maiden voyage dance company

All-Ireland contemporary dance company ‘a new dawn’ for art form

Collaborative venture to be led by liz roche company will involve belfast-based maiden voyage dance and the irish world academy of music and dance at the university of limerick.

Dancers Vitor Barboza da Silva and Inez Berdychowska on Sandymount Strand: Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin says the new company will 'shape the future of dance in Ireland'. Photograph: Naoise Culhane

The establishment of a new, all-Ireland dance company has been described as “a new dawn” for the art form in Ireland by the Arts Council which will provide €2 million in funding for the initiative this year.

The new company is to be a collaborative venture led by the Liz Roche Company and involving the Belfast-based Maiden Voyage Dance and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.

The Arts Council said the new company would “provide a platform for dance, collaboration and development, seeking to strengthen the existing dance ecosystem, develop the art form and develop pathways for artists to create work of scale and ambition”.

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The Liz Roche Company was established 25 years ago in Dublin and is currently in residence at UL’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. It has performed at many prominent international festivals and venues. It also runs a number of outreach and professional development programmes.

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Maiden Voyage Dance, founded in 2001 by Nicola Curry, has also performed extensively abroad and is mainly funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance was founded in 1994 by Prof Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and is based at a modern centre at the university that includes two theatres, rehearsal rooms and a professional dance studio. The centre operates as part of UL and has about 300 students.

Liz Roche, who will take on the role of artistic director for the new company, said the announcement marked a “hugely exciting moment for dance”.

“This company will see the birth of a unique dance ensemble adept in performing invigorating, brave and ground-breaking work from a range of choreographers based across the island and internationally.

“The new company will offer distinctive, high-quality experiences for all, with a clear commitment to strengthening the existing dance ecosystem in Ireland.”

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Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin described the move as “ground-breaking” and said the new company would “shape the future of dance in Ireland”.

An assessment of the original proposal for the new company published in May of last year found widespread support for such a move but also expressed some concern for existing companies who might lose members to the new all-Ireland one and recommended that care be taken to protect the wider sector during the new company’s early years.

Maureen Kennelly, director of the Arts Council, is positive about the initiative , however, insisting the new company will have a “transformative impact”.

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Emmet Malone is Work Correspondent at The Irish Times

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Home » Dancing , The Monthly » The Monthly interviews Nicola Curry, Artistic Director of Maiden Voyage Dance – Part 2 – Setting up a Dance Company

The Monthly interviews Nicola Curry, Artistic Director of Maiden Voyage Dance – Part 2 – Setting up a Dance Company

What was the motivation to set up maiden voyage dance.

I had finished my Masters, I didn’t want to go and work in dance elsewhere. I didn’t want to move to Dublin or England, I wanted to stay in Belfast and I thought there needed to be a company here and so I decided to set one up.

I had worked in arts administration, I had the skills and I knew how to go about the work. I knew how to fundraise and I really did think, “If not now, when?”

And next spring will the 21st anniversary of ‘Senses’ our first production which was a co-production with a company in Dublin called Rex Levitates. We toured that show here, and in the South as well.

And why a commissioning company?

I was interested in dance as a dancer. I wanted to work with a range of choreographers. Dance companies can be built around the work of one particular choreographer, one particular style. I had always experienced lots of different dance styles through the work of many different choreographers. That was my starting point both as a dancer who wanted to work with a range of artists and it was also what I wanted to offer back to audiences.

Northern Ireland can be a very difficult place to attract an audience. Were you able to build an audience for your work?

You always have to fight to build an audience, but we have been very lucky regarding audiences for our work. Even from the very beginning we were able to attract an audience. The first production “Senses”; we put that on at The Lyric and it did very well here and on tour,

We have always been able to build an audience for our work and we have used different methods to help us to do that. We might do workshops alongside a production and encourage those people who participate in the workshops to attend the performance. We go into schools with the same approach, facilitate workshops with the dancers, talk to students about the show and encourage them to come along and see what we have produced.

