PRESS RELEASE
Wed 17 December 2009
First they take Manhattan …. Culture Ireland leads largest ever delegation of artists to New York.
More than 70 music, theatre and dance artists from Ireland are bound for New York in January 2009 as part of a promotional mission for the performing arts led by Culture Ireland. In all, 9 traditional groups and 4 theatre and dance companies will give showcase performances to an audience of key US and global promoters, while more than 20 other theatre, music and dance ensembles and artists will be promoting their work.
Culture Ireland’s promotional mission to the United States is focussed on APAP (the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference), the world’s largest performing arts market and showcase which takes place annually in New York, and on the Under the Radar festival presented by the Public Theater in association with APAP.
In a new initiative, Culture Ireland will present Best of Irish, a showcase of some of the hottest emerging bands and artists on the Irish traditional music scene for an invited audience of international presenters and promoters, in partnership with the Irish Arts Centre. Participants include Fidil, Guidewires, Mary McPartlan, The Frost Is All Over and Slide.
Building on the success of the Abbey Theatre’s Terminus by Mark O’Rowe at Under The Radar 2008, two of the 18 shows in Under The Radar 2009 are from leading next-generation Irish companies – Pan Pan’s The Crumb Trail by Gina Moxley at PS122, and Gare St Lazare Players’ production of First Love by Samuel Beckett at the Public Theater. Under The Radar is one of the most prestigious curated festivals of contemporary and experimental theatre, and a unique showcase opportunity for any Irish company.
Culture Ireland is also supporting showcase performances at APAP by Fishamble: The New Play Company, Rex Levitates Dance Company, Altan, The Outside Track, the David Munnelly Band and Niamh Ní Charra, and hosting networking and promotional events in partnership with the Consulate-General of Ireland in New York and Under The Radar.
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, TD, commented: “The international profile of Irish music, theatre and dance has never been higher, but I am convinced there is huge scope for further growth. Strategic promotion at key international events such as APAP and Under the Radar creates opportunities for Irish artists to raise their international profile and gain major performing opportunities in the United States and other key cultural markets.”
Eugene Downes, Chief Executive of Culture Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to be bringing to New York such a strong and diverse cross-section of established and emerging artists. Our relationships with key presenters like Mark Russell at Under the Radar, Vallejo Gantner at PS122 and Aidan Connolly at the Irish Arts Centre have helped us to deliver such a strong line-up. We and the artists are determined to make our mark in the tough and competitive environment of APAP, laying the groundwork for further international success and working together to build Ireland’s international cultural profile. This initiative also makes sense in maximising the value of the extensive investment and support of the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon in funding the ongoing work in Ireland of these companies and artists.”
Further information can be obtained from:
Madeline Boughton
Director of Projects and Promotion
Culture Ireland
+ 353 1 631 3906
+ 353 87 7977 827
NOTES TO EDITORS
BEST OF IRISH: CULTURE IRELAND SHOWCASE OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC
In addition to the art-form delegation to APAP, Culture Ireland will present Best of Irish, a showcase of some of the hottest new bands and artists emerging on the Irish traditional music scene. The showcase, featuring five bands selected by peer panel assessment from an open call, will take place at the Irish Arts Center on Sunday 11th and Monday 12th January before an invited audience of international presenters and promoters.
Winners of the prestigious Music Network 2008 Young Musicwide award, hot new fiddle trio Fidil hail from Donegal and comprise three of the country’s most promising young musicians - Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Aidan O’Donnell and Damien McGeehan.
With their high-energy performances, breathtaking arrangements and infectious melodies, its no wonder that Guidewires are described as “the freshest sound in Irish music” (Clare People). The band features features Pádraig Rynne (concertina), Sylvain Barou (flute), Tóla Custy (fiddle), Paul McSherry (guitar) and Karol Lynch (bouzouki).
Mary McPartlan (‘McPartlan’s voice is gloriously earthy, as she breaks in her material for all their life-giving powers’ The Irish Times) released the critically acclaimed album The Holland Handkerchief in 2004. Her recent album Petticoat Loose (2008) was voted one of the Top Ten Folk Albums of 2008 by Mojo Magazine.
Featuring the extraordinary talents of renowned accordian player Tony MacMahon and David Power (uilleann pipes, fiddle and whistle), with poetry by award-winning Irish poet and playwright Dermot Bolger (performed by Eamonn Hunt), The Frost is All Over is a live music theatre performance. The specially selected tunes, performed against a backdrop of still and moving archive imagery, are woven with Bolger’s poetry into a rich tapestry of Irish traditional cultural life.
Formed in 2000, Slide are a five-piece band featuring Aogan Lynch (concertina), Diare Bracken (fiddler-guitarist), Mick Broderick (bouzouki and mandolin player), Eamonn de Barra (pianist-flautist) and Andrew Murray (vocalist). They have recorded three CDs, the latest of which (Overneath) earned them the accolade ‘… the future of Irish music’ (RTE, Radio 1).
THEATRE AND DANCE SHOWCASES
To complete the Irish invasion of New York, Culture Ireland will support four theatre and dance showcases of new and recent work by Irish companies who have already toured extensively this year in partnership with Culture Ireland:
Pan Pan Theatre Company will present their latest work, The Crumb Trail by Gina Moxley, at Performance Space 122 (7-17 Jan) as part of the Under the Radar theatre festival, following the premiere of the work in Dusseldorf in November. Pan Pan approaches theatre an as open form of expression. Their work has developed an individual aesthetic that has simply grown from making performances in a host of different situations and conditions.
Gare St Lazare Players Ireland present their acclaimed production of Samuel Beckett’s First Love at the Public Theatre (9-18 Jan), also as part of the Under the Radar festival. The company have toured to over 35 cities worldwide and their repertoire includes work by Conor McPherson, Michael Harding and Samuel Beckett.
The multi-award winning Fishamble: The New Play Company will present two showcase performances of Pat Kinevane’s Forgotten at the Shetler Studio (11-12 Jan), a solo piece of theatre which reveals the interconnecting stories of four elderly people, living in retirement homes and care facilities around Ireland.
Liz Roche (Rex Levitates Dance Company) will show an extract of a work-in-progress quartet with dancers Jodi Melnick, Juliette Mapp and Katherine O’Malley that has been developed during a 12 day residency at Movement Research New York AND Shared Material on Dying – a solo/trio unison work developed for Dublin Dance Festival 08 and performed at South Bank Centre, London and Liverpool 08. The showcase will take place in the Centre for Performance Research (5pm, 12 Jan).
The Culture Ireland delegation also includes artists and company representatives from the theatre sector (Druid, Barabbas, Performance Corporation, Gúna Nua, Broken Talkers, Tall Tales) dance (Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Junk Ensemble, Dance Ireland, Dublin Dance Festival) and music (Crash Ensemble, Anúna, Daniel Figgis, Nyle Wolfe, Thomas Moore Festival, Paul Brock, Téada and Martin Tourish).
ENDS