Conflict Without. Conflict Within    

panel  1pm

Immigration connects Ireland to conflicts far outside its borders. Their consequences are embodied by people, who may also face tension and racism here.

Reflections on the role of imagination and collaborative action, with Dr Finola Cronin; artist Fiona Delaney & members of the Tower Migrant Reception Centre Sewing Club, Dublin; dance artist Aisling McCormick & Mícheal Chandra, Barefoot Performance Company, Zambia; & performance by John Scott, Irish Modern Dance Theatre & Centre for Survivors of Torture.

Making Connection    workshop  10am

Movement meditation led by Dance Movement Therapist and choreographer Bernadette Divilly (Galway)

El Funoun Dance Troupe (Palestine) 

professional dance workshop  10am - 12.45

El Funoun Dance Troupe's style is rooted in traditional Palestinian dance & culture, with international influences. It tours globally & collaborations include Yoshiko Chuma and Helena Waldmann. The workshop will introduce contemporary/traditional Irish dance artists to El Funoun's work, including improvisation within the movement & rules of Dabke & exploring connections between each others practices. 

 The Conflict of Practice   panel  3pm

If conflict causes a state of disconnection from the body, and embodied artistic practice can address bodily dis-empowerment and offer the potential for creative resolution, how is this shaping artists' actions?

Dance artist Ella Clarke (Irl) on the experience of choreographing extreme violence for theatre, Dr Mark Hamilton (Regent's University, UK) on performance practices as vehicles for the pursuit of self-determination & cultural emancipation, & artist Jessica Kelly (Irl) on the landscape of contemporary audio-visual culture viewed as a battleground.

Spotlight Palestine  talk  11am

On their first visit to Ireland, members of El Funoun Dance Troupe, Palestine, recount its 35 years of socially-engaged dance-making and advocacy, its contribution to Palestinian cultural regeneration, and the impact of the political and social situation on the transformation of movement in Palestine.

Mags Byrne of DU Dance (Northern Ireland), which advocates dance as a tool for facilitating personal and social development, reflects on the company's performance projects, 'Exile', and 'Yante, I Can Move', with young people in Palestine.

The Post-Colonial Body  talk  1.15pm

Professor Gerry Kearns (NUI Maynooth) examines the question of the postcolonial body in South African visual and performance art.

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"The force of the turning": Questions about art and the Troubles  panel 

Dance and body-based practices are often conspicuously absent in the discussion and documentation of Troubles art and art that relates to post-conflict Northern Ireland.

This panel brings together artists and scholars based in Northern Ireland to shed light on the important work being undertaken by dance practitioners within the context of this post-conflict society. Dance artists Dylan Quinn & Mags Byrne, Beatrice Jarvis, Dr Victoria Durrer (Queens University Belfast), with Dr Aoife McGrath. 

What kind of bodies are produced by conflict? And how can we think about various agencies moving and shifting these bodies?

Dance curator Sandra Noeth (Germany) in dialogue with performance artist Rima Najdi (Lebanon).

How do dance and performance address questions of social justice, social transformation, conflict resolution and trauma healing?

Human rights lawyer Patty Abozaglo (Peru/Irl), Dr Karen Till (NUI Maynooth), with Dr Ríonach Ní Néill, explore dance-making and performance in conflict and post-conflict situations in Colombia and Peru.

FREE OUTDOOR DANCE SESSION FOR ALL!

Learn the Dabke with El Funoun (Palestine) – 3pm Eyre Square

Join El Funoun dancers on Eyre Square to learn the Dabke Palestinian folk dance. Meaning 'stomping the feet', it is a communal, energetic and joyful dance. For all ages!

Black Box, Dyke Rd, 8pm

Compagnie Nacera Belaza is invited regularly to perform at such prestigious festivals as Festival Montpellier Danse and Festival d’Avignon. Self-taught, Nacera's works have toured the globe. The Irish premiere for this beautifully mesmeric Algerian/French choreographer.                              

The Choreography of Resolution: Dancing Social Resilience  workshop  1.30pm

Led by Michelle LeBaron (Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada), Carrie MacLeod (European Graduate School, Switzerland).

Exploring how dance and somatic intelligence can be applied in diverse conflicts & contexts, why a physical component is essential in conflict engagement training & intervention, and implications for addressing trauma & fostering resilience. Developed through a four-year international research project, Dancing at the Crossroads.

4pm Woodquay 

Be a part of a silent city walk - delight in a site responsive dance. Listen deeply. With Cindy Cummings, Sharon Murphy & piper Ronan Browne

Full programme details at www.ciotog.ie & www.facebook/Galwaydancedays

Andrew Duggan & Siamsa Tíre The National Folk Theatre - Orchestrating Unrest_Placard Folamh 

installation | performance 4pm  

Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway

Presenting the viewer with the language of protest and resistance as a visual syntax in which to analyse the methodology and manifestations of ‘proclaimed public opposition’. Premiere.

CACTUS p.a.c. (Palestine/Brazil/Greece) - Sensored   performance

The Cube, NUI Galway, 8pm 

Irish premiere

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/52286049

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Regan O'Brien & Astrid Walsh - A Countable Transparency Installation | Performance

Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway

A performance installation which invites the spectators to navigate its unpredictable landscape and engage with it, through touch and movement. In so doing they become an instrumental force in the formation, dispersal and reformation of its patterns, opening the potential to develop associations from transient narratives which may emerge from the encounter.