Inis Oírr meets Tokyo in unique dance encounter

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

A unique partnership between one of the largest cities in the world and the smallest of the Aran Islands comes to fruition this month when a dance collaboration called Echoes of Calling – Encounter will have its online premiere next Friday, April 23, as part of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme.

Acclaimed Japanese dance choreographer Akiko Kitamura has used online workshops and rehearsals to collaborate with three West of Ireland dancers on a short film inspired by her visit to Inis Oírr, Connemara, and Galway City in 2019.

Echoes of Calling – Encounter brings together the most westerly arts centre in Europe with dancers from the Galway Dance Project, sean-nós singers from Donegal, and one of the most acclaimed contemporary choreographers in Tokyo. It’s the result of a partnership between the Aras Éanna Arts Centre on Inis Oírr, Galway 2020 and EU Japan Fest.

Executive producer Siobhán O’Malley liaised between the partners in Japan and Ireland for the project, which followed Kitamura’s process of enquiry into the co-existence of human beings and nature, following her 2019 visit to Inis Oírr.

Donegal sean-nós singer Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde performed at Áras Éanna during her time there and she was captivated by what she saw and heard. This led to the inclusion of Doimnic and Diane Cannon in a stage performance of Echoes of Calling, with an ensemble of Japanese contemporary dancers. The piece premiered in Tokyo this January.

Kitamura had been due to return to Galway and Inis Oírr to stage this performance before Galway’s reign as European Capital of Culture ended. However, coronavirus restrictions prevented this, so she worked via Zoom with Magdalena Hylak, Stephanie Dufresne and Mintesot Wolde of the Galway Dance Project to create a site-specific piece for film, relating to the themes of the Tokyo show.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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