STEP UP: DANCE PROJECT

Step Up: Dance Project is a partnership between the Arts Council, Dance Ireland and the University of Limerick. The project aims to bridge the gap between dance education and professional contemporary dance practice in Ireland. It is an intensive eight-week programme of training, rehearsals, performance and development for six selected dancers who have just completed their professional training. Step Up programme will enhance these dancers’ professional networks by connecting them to the Irish contemporary dance community and improving their professional opportunities in Ireland.

Now in its second year, this initiative will give dance graduates an opportunity to work under the direction of two guest choreographers, John Jasperse (US) and Liz Roche (IRL), to create a programme of short works. These will be performed at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, DanceHouse in Dublin, and at the Firkin Crane in Cork. Performances will take place over the last weekend of the project (Aug. 23-26). Guest dance teachers will also work with the participants over the eight-week period.

The project will run from the 2nd July to August 26th and dancers will reside at UL, utilising state of the art studios and facilities at the Irish World Academy. Accommodation will be provided and participants will receive an honorarium for their involvement.

We are seeking applications from exceptional young dancers who will graduate in summer 2012 or who have graduated from professional level dance training within the past two years. Applicants must be born or resident in the Republic of Ireland and have a strong dance technique.

Please send your CV, a DVD or web link of recent dance footage, along with a one-page cover letter describing why you would like to be involved in the project. Email applications by the deadline: Thursday 5 April, to the Administrator, Dance Ireland (admin@danceireland.ie) with Step Up: Dance Project in the subject line. Posted DVDs must also reach us by the deadline. Letters of offer will be sent in early May.

For any questions about the application process, contact Inga Byrne at admin@danceireland.ie or 01 855 8800 and for further details on the project, contact Victoria O’Brien, Artistic Programme Director at victoria.obrien@ul.ie or 085 1585837.
Call for Step Up ’12

DRFI’s Newsletter Dance Notes second edition is now available through this link:

Dance Notes 2 -2011

The deadline for call for papers for DRFI’s 4th International Conference in Derry in June 2012 has been extended until 15th December 2011.  Please submit papers through this link.

Access the May 2011 newsletter on-line at

Dance Notes 1

The next issue is coming soon!

Dance Research Forum Ireland are pleased to announce that our 4th International Conference will be held in association with the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention (NAFCo) from 27th June to 1st July 2012.

The conference will take place across Derry and Donegal as part of an exciting and innovative festival of Music and Dance.  The conference will include paper presentations, panels, lecture-demonstrations; and a specially curated series of performance events that will reach out across the north-west of Ireland from the conference base at the University of Ulster.

DRFI Call for papers – click this link

Call for papers for the NAFCo Conference can be acquired on this link

Further information: InsightTrackPDF

Dance Research Forum Ireland (DRFI) is a non-profit, international, interdisciplinary, inclusive, and all-embracing society for scholarship of dance in Ireland, conceived in both local and global senses. The purpose of DRFI is to encourage, promote, develop and support scholarship of dance, in all its manifestations, in Ireland and abroad. The Forum provides a platform for presentation, discussion, and critical reflection on issues relating to dance and welcomes dance scholars and practitioners from all scholarly and performance-based dance practices.

Dance Research Forum Ireland’s Annual General Meeting takes place on Friday, 25^th June 2010 during DRFI’s 3^rd International Conference.

Venue: Musgrave Theatre, Firkin Crane, Cork

Time: 15:15 to 16:45

Dance practitioners, teachers or researchers are encouraged to come along to the AGM.

Membership of DRFI is only €20 for the year (€10 for Students, €50 for Institutions). By joining DRFI before the AGM (or on the day of the meeting) you can actively partake in the meeting and vote on issues on the agenda.

Carmel McKenna (DRFI Secretary)

Tel: +353 (0) 87 6410180

mckennadance@gmail.com

carmel.mckenna@lit.ie

NOTE

If any member of DRFI wishes to have an item placed on the agenda, or has nomination(s) for officers of the Board of DRFI, please forward them to me.