Audiences are awake to ‘sleepers’

SEONA MacRÉAMOINN

Subtle programming by Dublin Dance Festival director brought hidden gems and delight to the audiences that dared.

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Lack of care and humanity might be the accusation hurled at the two most personally political pieces in the festival; both of of which were Irish.

Listowel Syndrome by Emma Martin in Re-Presenting Ireland – the programme of curated new work from Ireland – which explores the ostracism of a woman who dares to name her sexual predator in a small community. But, towering over all for intensity was Tabernacle , the final show of the festival in which choreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir bravely steps into the minefield of the Irish body and its bruising and confusing encounters with the power of Catholic Church.

If Songs of the Wanderers represented a cleansing ritual, the healing catharsis is not quite there yet in this challenging and disturbing work. Familiar religious iconography; sexuality, innocent and manipulative; isolation and acceptance; authority and compliance, they are all there in a layered work that is subtle, a little overlong, but with Iarla Ó Lionáird’s voice an eerie supplication for release, this work will surely merit a wider audience.

The Irish Times – Tuesday, May 31, 2011