After a discussion about a modern art exhibit in class last week, I was immediately intrigued by a particular concept that coordinated the skills of tennis and dance into a single art form. As a trained tennis player and dancer you could understand my initial interest in this piece of art. A 1978 film entitled Untitled, displayed on a 15” black and white television from the 1980s, starred the creator and famous Danish tennis player Torben Ulrich. This piece is part of the I Know You exhibit showing at the National Concert Hall.

Although the concept of the film was a beautiful display of athletic and artistic expression, the exhibit surrounding this particular piece of art in the Irish Museum of Modern Art had me distracted and initially confused. A Simon Dybbroe-Moller creation entitled Cabbage Heads & Support, not only surrounded but interacted with Ulrich’s tennis-dance creation, thus diverting my attention from Ulrich’s piece to the other objects in the room. As you can gather from the title, the artwork was an interesting display. At first its proximity to Untitled was confusing for someone like me who rarely experiences conceptual art. However, after days of contemplation I finally began to see a connection develop among these works of art.

Ulrich’s exhibition was incredibly engaging. Never in all my years as a dancer and tennis player have I considered putting these two activities in the same category, but as Untitled proved, the skills and grace acquired from one form of training can be incorporated into another. Filmed in a dark, grassy field, with a single overhead lamp for illumination, Ulrich swings his old wooden racket, as though he is playing an imaginary match. But as you watch him perform on the small screen, you become entranced by the rhythm of the music, movement, and staggered breathing. He is so in-sync with every element of this production that when he spontaneously erupts into a dance, chills ran up my spine. His ability to incorporate both his athletic and artistic talents spoke to me as though he was exhaustingly chipping away the barriers that had been restraining him for years. It was incredible to see the graceful, coordinated, and meaningful link between two of my great loves.

Yet, in the midst of this performance, the other art works in the room pushed their way into the performance. From the Chef on the mantle, the servant on the floor, and the welder with the television for a head, this piece claimed to represent a range of stereotypical roles present in society. For a while I felt subservient to these strange pieces of art. But after several days of questioning these pieces the theme that appeared to be most pronounced to me was the concept of exhaustion. For the player on the screen and the “real” world players on the floor, everything around me appeared beaten down by the labels that limit them, and although Ulrich’s piece aims to fight back, Dybbroe-Moller’s appeared to have succumbed to the exhaustion. Untitled is a conceptual piece of art, more idea than product. But, despite the piece, the room and the accompanying artworks, I found myself truly enjoying this strange sight.

-Tara McNulty

Photo Image: Conceptual Art Image

There are a lot of things that make up a person’s identity. Much of who an individual is comes from where they call home and what their childhood was like. To my surprise, I have a lot more in common with Irish women than I thought. We all have very strong connections to our past. Where we come from makes us all who we are as individuals and strangely very similar.

After seeing an Irish step dancing show in the Fitzsimons Hotel and Restaurant, I noticed that the dancers were having a lot of fun while doing their performance. I was really intrigued as to why Irish dancers still practice such an old tradition so I decided to ask Louise, the young, female dancer about her experiences with the dancing culture in Ireland.

Louise talked to me about the enormous amount of pressure that is put on young girls in Ireland to learn Irish step dancing. Louise enjoyed her childhood dancing activity until she was a teenager and Irish step dancing wasn’t the “cool” thing to do anymore. She stopped dancing for a few years but then she found herself wanting to go back to dancing. Tradition was a word that came up a lot when I talked with her. A lot of why she and her other dancing colleagues still dance and find it enjoyable is because there are strong roots that go along with it. She feels a connection to her childhood and traditional Ireland when she dances. Louise believes that because she’s Irish, it’s important to keep alive what might eventually die.

Louise’s experience being an Irish dancer is something I can definitely relate to. Although I couldn’t dance to save my life, I was pressured to do something similar as a child. As a young girl I was told I needed to pick a sport or an activity to be involved in. I chose to play basketball because I come from long line of basketball stars and being the tallest kid in my class I figured I would be good at it. Before high school began I decided to stop playing because I didn’t feel that I was good enough to continue at the next level. Like the rest of my family, I have a special place in my heart for the game of basketball. I grew up going to basketball games, playing HORSE in the driveway, and watching March Madness during dinnertime. I feel a connection with the tradition of basketball not only as an American sport but also as my family’s sport.

