Performed as part of a programme of work around Boundaries and Belonging, THE HERE TRIO challenges preconceived ideas about the right to belong in a place, and reflects on our fleeting existence in the rapidly changing environments we inhabit. This live captivating dance show now opens at Dance Limerick on Thursday 29th October.
With Brexit prevalent again this newly worked dance piece is a commentary on what was before the Covid pandemic where the dancers’ movements in the piece convey bodies that are slightly 'out-side' of themselves, agitated and driven, even stressed. Voices are independent from their speakers, images fracture and reform, and the senses are stuck in over exaggerated comparisons. Time doesn't flow, but hiccups along, with memories and imagined histories erupting throughout. The piece is made in close collaboration with videographer and sound designer Luca Truffarelli and with lighting designer Stephen Dodd and composer Bryan O’Connell.
For this upcoming performance at Dance Limerick in October, THE HERE TRIO will be reworked from its original iteration earlier this year, taking into consideration social distancing restrictions and the new environment and conditions for live performance due to the Covid pandemic. The piece will move between the original and the new live performance with an increased emphasis on film throughout. This creates new resonances with the idea of what it means to be "here", especially now as we navigate this turbulent moment of change in our lives.
On making this work in Belfast, Roche says, “It’s never easy to comment on a political situation especially when you are not at the centre point of that experience - you question your right to be there and your permission as a creative artist to have an opinion, and yet there is an empathy and an affect that you have felt for as long as you can remember that needs further investigation and expression, and so it becomes important to try."
Nicola Curry, Artistic Director of Maiden Voyage says, “We are delighted to be collaborating with Liz Roche Company to bring a timely work on boundaries and belonging to the stage with a combined all island creative team… The politics of place impact us all in myriad ways but it is often forgotten that the body is our first home. This work brings the intelligence of the body that houses and holds our past and present experiences to the fore to address often overwhelming issues of where we feel we belong and how we survive when things are beyond our control.”
This piece originated with a commission offer from Maiden Voyage to Liz Roche Company last year that kick-started thoughts on the current political situation on the island of Ireland in relation to Brexit. Roche found herself really interested in making a new work that dealt with the strange mix of emotions raised by this circumstance. Realising that even as an outsider as such, that the memory of a more difficult time was not that distant and the fear of a return to conflict is palpable.
At least that was the energy Roche took into the studio for this work, but came at it from a different angle - one that looked at how belief is formed and how the overwhelming information of our life experiences dictate outcomes. The process then took a turn towards the senses and how they differentiate and compare for us. In a grounded way, they let us know that we are “here” but they are also easily corruptible; due to stress or a traumatic experience they can overreact and the emotional and physical response that ensues can exaggerate out of control. It is within this stressful atmosphere that the piece searches for quiet and focus, though it is not always easy to find it.
THE HERE TRIO strives to bring us back into the moment - to a place where scars, real or imagined, no longer determine our every outcome. To book click here.
THE HERE TRIO is a recipient of support from the RTÉ Supporting the Arts Programme for our performance Dance Limerick.
