Take Off Festival 2025 Programme 1

Take Off Festival features two international choreographers' works, chosen from the Aerowaves Twenty24 selected artists presented on shared programmes. Programme 1 features works by Jessie Keenan, Tobi Omoteso and Tú Hoàng.

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Programme 1 | Thursday 20 February | 7:30pm | Duration: 1hr

THE PICTURE PALACE
Jessie Keenan (Ireland)
A dance exploring the relationship between bodies, buildings and memories. Using audio recordings, archival materials, truths, half-truths, and some accidental fiction, a dance emerges. A dance for a building I was never in. For a building that no longer exists outside of memories.

• Created by Jessie Keenan
  Choreography developed during research period with dancers Sarah Ryan and Róisín Harten
  Performed by Jessie Keenan (Live) and Róisín Harten (on film)
  Sound by Tom Lane
  Video shot by Padraig Conaty
  Supported by Arts Council Ireland, Cavan County Council Arts Office, Galway Dance Project, Townhall Theatre Cavan and Cavan Arts Festival.

BENCH #4 F.L.O.W.
Tobi Omoteso (Ireland/Nigeria)
Dance like no one is watching is its very essence. F.L.O.W. embodies joy and liberation - Tobi’s body a vessel to momentarily see the physical representation of seen and unseen worlds. Hip-hop breakin’ and contemporary dance accompanied by a saxophonist & DJ paint a layered canvas of this seen world’s emotional experiences allowing the unseen to be made visible.

• Choreographer/performer Tobi Omoteso
  Curator (BENCH series) David Bolger
  Music Composition & Saxophonist Methembe Thabani Mafu
  DJ Damo
  Filmmaker Luca Truffarelli
  Technician Oisín O’Keeffe
  F.L.O.W. emerged from a commission by CoisCéim Dance Theatre as part of BENCH, a collection of short, original dance works highlighting everyday spaces as creative places, initiated in partnership with Waterways Ireland. www.coisceim.com/productions/bench

FALSE MEMORIES
Tú Hoàng (Netherlands/Vietnam)
False Memories is created around the concept of the psychological mind through the perspective of 2 individuals that have an unspeakable connection with each other. In an abstract way, the feeling stays that they are one entity in their spiritual world, whether they are together or separated in physicality. Our memory is a very fragile concept. Sometimes we remember things the way we want them to be. Our imagination helps us to escape our own reality in order to find comfort or peace.

• Created by Tú Hoàng & Hiro Murata
  Performed by Tú Hoàng, Tuan Anh
  Original Music David Granstrom - Obsidian, Flxk1, DB1 A2
• Special Thanks to Marjolein Peters, Conny Janssen Danst, James Sutherland.

About the Artists

Jessie Keenan is an Irish choreographer whose practice spans live performance, film and curation. Her work is at the intersection of science, music, visual art & archives. Selected projects: What Next Festival Limerick 2024, don’t anticipate the ending (two films & a digital exhibition) created with composer Robbie Blake and researcher Dr. Zosia Kuczyńska in partnership with the Museum of Literature Ireland (2022); Fragments (live performance w/ projection) Dublin Fringe Festival 2018 (nominated for Best Design) supported by an Arts Council Next Generation Award. Keenan is a curator with Light Moves Festival, Limerick.

Tobi Omoteso is an internationally acclaimed Nigerian/Irish B-boy (Breakin’ Breakdancer) and HIp-Hop freestyle dancer, training at Broadway Dance Centre, West Bronx, New York and Breakbeat Dance Studios, Waterford, Ireland. Tobi is the curator and director of the hugely popular TOP 8 STREET DANCE BATTLE, and is a Board Member of Dublin Dance Festival (DDF).

Tú Hoàng, a Vietnamese-born movement artist, began his career as a ballet dancer with the National Opera and Ballet of Vietnam. Currently based in Rotterdam, Tú Hoàng is the founder and artistic director of Hangtho Creatives and serves as a house choreographer at Korzo Theater. Fusing ballet, modern dance, kung fu, tai chi, and hip-hop, Tú has developed the unique Framework dance method. His work is deeply inspired by his Vietnamese roots and European journey, earning him accolades from esteemed competitions such as Copenhagen International, Hannover International, Masdanza.

Tuấn (Anh) Trần (NL) is a freelance dance artist based in Rotterdam. With his roots in HipHop and his curiosity for more he graduated from Amsterdam School of the Arts (AHK), Urban Contemporary/Jazz- and Musical dance Department (NL) in 2016. For He has worked with and has done repertoire from: Hoàng Ngọc Tú, Conny Janssen Danst, Dalton Jansen, Joseph Simon, Gerleen Balstra, Shailesh Bahoran, Club Guy&Roni, Heidi Vierthaler, Hofesh Shechter and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.