STEP UP DANCE Programme 2018 – Participants Announced!

Step Up Dance Programme, now in its seventh year, once again plays host to some of Ireland’s most promising contemporary dance graduates. Following a national open call, shortlisted applicants were invited to audition and six dancers were selected to take part in the prestigious programme. The dancers selected are a mix of Irish natives who have travelled abroad to complete their training and seek work and dancers who have trained in Ireland and are now resident here. The selected dancers are Rocio Dominguez, Katrina Galvin, Mintesinot Getachew, Rebecca Lee, Evgenia Sizmina and Kathy Young. The participating dancers will rehearse at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at University of Limerick and at Dance Limerick. This year, the dancers will work under the direction of Catherine Young. Catherine is Artistic Director of her own company Catherine Young Dance. Her most recent work which have been highly acclaimed include State of Exception, Welcoming the Stranger, and Ultima Thule. In addition to creating new work, the dancers will reconstruct repertory work by John Scott and, with Daniel Squire, by Merce Cunningham. The three works by Young, Scott and Cunningham will form a triple bill programme to be performed at Dance Limerick, Cork, Galway and DanceHouse, Dublin. Step Up Dance Programme is a partnership between the Arts Council, Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick and the University of Limerick, which aims to bridge the gap between dance education and professional contemporary dance practice in Ireland. It is an annual intensive programme of training, rehearsals, performance and development for selected dancers who have completed their professional training within the last three years. The specific elements of the programme include • Working with high profile choreographers to create new work • Working with Professional Dance Artists to enable the dancers in the reconstruction/setting of existing choreography • Development Workshops and Information Sessions • Independent Development / Study The Step Up programme will enhance these dancers’ professional networks by connecting them to the Irish contemporary dance community and improving their professional opportunities in Ireland.