We are aware that Dance might not be people’s first choice, so we always aim to find ways to bring people towards our work. From 2002 through to 2010 we worked on stages and theatres in venues throughout the country. In 2010 we started a project called Dance Exposed, where we looked at the use of different spaces with much smaller productions, smaller pieces of work. We could take that work to community spaces or outdoor public spaces, and we did that in order to seek out an audience; to create a situation where people didn’t have to risk too much in terms of finances to access a dance event.

We found a lot of families would come out to see those smaller pieces of work and that lead us to develop another commissioning strand called “Offspring”. That was work which was especially created for young children and their families.

How do you deal with financing the productions? What about the instrumental approach for artistic activity in order to access funding?

We are always aware of the funding infrastructure that we are working with. We are conscious of what the limitations are regarding how funding is granted, and how we need to ensure the work you create has to have a public benefit. We are a Charity as well so that approach is built in as part of our process. We would design workshops and outreach activities into all of our productions.

The company also finds ways to break down barriers to arts attendance. We organise subsidised buses for groups and we offer audio description for our work as well. For us these things go hand in hand with the work we create in the studio. Maiden Voyage Dance is always aiming to bring our work to new audiences, marginalised groups who might not think dance is for them, and we are always thinking of ways to build an audience to those interested in what dance has to offer.

How do you go about commissioning work and what ideas are you looking to explore?

Everything we work on is new. We don’t buy work in, so everything, the choreography and the music that accompanies it, is new work. In terms of ideas, there will be times when I invite a choreographer to look at a particular theme as a starting point for a commission or there will be times when themes develop through a period of research and development.

See more of the work produced by Maiden Voyage Dance here: maidenvoyagedance.com/

Maiden Voyage Dance which is this year celebrating 21 years of commissioning and creating dance for theatre, public spaces and young and family audiences is set to return to the Belfast Children’s Festival in March this year with two brand new pieces of work.  The artist-led dance company has announced haiku a new work for public spaces from acclaimed choreographer Erik Kaiel, and Line of Life a digital dance installation piece from local artist Clara Kerr. 

Erik Kaiel creator of Festival favourites, Tetris and No Man is An Island has returned to Belfast to create haiku a new piece for public spaces.

The piece is an ode to friendship. Each one of us is trying to find our tribe where we can grow and be seen and accepted for who we are. Friendship unlocks a way of seeing and being in the world so we are more free to be ourselves. haiku celebrates small poetic moments as more powerful than grand gestures

For the piece Erik will work with existing Maiden Voyage dancers, and welcome new dancer Gerard who has joined the company having recently graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Commenting on the new works, Erik said about the process of making ‘haiku’;

“The most interesting part of the creative process as a choreographer is when your ideas and who the performers are meet. I hadn’t met Maeve, Gerard and Rosie before we began and the piece we have created together is rooted in their sense of self rather than them doing steps I ask them to do. There is a strong sense of the performers ownership of the piece, and we really see human beings expressing themselves fully which is what we should all feel able to do within our own friendships, family and community.”

Alongside haiku Maiden Voyage Dance has commissioned local artist Clara Kerr to create a solo piece ‘Line of Life’.  Working with young people and adults, ‘Line of Life’ has taken this stimulus physical, emotional and life journeys are woven together and reflected on the unexpected pandemic interruption in all our lives it through a dance, music, digital and live interaction.  The installation considers our many journeys through life with all its twists and turns from the places we live, the emotions we experience and the decisions we face as we move through life. As well as choreographing the piece, Clara will also perform it during the Festival.

Commenting on the two new commissions, Nicola Curry from Maiden Voyage Dance, said

“ Bringing two brand new pieces to this year’s Belfast Children’s Festival and celebrate our 21 years since our first production too is wonderful! 

We are thrilled to support emerging artists such as Clara as well as invite established international artists to create work in Belfast also. We can’t wait to share these two distinct works with festival audiences. It is fantastic to continue and rekindle the very important local and international relationships with and within our industry to share excellence in dance thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and by Belfast City Council.”

