Dance Connects Conversation

Saturday 16th May, 10:30am-11:00am

Small Tent, Con Smith Park

Get a behind-the-scenes look into the Dance Connects project and find out what dance is happening in Cavan, Fermanagh-Omagh and Monaghan: from sean-nós and flamenco, to contemporary, jiving and line-dancing, hip-hop and Scottish Country. An audience Q&A gives you a chance to join the conversation and share your own stories about dance in the region.

The conversation features dance artists Dylan Quinn, Rebeca Sanchez and Marian Crowe, and is hosted by Professor Aoife McGrath (Queen’s University Belfast) and Dr Victoria Durrer (UCD). Find out more about Dance Connects, including the interactive dance databases, touring exhibition and podcast series HERE

Dance Connects is funded by Creative Ireland’s Creative Communities on a Shared Island scheme (2023-2027) and partners local authorities of Cavan, Monaghan, and Fermanagh-Omagh with diverse dance communities and researchers (Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin).

For more information please visit Marion’s Facebook page

Rebeca Sánchez: Dance Connects Project Partner

Rebeca Sánchez is a Flamenco artist and teacher born in Seville and based in Cavan. She studied Flamenco at the Superior Dance Conservatory in Seville and has worked in Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Ireland as a flamenco artist in various projects. Among her latest most prominent works is the interpretation in the National Concert Hall, Dublin (2024) with the Symphony Orchestra under the command of the renowned director Jaime Martín interpreting the “El Amor Brujo” of Falla. She is also involved in the teaching of flamenco, delivering workshops to various groups and working both in community centres and organising adapted classes for people with disabilities.

Professor Aoife McGrath: Dance Connects Co-Lead

Prof. Aoife McGrath is Professor of Dance at the School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University Belfast. Following a professional dance career in Germany and Ireland, she has worked as a choreographer, community dance and theatre facilitator, and Dance Advisor for the Irish Arts Council. Her work explores how creative and engaged practice research can be combined with scientific approaches to knowledge generation for policy-informing research. She has published widely about dance on the island of Ireland, and her work has been funded by Horizon Europe, Arts Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Future Screens Northern Ireland/AHRC, Creative Ireland, and the Higher Education Authority, amongst others.

Prof. Aoife McGrath Profile

Dr Victoria Durrer: Dance Connects Co-Lead

Dr Victoria Durrer is a Cultural Policy scholar based in the School of Art History and Cultural Policy at UCD and Co-Founder and Co-Director of Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland. Her work focuses on how the spatial and relational dynamics of administration and policy both shape and are challenged by artistic and creative practice as social, cultural, and professional endeavours. She holds expertise in engaged and policy-informing research, with projects often involving collaborative research designs, data collection and analysis with research participants and policymakers. She champions mixed methods approaches that bring creative practice-as-research into dialogue with more traditional social scientific methods.

Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre

Dylan has been Artistic Director of Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre since 2010 and a dance artist for over 27 years. He has worked nationally and internationally as a Choreography, Dancer and Movement Director. Dylan has an academic background in Peace and Conflict Studies and a significant focus of his work relates to the social, cultural and political context of his environment. Dylan was an Abbey Theatre Commemoration Artist and Irish Time Theatre Award Nominee. He has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Dylan’s recent work has involved a series of commissioned contemporary art works inhabiting the border village of Swanlinbar and a public engagement commission from Luail: Ireland’s National Dance Company visiting every country in the province of Ulster. Dylan has for many years being engaged in participatory work and has a strong committed to supporting the development of dance within his local context.

For more information, please visit Dylan’s website HERE