News

Colin Dunne appointed Traditional Artist in Residence 2017/18

3 Oct 2017

The College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences (UCC) and the School of Music and Theatre (UCC), in association with The Arts Council, announce the appointment of the internationally renowned performer and teacher, Colin Dunne, as the Traditional Artist in Residence at University College Cork 2017-18. Dunne will deliver a series of concerts, workshops, and classes over the course of his 1-year residency, beginning in October.

 Colin Dunne is a leading figure in the world of traditional Irish dance. Perhaps best known internationally for his performances and choreography in Riverdance and Dancing on Dangerous Ground, he has been forging a new creative path since his time as artist in residence at University of Limerick where he completed an MA in contemporary dance in 2002. Since then he has worked as an independent performer, choreographer and teacher. 

Ensemble works include The Yellow Room (Daghdha Dance Company/Yoshiko Chuma 2003), and The Bull (Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre/Michael Keegan Dolan 2005). For The Bull he was nominated for a UK Critics’ Circle Dance Award in 2007. In 2008 he premiered his first solo show, Out of Time in Glór Theatre, Ennis. The show has since toured internationally at premier festivals and venues in London, New York, Paris, Brazil and Singapore. Out of Time was nominated for a UK Critics’ Circle Award (Best Male Dancer) 2009, and for a Laurence Olivier Award (outstanding achievement in dance) 2010.  

Recent collaborations include; eRikm (What is Ours, Centre National de la Danse, Paris), The Irish Chamber Orchestra/Linda Buckley (The Turn, Fall for Dance Festival New York), Boris Charmatz/Musée de la danse (20 Dancers for the xx century, Tate Modern Museum, London), and Edges of Light (with David Power, Maeve Gilchrist and Tola Custy, commissioned by Music Network 2016). 

A new solo work CONCERT, based on the music of Tommie Potts, premiered in Paris in March 2017 and received its Irish premiere at The Dublin Dance Festival in May 2017. 

His work as movement director includes; Christ Deliver Us! (Abbey Theatre 2010, directed by Wayne Jordan), and The Risen People (Abbey Theatre 2013, directed by Jimmy Fay). 

 

Dunne will be hosted by The School of Music and Theatre at UCC where the study of Irish traditional music and dance has been pioneered for many decades. It is a vital part of music studies at the university, where it stands shoulder to shoulder with classical music, popular music, jazz and various world musics, including the highly acclaimed Javanese gamelan ensemble.  He will be warmly welcomed by a team of internationally recognized traditional artists including Máire Ní Chéilleachair, Bobby Gardiner, Connie O’Connell, Margaret McCarthy, Colm Murphy, Conal Ó Gráda, Niall Vallely, Mary Mitchell-Ingoldsby and Tríona Ní Shíocháin.  

 

“Mr. Dunne’s percussive dancing — performed both in the footwear known as hard shoes and, more adventurously, barefoot — functions as a fourth musician, his feet doing the work of a drummer as they scuff, patter, chug, poke and swipe at the floor.”  - New York Times, 06 June 2017. 

He deftly switches between normal steps and stylised dance steps, playing with expectations.” – Irish Times 19 May 2017 

School of Film, Music and Theatre

An Scoil Scannánaíochta, Ceoil agus Amharclannaíochta

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh, College Road, Cork, T12 K8AF

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