this is an Irish dance
Lime Tree Theatre
Jean Butler Dance presents
this is an Irish dance Jean Butler and Neil Martin
Choreography and performance Jean Butler
Composition and performance Neil Martin
Lime Tree Theatre | Fri, 17th Feb | 8pm | €20/€16
Jean Butler’s last Danspace commission, hurry (2013), invoked the choreographer’s celebrated past in Irish Step Dance. Her new duet, this is an Irish dance, created with Belfast-based cellist Neil Martin further unearths her roots by returning to the relationship between live music and movement as the compositional departure point for the work.
Inspired by the interdependent relationship between music and dance and the formal spatial relationship between dancer and musician that characterizes her tradition, the piece explores the often-invisible interplay between dancer and musician in live performance. The movement and music, created simultaneously through improvisation during the piece’s development, raise questions about who is leading and who is following. this is an Irish dance reveals a dialogue between music and movement, movement and sound, sound and space, space and sculpture, sculpture and body, body and instrument, cello and cellist, cellist and dancer, and ultimately a man and woman.
Creative Team
Design Frank Conway
Lighting Design Michael Cummins
Costume Jean Butler
Rehearsal Assistant Kristyn Fontanella
Set Construction Michael Cummins and Milo Cummins
Production Manager Michael Cummins
Production Coordinator Barry McKinney
Publicity Stephanie Dickenson
Commissioned by Project Arts Center, Danspace Project, and Irish Arts Center.
The creation of this is an Irish dance was made possible, in part, with support from the Danspace Project 2015-2016 Commissioning Initiative with funds from the Jerome Foundation. this is an Irish dance was supported by developmental residencies at Dance Limerick, Siamse Tire, and Bennington College, Vermont.
The creation of this is an Irish dance was funded by The Arts Council of Ireland
“Butler and Martin engage in an intense, affectionate, sometimes flirtatious musical conversation. Butler is an extraordinary dancer, the accent of her dancing is distinctly Irish. Her footwork is light and crisp-she skitters across the floor, like a butterfly skimming the surface of a lake.” Marina Harss, The New Yorker
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Please note all ticket prices include €1 per ticket booking charge.
No exchanges or refunds.
For all performances at the Lime Tree Theatre, wheelchair spaces can only be booked over the phone.
Please call 061 953400 if you wish to book a wheelchair space.
No late comers admitted to the theatre after the show commences.
Limited parking availabile for partrons, please arrive early. Disability and bus parking available.

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Fri 17 Feb |