Take Off: Programme 1

THE VERY LAST NORTHERN WHITE RHINO Gaston Core (Spain)

With the utmost aesthetic simplicity, Gaston Core’s solo, based on urban dance, questions the very possibility of happiness in the face of the world’s chaos.

When New York Times journalist Sam Anderson heard about the death of the last male Northern White Rhinoceros, he flew to Kenya to observe and narrate in detail the daily lives of the last two female representatives of this species, which will disappear from the earth after they die. The image of these individuals in ignorance of their species’ fate gave the reporter a sense of peace at a time of global uncertainty.

Core seeks, through a formal investigation of different styles of urban dance (Krumping, Finger Tutting, Waving, Afro), to offer the image of the Man – the dancer Oulouy – who dances because he has discovered, as Paul Valéry puts it, that we have ‘too much energy for our needs’. That is, to present dance as excess, as a celebration derived from life. In this piece, Core puts Oulouy outside his urban context, in the centre of a black box, in front of a live audience. Dance to exhaustion, dance to the end, because maybe there is nothing more that can be done.

Concept & Direction: Gaston Core
Choreography: Gaston Core in collaboration with the dancer
Performance: Oulouy
Technical Care: Manu Ordenavia
Music: Jorge da Rocha
Lighting Design: Ivan Cascon
Stylist: Eva Bernal
Collaboration: Aina Alegre
Documentation, Photography & Video: Alice Brazzit
Co-production: Sala Hiroshima, Festival Grec de Barcelona
Gaston Core is presented in the framework of Aerowaves, co-funded by the European Union

CAN I HAVE YOUR BEST MOVE? Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín (Cork)

In early 2022 Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín realised she wasn’t quite sure why she was dancing anymore.  Her twenty year relationship with dance had begun to stagnate and it was time to do something about it...

In ‘Can I have your best move?’  Siobhán details the process of inviting people, from all walks of life, to dance with her and to chat with her about their relationship with dance.  In text, movement and visual projection this solo presents a live archive of moments collected from these encounters.  Ultimately, ‘Can I have your best move?’ is an effort to re-ignite a dancing spirit in the company of others.  

Choreography & Performance: Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín
Sound & Visual Design: Billy Kemp
Lighting Design: Ronan O’Shea
Artist Support: Marion Cronin

Supported by Dance Limerick and the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance as part of the Associate Artist Programme. Special thanks to: Stephen Collins, Laura Murphy, Sinéad Murphy, the staff of Dance Cork Firkin Crane and all workshop participants.  

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Born in Buenos Aires, dance artist, actor, and cultural manager Gaston Core trained as a performer and dancer. Based in Europe since 2001, he completed a degree in Dramaturgy and Direction at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona while collaborating with the European film producer and distributor Paco Poch. Core directed the performance space, Hiroshima, from 2015-2021.

Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín is a dance artist based in Cork. Her primary focus is on place-based and site-specific work manifesting in film and live performance. Trained in the UK and Ireland, Siobhán has performed with various renowned choreographers including: Mary Nunan, Joan Davis, Jessie Keenan, Junk Ensemble, Laura Murphy and Mary Wycherley. She is a recipient of the Decade of Centenaries Markievicz Award (2022) from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

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Photo credit: Alice Brazzit / Clare Keogh