The 15th edition of Step Up Dance Project welcomes Philip Connaughton as choreographer, while Fearghus Ó Conchúir and Lucia Kickham return to their roles as curator and rehearsal director respectively. Ella Daly is project manager and costume designer one more year.
The Dance Limerick team will be working closely with the Step Up team throughout the summer, with Dance Limerick director Mary Wycherley assuming the role of co-curator. Production Manager Seán Murray; Production Assistant Liz O’Connell; Company and Operations Manager Catherine Ireton, DL Bridge Artist Katy Hewison and Communications Coordinator Leonor Miralles complete the team that will help deliver the 15th edition of the programme.
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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. In 2025-26 he is working on a new performance project Dúiche, that looks at the connections between indigenous language, queer embodiment and ecology. And he will be making a new dance film celebrating camogie and hurling communities in Kilkenny as part of the county’s Public Art Commissions. He was Artistic Director of National Dance Company Wales (2018-2020) and Deputy Chair of the Arts Council (2018-2023)
Learn more about Fearghus here.
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Philip Connaughton – Choreographer
Philip Connaughton is a Dublin-based choreographer whose practice is distinguished by a deep commitment to collaboration and artistic experimentation. His work navigates the intersections of dance, theatre, and visual art, often challenging conventional boundaries of form and presentation.
Since founding Company Philip Connaughton in 2014, his body of work has explored a rich diversity of forms, from large-scale ensemble pieces to intimate collaborations. These works often blend dance with theatre, opera, and visual art, while exploring deeply personal and societal themes. At the heart of his practice lies a fascination with the experience of isolation, a theme that has recurred throughout his career, rooted in the idea of performance as a way of reconnecting with something lost. His acclaimed works Assisted Solo and Mamafesta Memorialising, for example, delve into his intimate relationship with his mother, who was living with dementia.
Connaughton’s projects often grow organically, shifting from personal explorations to more universal concerns. His collaboration with visual artist Marie Brett, Yes, but do You Care?, examines the potential impact of legislation on carers in Ireland, while works like Party Scene and Trojans reflect on broader ideas such as queer culture, resilience, and identity. He just made a short film Rebellious Hope with Luca Truffarelli which deals with ageing, autonomy, resilience, and the unapologetic act of existing-as embodied by older dancers who refuse to disappear. For Connaughton, the relationship between performer and audience is fluid, shaped by humour and text, allowing for a deeper exploration of complex themes.
Learn more about Philip here.
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Lucia Kickham – Rehearsal director
Lucia Kickham is a County 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, Oonagh Kearney and Lore Films.
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 part of Luail’s To This I Belong Commission in 2025 in which she created the dance in the community work Walk With Me in Enniscorthy. 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, a development programme for early career dancers.
Learn more about Lucia here
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Ella Daly
Ella Daly 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.
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Step Up Dance Project is a partnership between the Arts Council of Ireland, Dance Limerick, Dance Ireland and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. The Step Up Placement Programme is in partnership with Luail – Ireland’s National Dance Company.