Caoileann Curry-Thompson, Arts Development Officer for Drama and Dance, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said,

“Congratulations to Maiden Voyage Dance as they celebrate 21 years of creating high-quality dance for audiences in Northern Ireland and beyond, helping to bring great art to all.  The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to support Maiden Voyage Dance and look forward to experiencing these two new works to be performed at this year’s wonderful Belfast Children’s Festival, well done to all involved!”

haiku will be performed by Maiden Voyage Dance trio Maeve McGreevy, Gerard Headley and Rosie Mullin.

Audiences will have several opportunities to catch ‘ haiku and Line of Life . 

haiku will be shown free at The Ulster Museum, on the following dates and times;

• Sat 4 March 11:30am, 2pm
• Sun 5 March 11:30am, 2pm

And again at The MAC, Upper Gallery as follows

• Sat 11 March 3pm & 6pm.  

Line of Life will be shown at the Factory @ MAC on the following dates and times;

• Sat 4 March 2pm, 4pm
• Sun 5 March 2pm, 4pm. Tickets £5. 

For tickets visit www.youngatart.co.uk .

• Maiden Voyage Dance

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Politically, the time is out of joint in Ireland. Elections and assemblies, tariffs and trade deals, boundaries, borders and Brexit provide the motivation and subtext for Maiden Voyage’s newly commissioned double bill. Everything is on the table, even the dance itself, as Eileen McClory’s challenging, intimate Brink unfolds on top of a high, square table.

Ryan O’Neill and Vasiliki Stasinaki begin and end as an intertwined knot of human flesh. In the intervening 25 minutes and within the tight confines of their performance space, they submit their bodies to a sinuous process of physical entanglement and disengagement, rarely breaking contact while creating a series of tender and tormented images.

Mutual trust is an essential element in their partnership as each in turn carries, protects, supports the other. The male dancer is not inevitably the source of strength and endurance. Stasinaki’s tiny frame shows itself eminently capable of bringing her man – the tall, strongly built O’Neill – through difficult moments.

Katie Richardson’s menacing soundscape resonates to the once-familiar sounds of conflict and piercing searchlights create dark shadows while picking out the detail of McClory’s high-risk choreography.

The angular precision of Liz Roche’s The Here Trio offers an intriguing reflection on space, history and our transitory, uncertain existences within the rapidly changing environments we occupy. Threaded by a vocal commentary and with a solo percussion accompaniment, three extraordinary dancers – O’Neill, Sarah Cerneaux and Glória Ros Abellana – collectively navigate a green screen or sward.

Their unpredictable body language creates swirls of syncopated patterns, one minute agitated and reactive, the next bringing peace to body, mind and spirit.

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NDAI: Maiden Voyage Dance Company

Download PDF catalogue here

Name of Creator(s): Maiden Voyage Dance Company.

Administrative History: Maiden Voyage Dance Company was established in 2001 by dancer Nicola Curry (now the company’s Artistic Director) to bring the best of contemporary dance performance to audiences across Northern Ireland and beyond.  In addition to producing touring commissions, the company offers a range of tailor-made education and outreach opportunities in the form of masterclasses, residencies, workshops, and lectures, including the Leap Forward initiative to promote positive mental health.  The company is also dedicated to developing dance skills through various mentoring initiatives and professional development courses.  Maiden Voyage remains Belfast’s only professional contemporary dance company.

Immediate Source of Acquisition: Donated by Maiden Voyage Dance Company to the National Dance Archive of Ireland on 17 October 2011.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content: Posters, flyers, and a recording relating to the activities of Maiden Voyage Dance Company.

System of Arrangement: Documents have been arranged into three series according to the activity to which they relate.

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access: Unrestricted access to all items.

Conditions Governing Reproduction: Standard copyright regulations apply to all items.  For photocopying or reproducing material, please consult with the staff.

Language/ Scripts of Material: English.

© Copyright 2020 Special Collections Library, University of Limerick

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Maiden Voyage Dance Company

Reference Code:  IE 2135 N32

Title:  The Maiden Voyage Dance Company Papers

Dates of Creation:  2002-2010

Level of Description:  Fonds

Extent and Medium:  15 items (10 files)  

Name of Creator(s):  Maiden Voyage Dance Company.

