A Changeling Wife (2022) Glamorous, independent and confident. Force fed toast and left to burn to death.
Bright Cleary’s husband believed her to have been replaced by a fairy; a fairy one inch taller than his wife. This wife was a rare creature. She could earn her own living because she owned a sewing machine.
This was a collaboration between dancer Agnieszka Mencel, lighting designer Michael Rathbun, costume designer Alison Brown and composers Eilon Morris and Zoe Katsilerou.
This details domestic violence and suspicion of women in Ireland at the turn of the century with a mysterious and mythological edge.
A truly gruesome story that stands in contrast to the commonly held image of fairies as tiny, beautiful girls.
This project has been supported by Creative Scotland, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Dance Base and Stellar Quines.
Touring pack available upon request.
This solo is just one outcome of a huge area of interest for Niamh of explore mythical, female archetypes though dance. She plans to create a series of these works inspired by other creatures such as the banshee and witches.
"Upon researching these characters, I often find that they are described through the eye of the male story-teller. They are portrayed as seductive temptresses, who wrong men. Often they’re are described without a personality and even more often, without a soul. What does this mean? Is there value only placed in the effect the have on men?
They are often subject to violence and imprisonment, in life and in these tales. I wish to give women a voice through a strong movement language, distinct to each supposed monster. I look forward to re-imagining all that we perceive as female or gender specific and wage war on the status quo, daring to reclaim femininity in the liberation of human movements."
Bright Cleary’s husband believed her to have been replaced by a fairy; a fairy one inch taller than his wife. This wife was a rare creature. She could earn her own living because she owned a sewing machine.
This was a collaboration between dancer Agnieszka Mencel, lighting designer Michael Rathbun, costume designer Alison Brown and composers Eilon Morris and Zoe Katsilerou.
This details domestic violence and suspicion of women in Ireland at the turn of the century with a mysterious and mythological edge.
A truly gruesome story that stands in contrast to the commonly held image of fairies as tiny, beautiful girls.
This project has been supported by Creative Scotland, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Dance Base and Stellar Quines.
Touring pack available upon request.
This solo is just one outcome of a huge area of interest for Niamh of explore mythical, female archetypes though dance. She plans to create a series of these works inspired by other creatures such as the banshee and witches.
"Upon researching these characters, I often find that they are described through the eye of the male story-teller. They are portrayed as seductive temptresses, who wrong men. Often they’re are described without a personality and even more often, without a soul. What does this mean? Is there value only placed in the effect the have on men?
They are often subject to violence and imprisonment, in life and in these tales. I wish to give women a voice through a strong movement language, distinct to each supposed monster. I look forward to re-imagining all that we perceive as female or gender specific and wage war on the status quo, daring to reclaim femininity in the liberation of human movements."
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Other projects to be realised:
Cailleach: Inspired by the confessions of Isobel Gowdie.
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Isobel Gowdie provided the most complete confession of any witch of her time apparently under no duress. They detail her evil deed, her spells and her transformation into a hare.
This work has had a short development with performer Zoe Katsilerou. This will be a multimedia piece using the body, film, projection and sound. This project has been supported by a residency at Dance Ireland and by The Work Room, Glasgow. |
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Woman at sea(working title)
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Woman at Sea is a dance exploring longing, exile, and the pull of the ocean. Rooted in personal and ancestral memory, it moves between myth and lived experience. This work explores what it is to scream, and worse, what if we wait too long to scream. Through improvisation, image, and sound, Woman at Sea invites audiences into a liminal world of power, grief and mystery.
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