National Dance Residency Partnership 2026/27 recipient announced
Rachel Sheil is the 2026/27 NDRP recipient
Meet the recipient of the National Dance Residency Partnership 2026/27, Rachel Sheil.
The National Dance Residency Partnership (NDRP) is a partnership between Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, Dance Cork Firkin Crane, Galway Dance, and Tipperary Dance to provide a networked support to choreographers in the development and production of new dance work. By coming together, the partners acknowledge that our collective infrastructure and resources can go further and encourage more ambition in the dance sector.
This award includes a financial award of €10,000 to support the residencies and invest in the development of the new work, six weeks of rehearsal time across the country and a bursary for the successful choreographer to attend Tipperary Dance Festival, and the time and support of artistic staff.
Following an open call, we are pleased to announce that Rachel Sheil is the recipient of the NDRP for 2026/27.
About Rachel’s residency Rachel will be researching the development of new solo Paint by Numbers exploring the Erotic and society’s expectations of the Erotic on specifically Rachel’s female body. This research will focus on skill-building; primarily the skill of dramaturgy through collaborating with Hanna Slättne and the skill of using the body for humour through the expertise of
Raymond Keane.
Rachel will work with these collaborators in Galway, Dublin and Limerick, as well as on Inis Oírr in December thanks to the receipt of the North West Dance Residency Award. This partnership residency will advance the artistic voice of Rachel’s work as she gets clearer on expressing the idiosyncrasies that arise within – including voice, comedy, Contemporary & Street Dance, pop culture and fantasy media.
“I’m so looking forward to having the dedicated time to interrogate the use of voice, humour and pop culture in my work instead of always creating something by instinct alone! I can’t wait to work with my collaborators to become a more skillful choreographer with these mediums, and I sincerely thank the NDRP for this support”. Rachel Shiel
Image credit: Laura O’Loughlin
