This year’s edition of Step Up sees Fearghus Ó Conchuir and Lucia Kickham return to their roles as curator and rehearsal director while Maria Nilsson Waller steps in as choreographer. Ella Daly is project manager and costume designer.
–
FEARGHUS Ó CONCHÚIR – Curator
Fearghus is an independent choreographer and dance artist who uses film and live performances as frameworks for audiences and artists to build communities together. He is developing two long-term research and performance projects: Tearmann Aiteach/ Queer Sanctuary in collaboration with Isabella Oberländer and Dancing More Wisely, a project that asks ‘what do we need to know and do now if we imagine ourselves dancing all our lives?’. He was Artistic Director of National Dance Company Wales (2018-2020) and Deputy Chair of the Arts Council (2018-2023)
Learn more about Fearghus’ work here
–
MARIA NILSSON WALLER – Choreographer
Maria Nilsson Waller is a freelance dance artist and choreographer who also designs sound, set and costume. With work described as pure emotion, mesmerising and profound she repeatedly draws our attention to our relationship to nature and the environment, to our relationship with the wild, our own bodies and natural intelligence, examining the borders between the known and unknown, science versus faith and mythology.
Maria is based between Östersund and Dublin where she creates as an independent artist, often in close collaboration with dancers, musicians, film artists and photographers. She teaches class for professional dancers regularly, and has created several pieces for non-professional dancers, often bridging the gap between sports and dance.
Over the past 10 years her work has been presented at a number of venues in France, Sweden, U.K and Ireland, through a.o Dublin Dance Festival, Estrad Norr, Cannes Jeune Ballet, Dance Limerick and Project Arts Centre. Together with multidisciplinary artist Stace Gill she co-founded Flora Fauna Project in 2017. She is currently dance artist in residence at D-Light Studios, Dublin.
Learn more about Maria’s work here
–
LUCIA KICKHAM – Rehearsals director
Lucia is a Wexford based dance artist. Trained in the Netherlands she has worked with companies and artists including Liz Roche Company, Company Philip Connaughton, Junk Ensemble, Maria Nilsson Waller, Laura Murphy, TRASH(NL) and Oonagh Kearney. Training intensively with David Zambrano in Flying Low and Passing Through techniques, Lucia has developed her interest in group dynamics within improvisation, composition and teaching environments. Lucia is a guest tutor at IWAMD at University of Limerick and regularly leads workshops at dance centres across Ireland.
In recent years she has been a recipient of awards from Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, Tipperary Dance, Grand Studio Brussels, Tanztendenz Munich and the Arts Council of Ireland, including the Next Generation and Commission Awards. As a dance performer Lucia has toured extensively across the UK and Sweden and has presented her own work at Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, side.kicks Festival Munich, Modes of Capture Symposium, What’s Next Festival Limerick.
Lucia was Dance Ireland HATCH Artist 2018 and Associate Artist with Liz Roche Company 2018/21. In 2022 she took up the role of rehearsal director on Step Up Dance Project and is delighted to return to this role in 2023.
Learn more about Lucia’s work here
–
ELLA DALY – Project manager
Ella is a Producer, Writer and Designer from Limerick. Ella began her career with Daghdha Dance Company and has worked across several organisations locally and nationally since then, She is currently pursuing a practice-based PhD in playwrighting at the University of Galway, and coordinates various festivals and cultural events in the city and county. She designs costumes for film, theatre, puppetry and dance. She is coordinator for Step Up and also costume designer and is relishing the opportunity to work with such exciting artists!