Although I may not have stayed with basketball at a higher level, it’s still a part of who I am as a person. Louise’s love for Irish dancing is a piece of her identity as well.
Louise, from Dublin and Shannon, from Philadelphia may be two different stories and two very different lifestyles but we’re not so different, she and I.

Shannon Haugh

The Arlington Hotel in Dublin’s busy Temple Bar district is home to the  popular “Irish Dance Party.” At first hearing these words my mind automatically thought of a techno-rave often associated with stereotypical European night clubs. But to my surprise,  this event hosted every afternoon, is an upbeat cultural experience for tourists and natives alike. Together with a small group of strangers from around the country and the world, I was taught, rather, re-taught the basic choreography of the Jig. With live music produced by a talented  performer, I could not help but get swept up in the energy of the crowd.

As noted in previous entries, I have been a product of the Irish Step Dancing tradition. The basic choreography of the seven’s, the cut backs and the two-threes (difficult to understand I know), are hard to forget for someone who used to practice it twice a week for three years. So as the instructor splits us up into groups, I refrained from revealing my past dance experience because I wanted to see if there is another way I could have learned and experienced Irish step dancing. I soon discovered there’s not. The choreography for the jig is universal. No offense to my previous instructor Miss Erin and her strict Irish Step regiment, but I had more fun that night than I have ever had under her instruction. The costumes, the soft shoe ghillies, and the hair-spray buns with curls would have any eleven year old running for the hills. But the effortlessly upbeat nature of the evening had everyone up from their stools for two hours while engaging us in the fast-paced rhythmic movement of the dance.

Initially, I was hesitant to partake in this event. The website and the hotel’s location screamed tourist attraction, and with payment at the door, I was positive I was falling into a tourist trap. But after getting there and experiencing it for myself, I found that it means so much more to the Irish than simple revenue for their economy. This communal event has been a way to help them preserve their culture, my culture, and before coming to Ireland, that was something that never had crossed my mind. For those who participate in the traditional forms of Irish step dancing it is a wonderful connection to a vibrant history. I am beginning to look at my own Irish history with some new-found perspective. After partaking in the “Irish Dance Party” I realize that this traditional and cultural dance means so much to those who live and breathe for Ireland.

Tara McNulty

photo: irish dance party

Like every other naïve American tourist, I was completely unsure as to what nightlife would be like over here in Ireland. I immediately assumed that there would be Irish step dancing at every pub and it would be nothing like the nightlife and dancing in America. To my surprise, Ireland’s dancing and entertainment scene is more Americanized than I thought.

Similar to any other big city, the tourism is what keeps cities afloat. I discovered through my time here in Dublin that there are so many different places to go at night, but only recently I realized the big difference between a tourist spot and a local spot. Around the big “touristy” areas of the city like Temple Bar and Grafton Street there are signs everywhere that say “Traditional Irish Dancing & Music Here!” But then when I go to parts of the city like Wexford Street and Camden Street, it’s a completely different atmosphere.

A pub like Quay’s in the Temple bar area has the traditional Irish ambiance that tourists tend to crave. It’s a huge pub with live traditional Irish music, traditional Irish food, overpriced pints and Irish step dancing as the source of entertainment. The crowd is made up of mostly tourists and some locals who still enjoy the traditional Irish dancing and music. When I asked one of the local guys sitting in the pub why there is so much promotion for traditional Irish dancing around the Temple Bar area, he said, “that’s what tourists expect and since tourism is how we make our bread and butter, we make the visitors happy.”

The places outside of the Temple Bar and Grafton Street areas have completely different vibes to me. Now that I’ve been here for a few weeks, have talked to different local Dubliners, and have experienced many different pubs and nightlife, I have noticed something really surprising. All of the places that I’ve enjoyed going to have had no traditional Irish dancing at all and those are also the popular places for Dubliners to hang out.

