Dublin Dance Festival celebrates 21st year

RTÉ News​

11-05-2025

The 21st Dublin Dance Festival kicks off on Tuesday and as part of the celebrations, a new national all-island dance company will take to the stage for the first time.
The 'Luail' dance company will present its debut show called 'Chora' in Dublin before hitting the road to bring the show to audiences across the country.
"The countdown is on for our very first performance and we are in a whirl of rehearsals," artistic director Liz Roche said as last minute preparations took place in Dance House on Foley Street in the heart of Dublin city centre.
Ms Roche went on to explain that "Luail is a national and all-island dance company that is supported by the Arts Council".
"It's the first company of this nature in many, many years in Ireland, and our mission is for dance to be celebrated across the island," she said.
Ms Roche explained that after many years in the build up to the launch of the company, they are very enthusiastic about the opportunity now "to increase visibility for dance for everybody".
Confirmation of Luail's plans have been welcomed across the dance communities here.
Professional dancers from Ireland said they have to travel abroad for their training and they assume that their long term careers will be spent on the road, away from home due to the shortage of work on stages here.
Part of the significance of Luail is that it can now offer dancers, choreographers and the wider creative teams security and stability in a traditionally unpredictable career.
"The possibility of having full-time employment here, which is something I didn't think was possible now is great."
A contract to dance full-time on home stages is a welcome step forward for creative talent.
For dancer and newly recruited member of the Luail company, Rosie Stebbing, this first production is significant.
She says that "Luail for me and I think for loads of dancers in Ireland, it's like a really landmark thing, because we haven't had a full-time dance company in Ireland.
"The possibility of having full-time employment here, which is something I didn't think was possible now is great."
She adds that she had to travel to Europe to train and work and she is delighted to be able to be home and dancing full-time here now.
Chora has been co-created by the acclaimed choreographers Guy Nader and Maria Campos and it will be first performed at the Bord Gáis Energy theatre on Tuesday night before heading out to stages nationwide.
Mr Nader supports the roll out of a national dance company.
He said: "We are workers so that stability is very important, not only economically but also it allows you to be stable emotionally and I think that is very important too."
Luail is the launch event for the dance festival and the buzz across Dublin dance communities is building.
The programme will host events from the 13th to the 25 May across a number of Dublin City venues and some of the highlights include Oona Doherty's return with 'Specky Clark', at The Abbey.
This acclaimed show blends fiction and biography, where a young boy dances as if in a Francis Bacon painting.
Somnole at the Project with Boris Charmatz is described as a dreamlike yet powerfully physical solo and Mosh from Rachel Ní Bhraonáin will be staged in the Space upstairs at the Project too and this show features loud music and smoke machines so be prepared.
Back at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre meanwhile, there will be welcome return for Matthew Bourne's ground-breaking all-male version of Swan Lake.
For artistic director Jazmin Elodi, the festival is the culmination of a year's work, as she travels internationally inviting the best of dance to Dublin.
"People should come to this year's festival because we are celebrating 21 editions this year of the festival," she said.
"We are full of amazing artists and performances coming from Nigeria, France, they're coming from the UK, and of course we have our Irish creative talent too at the heart of all this."
The 21st Dublin Dance festival runs from Tuesday until 25 May.