ORFHLAITH NÍ BHRIAIN
CATHERINE FOLEY
Sándor Varga is a lecturer and adjunct at the Department of Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Szeged (Hungary) and the coordinator of the specialisation in dance folkloristics. Since 2013 he has been working as a scientific co-worker at the Institute for Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He lectures at different universities and colleges, especially at the distant divisions of the Hungarian Dance Academy. He is a member of the ICTM and the Hungarian Association of Ethnographers and is president of the Hungarian Society of Ethnochoreology. Varga is a traditional dancer and has worked as a choreographer, trainer and dance-house leader for almost 20 years in the Hungarian folkdance scene. His main research areas are dance folkloristics and social ethnography in villages of the Carpathian basin. His PhD (2012) presents the historical transformations in the dance culture of a 20th-century village in Mezőség, Transylvania.
Tuesday March 8th
MARCH
Traditional Dances in Mezőség, Transylvania 2pm to 4pm, Conference Room Sándor Varga In this workshop, Sándor Varga will provide a short history of his dance research, including different approaches and fieldwork techniques, in the Mezőség area of the Transylvanian Plain, Romania. He will familiarise participants with the various types of Mezőség solo and couple dances, including their basic techniques, and will shed light on the historical, social and economic background of the traditional dance culture in Mezőség. The presentation will include a video presentation and dance performance and training.
Tuesday March 8th Remembering the Matriarchs of Irish Dance 2pm to 4pm, Theatre 2
Dr Catherine Foley and Dr Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain This event will highlight some of the leading ladies in the Irish dance tradition over the course of the 20th century. It will celebrate the contributions to the development of step dance in Ireland of several female dance masters of note, including legendary figures like Mrs Mathews, Nan Quinn, Patricia Mulholland, Lily Comerford, Una Ní Ruairc and Peggy McTeggart. Dr Catherine Foley is a senior lecturer in ethnochoreology at the Irish World Academy. She is founding chair emerita of the international society Dance Research Forum Ireland, founding director of the National Dance Archive of Ireland, elected chair of the Study Group on Ethnochoreology of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) and a member of the executive board of the ICTM. Her monographs include Step Dancing in Ireland: Culture and History (2013) and Irish Traditional Step Dancing in North Kerry: A Contextual and Structural Analysis (2012). She has published widely and is a dancer and musician.
See the previous event for a biographical note on Sándor Varga.
28
MARCH
Steve Boyland performing 'Mythos' at the Academy Photograph © Maurice Gunning
Dr Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain lectures at the Irish World Academy and is course director of the MA in Irish Traditional Dance Performance. Her research interests include Irish dance among the diaspora, examining creative processes in the context of competitive Irish solo step dance and arts in health. An accomplished musician, singer and dancer, she is a registered Irish dance teacher and adjudicator with An Coimisiún le Rinci Gaelacha. She has travelled extensively to workshops and step dance competitions throughout the world as a tutor and dance accompanist. She has authored a book entitled The Terminology of Irish Dance (2008).
June 20th to July 1st
JUNE
Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance 2016 The 20th Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance will take place in the Irish World Academy at the University of Limerick from June 20th to July 1st 2016. Blas is now firmly established as one of Ireland’s most prestigious summer schools and has developed a reputation for its quality and innovation. The school provides students (aged 16 and over) from around the world with access to the expertise of some of Ireland’s finest musicians, singers, dancers and academics, such as John Carty, Steve Cooney, Colin Dunne, Catherine Foley, Martin Hayes, Jim Higgins, Sandra Joyce, Niall Keegan, Donal Lunny, Matt Molloy, Ryan Molloy, Michelle Mulcahy, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. The two-week programme entails the best of tuition, ranging from formal lectures, public seminars, interactive master classes, daily Irish classes, an excursion to a number of Ireland’s greatest tourist attractions in Co. Clare,