It was ironic to me that the pubs where there is a lot of local Irish people, traditional Ireland is pretty much out the window and the dancing is a lot more Americanized. For example, Whelan’s is a spot that I really enjoy going to and a place where many locals go as well. The cover bands at Whelan’s play American music and the people practice the dance moves seen in the latest Nicki Minaj music video. I almost feel as though I’m at a pub in Philadelphia with the music and the dancing happening around me.

Although I came to Ireland expecting tradition and I’ve lived something completely different, I will say that I have enjoyed experiencing both sides of Ireland. While the traditional dancing is fun to watch and discover, I like that there’s a piece of home here in Dublin, through the dancing and the nightlife.
-Shannon Haugh

Quays vs. Whelan’s–Traditional vs. Modern in Dublin

Finally recovered from jetlag and returning to a normal sleep schedule, it was the start to a new week in an exciting city. After a delicious meal with friends, we headed down crowded O’Connell Street, to a side road, up to a green door with the name O’Neill’s written in the window.

Following a pint of Smithwick’s, the girls and I heard the exciting, up beat, familiar sound of Irish music coming through the speakers. Upstairs, we found two young men playing the banjo and the acoustic guitar to songs like “Galway Girl” and “Belle of Belfast City.” We all sat at the bar, chatted some, and took in the music, the mixture of people, and the atmosphere of a real Irish pub.

Once I ordered my second beer, I was almost ready to call it a night and head home to get a good night’s rest. As I contemplated, the bartender who had been waiting on us jumped over the bar. Out of curiosity, I looked to see where he was going. Right in front of where the band was playing, he was ready to start dancing.

He started out with no music. The only sounds in my ears were his feet hitting the hardwood floor and his hands clapping out the rhythm. You have this idea in your head of what Ireland is, with the dancing, the music, and the people. I was seeing just that right in front of my eyes. The room watched in amazement as the bartender showed us the Irish dancing that one thinks of when you think of Ireland. As the music began to play, the bar, filled with tourists and locals, clapped along with the beat of the music and the pulse of his shoes thumping the floor.

During his dancing performance, the bartender grabbed an audience member by the hand to join him in his show. She joined the dance confidently as he led her through the steps of the Irish dance. The clapping and cheering only got louder as the performance continued along.

The impressive routine lasted for an unforgettable 5 minutes. Still clapping along, I stood up on a stool to capture the spirit of the performance while the whole pub erupted with excitement and smiles as the bartender continued his craft. The magnificence of this performance, for me, was the fact that it was truly unexpected and sincerely mind-blowing. I found my heart racing and my foot tapping the ground through the rest of the night.

After the bartender took a bow, the bar erupted with applause. He returned to the bar, to pouring drafts and making drinks as the onlookers returned to their conversations as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.  Dublin.

-Shannon Haugh

Some childhood memories should remain suppressed. I knew coming to Ireland I ran the risk of flashbacks and the haunting Irish step dancing rehearsals and classes of my past. But here I am, two weeks in and just about fully adjusted to the culture, the people, and the music (but I honestly was always prepared for that aspect). Now my mind can no longer repress the practiced skills of Irish step dancing. These basic steps once forgotten, have flooded over me within a mere couple of days. Now I have often find myself dancing in the courtyard of our apartment complex, my classroom on Rathmines Street and in pubs beside natives of Dublin city. It’s the first time I’ve enjoyed the exhausting choreography of step dancing. So when my art beat partner, Shannon, suggested that we check out the Irish Step Dancing Museum here I was on board. Bubbling with anticipation at the idea of witnessing a great part of Irish history and culture, we made our way to the populated Grafton Street area.

One of the most beautiful days in Dublin thus far, Shannon and I made a day of exploring the city. From one end of the city to the other we arrived at the beautiful, old Powerscourt building, home of the Dance Museum. Visible half a block away, I was amazed at the size of the building, and could not wait to see what was in store for us. Yet, walking into this lovely building I was surprised to be greeted with the smell of homemade soaps and lotions as the Powerscourt is apparently home to many posh boutiques and cafes. Distracted by the unexpected beauty of it all, we were on a mission, to find the museum. After climbing several flights of steps, asking three different people for directions, and eyeing up some delicious treats, Shannon and I made it to the museum at last. And lets just say the thirteen year old and twenty-three year old versions of myself were incredibly disappointed. All we got was a single room in the back of the building. Although beautifully crafted costumes, old fashion footwear, photographs and historical events in Irish step dancing were present, these amazing artifacts looked forgotten in the space. Dublin’s acclaimed “only traditional Irish Step Dancing Museum” was a major let down for this Irish American dancer.

