A groundbreaking new show that challenges the conventions of the traditional music concert comes to Limerick next month, when For the Record – a collaboration between celebrated dancer Colin Dunne and acclaimed musicians Becky Ní Éallaithe and Ultan O’Brien – takes to the stage at Dance Limerick Performance Space on Thursday July 9 at 8pm.
Directed by Kellie Hughes, the show weaves together traditional music, voice, electronics, spoken word and dance in what its creators describe as a shape-shifting encounter in which roles blur, rhythms fracture and no two performances unfold in exactly the same way. With what the production promises will be luscious sound worlds, apocalyptic footfalls and a set of unruly microphones, For the Record is part traditional music gig, part live experiment — placing listening and spontaneity at its core.
Colin Dunne, internationally recognised for redefining the possibilities of traditional Irish dance through his work in Riverdance and Dancing on Dangerous Ground, has described the new piece as a return to his roots — and a deliberate reimagining of them.
“I don’t think much has changed since the early 90s,” he said. “The traditional music concert is still very much the terrain of musicians.
“Dancers might be invited to do a number or two, and the conversation about how dance and music might interact is brief and fast. I want to really reimagine this encounter between music and dance, so that the dancer as performer and sound-maker is fully integrated into the sonic landscape. It feels important to do that within the performance framework of a gig, rather than making a piece of theatre about it.”
Having begun his career as a featured dancer with groups including The Chieftains and De Dannan, Dunne’s return to the concert framework closes something of a circle – though on decidedly different terms.
Joining him on stage is Becky Ní Éallaithe, a concertina player and sean-nós dancer from the Connemara Gaeltacht whose work bridges traditional music, dance, song and contemporary performance.
A graduate of the Irish World Academy, she performs regularly throughout Ireland and Europe.
Completing the trio is Ultan O’Brien, a fiddle and viola player and composer from County Clare, whose practice stretches from the Irish traditional canon into sound art and experimental music.
He has collaborated and recorded with artists including Laura Jurd, John Francis Flynn, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Martin Green of Lau, and Nic Gareiss.
Together, the three performers and their director are asking their audience to do something deceptively simple, and quietly radical: to watch music and listen to dance.
Tickets are available at www.dancelimerick.ie/event/for-the-record/