Ranóg Townsend in residence

Ranóg Townsend is an all Ireland winning sean nós dance artist and educator that hails from Lixnaw, Co. Kerry. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Irish Music and Dance and Masters of Arts in Ethnochoreology from the Irish World Academy University of Limerick , where she currently lectures in percussive dance on undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

Her approach to dance focuses on how it sits within the music, between the notes, placing value on the relationship dancers have to musicians and the energy that is cultivated between performers. In 2026 Ranóg was awarded Dance Ireland’s Spring/Summer Residency. Over the years she has shared the stage with some of Ireland’s most influential acts and dancers including Sharron Shannon, Aoife Scott, and Nic Gareiss. In 2023, with over twelve years teaching experience, she launched Fite Fuaite Dance, a project to share her passion for movement and the traditional arts with others of all ages and abilities.

Ranóg will be using her time at Dance Limerick to develop Cistine, a collaborative work with Donegal fiddle player Aisling Drost Byrne, building on research that planted seed during their residency at Dance Ireland. During that initial period, we deepened our connection through improvisation, working closely between live music and movement. They also had the chance to share elements of this project at New Movements, where they received valuable direct audience feedback. By continuing to develop movement and musical material through improvisation, they aim to build on that momentum and move the work into its next phase of development, building Cistine into a more defined and extended performance work, grounded in connection, listening, and the influence of home.