Although some aspects of the history and culture were on display, the room was just entirely too small to be able to do justice to the beauty of Irish step dancing. My childhood visions of coming to Ireland to see traditional step dancing in all its splendor, was destroyed by the reality of this museum. The Irish Step Dancing Museum failed to honor this beloved tradition and personally, I am disappointed in the Irish people to allow this atrocious insult to their culture and their country remain under-funded and under-appreciated. The poor Irish Step Dancing Museum was left to hide in the corner of the Powerscourt due to years of abuse and neglect.

-Tara McNulty

photo link  Irish Step Dance Museum

So here I am in the chaotic Temple Bar district of Dublin and I am confused. Not only by the location but by the strangeness of the performance I just watched. The two part performance of Egg Charade at the “Projects Art Center,” was a show about the concepts of fertility and the necessary regiments a woman must do to live up to a conventional ideal. The show’s mysterious duo, Peggy and Peggy, incorporated a whirlwind of mystery and humor easily noted by the audience members’ reactions to their performance.  Although quirky and strange, the performance still resonates with me a week after its closing.

Initially, the twists and turns to this performance had me lost. The first fifteen minutes of the performance utilized the public city street. It was the first time I had ever experienced a performance this way. As part of the audience, our aerial position overlooked the street, granting us the ability to watch everyone down below, a necessary component to the performance. We often take so much for granted in life, a simple stroll on the street may be entertainment to someone else who may see the world from a different angle – an idea I felt to be apparent in the actions of the street occupants and the audience members. The awkward and humorous tension between everyone often preoccupied me more than the performance going on before me.  But in light of all this, I am much more aware of the actions I perform everyday, because who knows who I may be entertaining.

This idea of being examined from a different perspective was connected to the intimate second half of the performance inside “The Cube.” From the start, these performers played on the idea of conception and the regiments a woman must go through to conceive. From eating vegetables, aerobic exercises, and (sexual) bowling positions, the characters appear to be shaping up so they can fulfill their biological right of giving life to another. Throughout the performance there was an intimate and sometimes conflicting connection between the two dancers. As the performance progressed, the over-arching theme displayed the idea of molding oneself to fit into the male-dominated world. It was interesting to see a performance like this in Ireland where women ‘s rights are much more limited. But the pressure to fit in exists everywhere, and as a young, American woman who has been bombarded with unobtainable images of beauty for most of my life, I was moved by their ability to let their inhibitions go. The performer’s physical and mental exposure allowed them to find the natural beauty within.

Although initially confused and shocked by this performance, I found new meaning in this unconventional work. Yes, the site of the raw female form threw me, but the performance’s deeper depiction of strong, self-confident women who have love, and pride in their bodies and all the possibilities they may possess, will hold strong. Through its abnormality, Egg Charade encouraged us all to find the beauty within ourselves.

– Tara McNulty

photo link Egg Charade

Coming to Ireland I expected to see Irish dancing everywhere, traditional Irish garb as normal fashion, fiddles and clapping as the music of the country. The way America portrays it, it seems as though the Irish have never gotten out of their traditional, simple way of life.

I was seriously mistaken.

The Dublin Dance Festival, held at the Project Arts Center just up the road from Temple Bar, encompassed more than a traditional realm of dancing. As I waited for the show to start I felt curious and anxious to figure out what I was about to witness.

Egg Charade, an experimental dance performance, follows the characters Peggy and Peggy as they participate in a challenging exploration of issues in fertility and physical identities of females. Egg Charade had two parts. The first portion began outside, as the audience watched from a second story window in the art center. Two characters, as if setting up a mystery, used the street as their stage. I left the first part feeling a bit baffled and also felt a sense of comedic relief throughout the street portion of the show. The second portion of the show was in a small, cramped, intimate space where symbolism filled the room. Through the performance, I could see the portrayal of having to learn about yourself before having to take care of another living thing.

