RYAN C SEATON
AUDIO PRODUCER
WHAT WE HOLD
Marking acclaimed choreographer Jean Butler’s return to working with traditional Irish dancers, ‘What We Hold’ is a site-specific work which unfolds as a series of encounters performed by an intergenerational cast of contemporary and traditional dancers that range in age from mid teens to late 60’s.
‘What We Hold’ illuminates the personal and cultural histories contained within the Irish dancing body and invites the audience to engage with traditional and contemporary expressions of the form side by side, up close, as never seen before; to experience what the body holds and what happens when we collectively let go.
"Butler has created an astonishing dance work, a visual, aural, almost poetic performative archive of Irish step dance."
"Her heartfelt What We Hold, pushing at limits of form, convention, history and memory, sees history and autobiography seamlessly interwoven... Butler is spellbinding. Feet grounded yet fluid, body moving from the centre, the upper body weightless."