An energetic celebration of dance in Wexford, centered around the National Opera House and moving out onto the streets of Wexford Town!
The festival is an opportunity for Wexford locals to engage with national and international dance artists and companies and to discover new dance in our communities. SMDF is a resource for professional dance artists and dance practitioners and a meeting place for creative research and collaboration.
Saturday May 11th 2024 – Festival Day
SpringMoves Dance Festival Day brings together DANCE in all its exciting and touching forms to Wexford Town and County. The Festival holds a wide range of dances, from the traditional Sean-nós and Ceili up to the Contemporary and Street. We are inviting audiences of all ages and levels to come, enjoy and perhaps participate in a day full of dance.
Festival Day Programme
Dance workshops @ National Opera House
10 – 11.30am
Sean Nos workshop with Irene Cunningham
Tickets: €8, book here
11.30 – 1pm
Ceili workshop with Sarah Sullivan learn the Wexford Half Set
Tickets: €8, book here
Note: To book both workshops for €12 please contact the NOH Box Office on 053 912 2144
LUMEN @ Wexford Arts Centre
11.30am – 12.30pm
exciting 40min music and dance performance for families
Tickets: €10 Adults, €5 Children, book here
Street Dance Takeover (SDT) @ Wexford Town, Bullring
1 – 2pm
Outdoor Jam
In bad weather at the National Opera House
FREE EVENT
Cikada Circus @ Wexford Town, Selskar
2.30 – 3.30pm
Where Dance Meets Circus & Street outdoor performance
In bad weather at Wexford Arts Centre
FREE EVENT
SDT Exhibition Battles & DJ Family Dance party @ National Opera House
4 – 5.30pm
FREE EVENT
SMDF24 Festival Party @ Wexford Arts Centre
7.30 – 9pm live Wexford Ceili Band
9 – 11pm Old School Hip Hop Festival Afterparty with DJ Damo
Tickets: €10, book here
Sunday May 12th 2024
Where Dance Meets Circus and Street
Where Dance Meets Circus and Street @ National Opera House
Professional Development Masterclass with Cikada Circus
10am – 4pm
€60, further information and to book click here
Note:
#ISACSMembers have access to discounted rates
Bursary supports are available to participate in the masterclass!
Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network – ISACS have been quintessential SMDF partners since 2020. Together we have developed the Where Dance Meets Circus and Street, a popular and exciting annual event that sits within SMDF.
Every year, we co-host artists and companies whose practice blurs the line between dance, circus and street arts. This year the programme brings Cikada Circus to Wexford for a two day event! They will perform ‘Cikada’ on Saturday 11th of May, and deliver a Masterclass in the spaces of the National Opera House on Sunday the 12th.
Line-up
LUMEN
LUMEN is an exciting 35 minute music and dance performance with 3 performers. This original show that has been touring all over Sweden, uses sound, light, movement, video and voice and welcomes the viewers into a magical world where the stage vibrates, shivers, thunders, glitters and glows. As if earth was speaking to us, urging us to remember, to go back to nature and dream. Calling on the imagination the trio brings us into a surrounding world of trees, birds, polar bears, snails, wolves, praying mantises, sea creatures, reindeer, spiders, dragon flies, ant queen, fungus, tigers and more. We feel that we are a part of everything under the sun and moon.
Cikada Circus
Cikada Circus was formed in 2018 and is an Irish-based acrobatic-performance company who make enjoyable, light-hearted work for the outdoor arts sector in Ireland. The company has two currently running shows ‘Cikada’ and ‘Belonging’, which have both toured nationally and internationally. ‘Cikada’ was awarded ‘Most Innovative show’- Limerick Fringe 2019, and nominated ‘Best Duo’ – Dublin Fringe 2019. The duo are noted to bring a heart-warming, sincere, human quality to their work, whilst having clean, professionally executed acrobatics. Cikada Circus are also co-creators of the group-acrobatic-theatre company ‘Siolta Circus’ which has two shows under its belt, ‘Seeds’ and ‘On Tish’. Both companies have toured both nationally and internationally, and have also received multiple fundings from Arts Council Ireland.
Street Dance Takeover
Irene Cunningham
Irene is a highly acclaimed Seannós performer tutor and choreographer from Connemara, Co. Galway, currently living in Waterford. She began her professional career on the Late Late show, dancing alongside her siblings, The Cunningham Family Dance group. As well as performing with many leading artists, she was honoured in 2005, to be invited by the president of Ireland, Mary MacAleese, to perform on her official state visit to Japan and South Korea. Irene has been teaching Seannós for many years and is committed to passing on the old style dance tradition to the new generation. She teaches weekly Sean Nos classes in the Wexford Trad Hub.
Sarah Sullivan
Sarah trained in London and joined the cast of Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance in 1998 performing the leading role of Morrigan and touring the World for over ten years. Sarah founded the Sullivan Academy Wexford in 2012 using her experience of both competitive and professional Irish dance to teach children and adults. Sarah also teaches Set/Ceili dancing classes for all ages every week as a part of the Wexford Trad Hub. The Sullivan Academy will have their summer show in the Opera House on Sunday 26th May.
SpringMoves Dance Festival 2024 kicks off with the second annual ‘Dance Talks’ event in the Wexford Library. Walking the Tightrope – A conversation between 5 performance artists living in Ireland, moderated by Peter Murphy, with Musician Stace Gill, Choreographer Maria Nilsson Waller, Poet Stephen James Smith and Circus Artist Fadi Zmorrod.
* Dance Talk is a free event but places are limited.
Peter Murphy – aka Cursed Murphy – is a writer and performer from Wexford, Ireland. He is the author of two novels and several short stories. His work has been published and translated worldwide and his journalism and non-fiction have appeared in numerous publications. He performs, records and has released two albums with his band as Cursed Murphy.
Maria Nilsson Waller is a choreographer, dancer and designer. She co-founded Flora Fauna Project together with Irish multi-disciplinary artist Stace Gill – an international dance company based in Östersund, Sweden and Laragh, Ireland, working with themes around our relationship to nature, environment and natural intelligence in works that combine dance, music, installation and film.
Multi-disciplinary artist Stace Gill, also known as The Sei, has been creating music since 2008. Co-founder of the Flora Fauna Project (FFP), The Sei have served as the exclusive musical directors of FFP productions. Signed to Paragon Records, The Sei have released music scores and music videos from FFP productions and their tracks have been featured in various TV shows.
Stephen James Smith, born in Dublin, is an Irish poet, writer, performer, playwright, and educator, living in Wexford. His creations have been extensively published, translated into eight languages, and have received numerous awards and nominations.
Fadi Zmorrod was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, and has performed worldwide with many circus, dance and theatre companies. He co-founded the Palestinian Circus School in 2006, and co-founded Doulab for Circus and Dance in 2017, to work on various youth projects. He moved to Dublin in 2021 and Wexford in 2023 participating in many Irish based projects, receiving support and awards.
Check out some highlights from last year
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