Structurally, the performance brought us through the stages of giving birth by acting out peculiar movements and awkward tension. The shock value of this performance left me puzzled inside and wondering if I was interpreting it in the right way. The beauty of this performance; though, was that I found myself picking apart the performance to mean so many different things especially as a young woman. The symbolism of exhaustion, fertility, sexuality, and stripping oneself of material things that don’t matter was so potent throughout this strong portrayal of feeling and emotion.

The symbolism in the show that stood out the most was the use of the pomegranate. Many were carried around in a bag for the duration of the performance and then were used to bowl with, eventually splattering around at the end of the show. To me, I felt it represented exhaustion of fertility in that the way the pomegranates were used throughout the show as well as sexuality as a woman in that pomegranates are supposedly aphrodisiacs. The element of the pomegranates gave connotation to many different interpretations.

The characters Peggy and Peggy eventually strip off their clothes, both literally and metaphorically and in doing so, make this performance hard to forget. As a woman in today’s society, I can say that this was a learning experience in that I walked in expecting the weirdest (and yeah, I got the weirdest), but the subject matter really spoke to me.

Egg Charade was different, edgy, ironic, entertaining, and uncomfortable. Let’s just say, I won’t be thinking of Irish Dancing the next time I come to Ireland.

Shannon Haugh

Pomegranate used in “Egg Charade”

http://vimeo.com/66598242

It was Saturday, 9 pm and my flight left Philly on time.  If all went well, I would sleep all the way to Dublin. Catching the Air Coach, I arrived at my City Centre hotel at 11am- exactly 3 hours too early for check in.  Suffering from a case of serious jet lag, I had two choices –  spend the next few hours investigating the local pubs or catch a Dublin Dance Festival performance by Spill.

“Spill” is a public art performance developed by the UK-based dance center DanceXchange.  For the past year, a troupe of dancers has been touring playgrounds in the UK and Ireland, incorporating the local terrain into their acrobatic performance.  Described as a “cheeky dance celebration for the child within” (1), Spill promised to be an unorthodox addition to the annual Dublin festival.

Everyone had told me that Ireland was the land of rain.  Bring your umbrella, buy a rain coat, wear your rubber boots, dress in layers….tales were told of the leather shoes that came unglued because of the constant wet.  But as I made my way to the #15 bus stop, carryon luggage in tow, the crystal blue skies and warm breeze promised a beautiful day for dancing.

Situated on the northeast edge of Dublin Centre, Fairview Park was ‘a wee bit’ of a bus ride and a considerable cultural distance from the tourist trap of Grafton Street.  As I entered the park, I noticed graffiti on surrounding buildings and tags on some of the playground equipment.  But a hurling game was in progress on the field behind the playground and boys kicked soccer balls to anyone who seemed willing to return the favor.  Children of all ages scampered over equipment as their parents claimed spectator turf at the edges of the enclosed playground.

At 1pm rhythmic music began pulsating from speakers ringing the play space. As an announcer introduced the Spill performers, he also pointed out to the onlookers that the Spill dancers were professionals and warned the children that they should not try the tricks themselves.  What followed was a 30-minute demonstration of physical grace and athletic skill as four dancers jumped, rolled and twirled through a performance that mimicked the rough and tumble of a childhood playground.

The performance was exuberant and clearly engaged the diverse audience.  Despite the cheerful mood of the performance, there was an underlying current running through the performance that I found troubling. The troupe, consisting of 3 men and a woman, embraced characterizations of childhood archetypes- the clown, the bully, the victim and the girl- yet offered no critique of these representations.  In fact, the storyline of the performance seemed organized around these archetypes, often playing the bully for laughs.  Waiting at the stop for the bus that would take me back to City Centre, I found myself hoping that, despite the many enjoyable aspects of the performance, parents in the audience might find this event to be a ‘teaching moment’. Kids, don’t try this at home.

LeAnn Erickson

1. http://www.dancexchange.org.uk/news/spill-a-playground-of-dance-2013-tour