Administrative History:  Maiden Voyage Dance Company was established in 2001 by dancer Nicola Curry (now the company’s Artistic Director) to bring the best of contemporary dance performance to audiences across Northern Ireland and beyond.  In addition to producing touring commissions, the company offers a range of tailor-made education and outreach opportunities in the form of masterclasses, residencies, workshops, and lectures, including the Leap Forward initiative to promote positive mental health.  The company is also dedicated to developing dance skills through various mentoring initiatives and professional development courses.  Maiden Voyage remains Belfast’s only professional contemporary dance company.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:  Donated by Maiden Voyage Dance Company to the National Dance Archive of Ireland on 17 October 2011.

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Scope and Content:  Posters, flyers, and a recording relating to the activities of Maiden Voyage Dance Company.

Appraisal, Destruction and Scheduling Information:  All records have been retained.

Accruals:  Accruals are possible.

System of Arrangement:  Documents have been arranged into three series according to the activity to which they relate.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE

Conditions Governing Access:  Unrestricted access to all items.

Conditions Governing Reproduction:  Standard copyright regulations apply to all items.  For photocopying or reproducing material, please consult with the staff.

Language/ Scripts of Material:  English.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements:  Paper documents and recordings in good condition.   N32/2/1  requires a DVD player.

Finding Aids:  A hard copy of the descriptive catalogue is available at the Special Collections and Archives Department, Glucksman Library, University of Limerick.

DESCRIPTION CONTROL

Archivist’s Note:  Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba.

Rules or Conventions:  This description follows guidelines based on  ISAD(G)  2nd edition, 2000,  Irish Guidelines for Archival Description , 2009,  National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names , 1997, and  EAP Guidance on Data Protection for Archive Services, 2018 .

Date of Description:  December 2011.  Revised July 2020.

© Copyright 2020 Special Collections Library, University of Limerick

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Maiden Voyage Dance

Maiden Voyage Dance is Northern Ireland’s leading dance commissioning company.

Maiden Voyage Dance tour dates listed on Ents24.com since Apr 2009.

Official website maidenvoyagedance.com

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Maiden Voyage Dance. Were you there?

• Feb 15 2015 London, Queen Elizabeth Hall Maiden Voyage Dance Company
• Feb 14 2015 London, Queen Elizabeth Hall Maiden Voyage Dance Company
• Feb 11 2015 Armagh, Market Place Theatre Maiden Voyage Dance Company
• Feb 13 2013 Armagh, Market Place Theatre Maiden Voyage Dance Company
• Nov 13 2011 Maiden Voyage Dance Company
• May 12 2009 Omagh, Strule Arts Centre Maiden Voyage Dance Company

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Maiden voyage dance, welcome to our new company manager.

This week we welcomed our new Company Manager, Nuala McGreevy to the Maiden Voyage team. Nuala joins us after many years at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where she was first Transitions Dance Company Manager and then Programme Manager for the Centre for Advanced Training. Nuala is originally from Northern Ireland and has worked previously with Belfast Festival at Queens, The Naughton Gallery and more recently Hillsborough Castle and Gardens in various producing, participatory and project management roles. She is excited to bring her skills and love of dance to Maiden Voyage and is looking forward to working with the team to deliver the programme to a wide range of audiences and communities at home and further afield

Sadly we say goodbye to Sandy Cuthbert as she retires as Company Manager after five years in post but we are delighted that she will continue to work with us as freelance Engagement Coordinator, managing and facilitating Belfast Movement Choir, Move Fit, Repertory Outreach and Seasonal Somatics. We wholeheartedly thank Sandy for the experience, knowledge, commitment and passion for dance she has given to Maiden Voyage and look forward to continuing our relaionship with her. She is so pleased to be further developing the outreach programmmes with Maiden Voyage, but also looks forward to having more time as a dance practitioner, printmaker/feltmaker and tending her garden and allotment!

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Belfast Movement Group

Mon, Apr 8, 10:30 AM

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Fri, Feb 16, 9:00 AM

Contemporary class with Ryan O'Neill

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Contemporary class with Sarah Golding

Tue, Feb 13, 9:00 AM

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