A trio of physical works, “The Fairy Wives”, is a collaboration between Niamh and young, female performers. Each solo focuses on a different characters from Celtic mythology, a selkie, a witch and a changeling.
"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."
"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."
The Selkie.
Gan Ainm, Gan AnamAn exploration of the stories of seal women who come from the sea in Scotland and Ireland. They must hide their seal coat.
Should it be found the seal coat be found the the person who owns the coat own the selkie. Originally inspired the anger brought on by this story of forced female servitude and marriage. The current version of their work has been performed at Dundee Reps "Act Festival 2018 and Dance Live 2018. I am currently applying for opportunities to expand this work. |
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The Changeling.
The Wife of Michael ClearyGlamorous, independent and confident. Force fed toast and left to burn to death.
A bright spark of a woman extinguished by kerosene. Bright Cleary’s husband believed her to have been replaced by a fairy; a fairy one inch taller than his wife.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. I would like to collaborate with dancer Agnieszka Mencel to explore the imagery of this true story, as written by Sady Doyle. 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. Was Bridget a treacherous fairy or unfortunate enough to have been married to an easily threatened husband. We must all decide for ourselves. Research on this piece will begin in July 2020, funded by Stellar Quines Mini Make Do and Mend Fund. "My approach will be to start from the imagery found the the story and translate the images into movement. The story is written with a visceral quality so I have no doubt that it will transform well into another art form. Laughter, eating toast, catching fire, screaming and glamorous clothing all feature in the story and would be my starting point. I would also like to experiment with the sounds of the story, there is a detailed account of an exchange with Bridget's mother-in-law, the parish priest and her husband as she is being blessed and tortured. I believe that this would serve as a great score to the work, I will experiment with mixing it with Celtic music." |
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The Witch.
An Cailleach.A current project in development as part of DEBS mentor-ship at Dance base, Edinburgh. This will be a self choreographed solo exploring the notorious Highland witch Isobel Gowdie. Gowdie provided the most complete confession of any witch of her time apparently under no duress.
This will be a multimedia piece using the body, film, projection and sound. This project will be supported by a residency with Dance Ireland in Spring 2021 and will be performed as a part of Alive at Generator Projects, Dundee in June 2021 |
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