It was Saturday, 9 pm and my flight left Philly on time.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Suffering from a case of serious jet lag, I had two choices – \u00a0spend the next few hours investigating the local pubs or catch a Dublin Dance Festival performance by Spill.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpill\u201d is a public art performance developed by the UK-based dance center DanceXchange.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Described as a \u201ccheeky dance celebration for the child within\u201d (1), Spill promised to be an unorthodox addition to the annual Dublin festival.<\/p>\n
Everyone had told me that Ireland was the land of rain.\u00a0 Bring your umbrella, buy a rain coat, wear your rubber boots, dress in layers\u2026.tales were told of the leather shoes that came unglued because of the constant wet.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Situated on the northeast edge of Dublin Centre, Fairview Park was \u2018a wee bit\u2019 of a bus ride and a considerable cultural distance from the tourist trap of Grafton Street.\u00a0 As I entered the park, I noticed graffiti on surrounding buildings and tags on some of the playground equipment.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Children of all ages scampered over equipment as their parents claimed spectator turf at the edges of the enclosed playground.<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0What 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.<\/p>\n
The performance was exuberant and clearly engaged the diverse audience.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In fact, the storyline of the performance seemed organized around these archetypes, often playing the bully for laughs.\u00a0 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 \u2018teaching moment\u2019. Kids, don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>\n
LeAnn Erickson<\/p>\n
1. http:\/\/www.dancexchange.org.uk\/news\/spill-a-playground-of-dance-2013-tour<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was Saturday, 9 pm and my flight left Philly on time.\u00a0 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 … Continue reading