Daghdha Dance Company is closing down, terminated by unfortunate and ill-inspired decisions made by the Irish Arts Council. It seems appropriate for me to express my thoughts and my feelings on this blog, that so much helped my creative process during my residency at Daghdha.
It is obviously a sad moment, collectively for the loss of a creative force and of a rally point for a large community of local and international artists in such a deprived place such as Limerick city; personally for the loss of the family house and for a place where I could always seek refuge and inspiration.
Nevertheless, the ethos of Daghdha, the ideas and the legacy will carry on through the work of the people that have been influenced by its sprit and energy; people, such as myself, who have had their work and their lives deeply reshaped by such a place. Now we take Daghdha to the world, we go viral and spread everywhere we can. I have seen this happening before, with the quiet executions of the European Dance Development Center in Arnhem or the slow degeneration of the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam. The ideas live on and eventually resurface in a different time and space.
I am currently in Copenhagen working with another former Daghdha Mentoring Program (DMP) participant, Ellen Kilsgaard. Yesterday, Ellen and I had the fantastic opportunity to show a preview of our duet to a small audience in the foyer of Dansescenen, the most importance dance theatre in Denmark. Former DMP coordinator Bush Hartsorn, currently artistic director at Dansescenen set up this opportunity for us, gathering the staff of the theatre and of the adjacent Dansens Hus. It was a true Daghdha moment, spontaneous, fresh and provocative.
On Saturday the 26th, a good-bye event will take place in Daghdha Space, John Square, Limerick: the Ponderous Counter-spectacle of Things Ceasing to Be. We go out with a bang and then we keep banging all over the map.
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