to create a dance about the current financial difficulties, but it is just one pretty apparent reading of his latest work, Niche . The hour-long dance sets out to examine the common search for a personal niche and a

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-89124979206072897232008-10-22T14:17:00.002+01:002008-10-22T14:26:20.739+01:00

Having previously posted that video that didn't directly inspire Niche, I thought I should share some of the vintage footage (gleaned from youtube) that we really did use as inspiration. Attitude as much as steps were gleaned from these videos. Having learned lots of Eastern European folk dance when I was at the United World College of the Pacific in Canada, this kind of dance has a personal

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-30088483371148857892008-10-22T12:18:00.001+01:002008-10-22T12:19:42.945+01:00

Mikel sent me this link and it reminds me what men dancing in the city could look like, as well as outing influences that I hadn't dared acknowledge. It's also a colourful contrast to the restrained tones of Niche!

Fearghushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276348393160607634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793988225989301438.post-40914476226149657472008-10-21T17:33:00.005+01:002008-10-21T17:43:14.579+01:00

Reuben's nicheFrom Dan: "This was the mausoleum built by Mussolini's son-in-law, number 2 in the regime, for himself.Mussolini killed him in the end and the unfinished mausoleum lies incomplete on the top of the hill overlooking Livorno. This is one we need to visit together some day."

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