Alight! - A storytelling, dance, performance and art project (The National Neighbourhood 2016/17)

ALIGHT! a storytelling, dance, performance and art project

ALIGHT! Published by: Dublin’s Culture Connects Website: dublinscultureconnects.ie © 2017 All rights reserved. Dublin, Ireland.

978-0-9957446-4-6 Cover photo: Vanessa Daws

ALIGHT! a storytelling, dance, performance and art project

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ALIGHT! was about ACCESS – promoting, developing and improving cultural and social access. An inclusive participation project led by CoisCéim Broadreach, it aimed to inspire and connect the South East Dublin communities of Sandymount, Ringsend, Irishtown and Pearse Street in a lasting and meaningful way.

Co-ordinated by Dublin’s Culture Connects in partnership with The National Gallery of Ireland and Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, the activities and events in 2016 and 2017 were developed by the participants under the mentorship of professional artists, resulting in a series of creative responses celebrating the natural choreography of daily life. Spanning all art forms, there was something for everyone as dance, design, drama, light, art, music and film collided on and around the orange double decker bus!

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introduction

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Dublin’s Culture Connects, an initiative of Dublin City Council, is a programme of activities and projects that seek to build engagement and connection in the city through partnerships that are meaningful to its citizens. The projects include the Fundraising Fellowship, Dublin; The National Neighbourhood; Cultural Map and the EU Lab. The National Neighbourhood project in particular creates space for experimentation and testing ways of working to drive the transformative power of culture and community. Across the city, communities and villages have come alive with all sorts of cultural projects; from musicals to morse code messages, and from hakas to hip hop gigs in people’s homes.

As part of that, we have been thrilled to see ALIGHT! create connections across Sandymount, Ringsend, Irishtown and Pearse Street. Dublin’s Culture Connects does as it says – it seeks to make real connections in the city by connecting communities to Dublin City Council’s resources, to their national Cultural Institutions, and to artists, on projects that are relevant to them by being based on their own stories, wishes and experiences. That core value of the public and the cultural community working together has seen the most fantastic things happen in South East Dublin. From animation workshops, storytelling, tea dances and a cabaret – the big ORANGE double decker bus has helped create great fun and wonderful memories for the area.

We hope that this book and the great images and stories therein are treasured for years to come. Thank you to everyone who is connecting, engaging, creating and exploring with us.

Iseult Byrne Project Director Dublin’s Culture Connects, a Dublin City Council initiative

A collaborative process ALIGHT! began with conversations between the artists – choreographer Muirne Bloomer, actor/writer Hugh Brown and visual artist Vanessa Daws – and participants from the local community and the partnering National Cultural Institutions.

In a true collaboration, together they would devise, develop and deliver the ALIGHT! project.

Emerging from these conversations were the themes of navigation and journey. Taking as a departure point the No. 1 Dublin Bus route (which winds its way through all four areas), these themes became the heart of ALIGHT! and provided the basis for a series of creative responses wherein participants of all ages explored, celebrated and re-imagined the neighbourhoods and local environment through the art forms of dance, theatre, design, visual art and media technology.

Philippa DonnelLan Broadreach Director CoisCéim Broadreach

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I really felt these tours developed quite organically throughout the whole project and that the participants really responded to travelling through the neighbourhood, sharing their memories and engaging in all the themes of ALIGHT! Hugh Brown director/writer

photo: Vanessa Daws

Sharing ideas and exchanging stories ALIGHT!

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COMING TOGETHER

TASTER WORKSHOPS & INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS

Bringing people together from each area to find out about ALIGHT! and how all members of the community could get involved and jump aboard,18 workshops and several informal discussions with different community groups took place in 20 locations in the area. This led to the communities themselves creatively driving the project into 2017.

Starting in November, Director Muirne Bloomer, who was born and brought up in the area, worked with Vanessa Daws and Hugh Brown together with CoisCéim BROADREACH and the Dublin’s Culture Connects team to build local knowledge. They facilitated the sharing of stories and local history, and the future of the ALIGHT! project began to take shape. Riccy’s Café, Pembroke Library, Dekes Diner, The Vintage Inn, St Andrew’s Resource Centre and many more hosted events as people’s interest and enthusiasm grew and ideas flowed.

For instance, The Greenore Court Arts & Craft Group dreamt up design elements for ALIGHT! events; the Ringsend Active Retirement Group suggested a tea dance would be a fabulous event to host; young people from The Dazallettes, a baton twirling group from St Andrew’s Resource Centre, explored choreography in a dance workshop with Muirne Bloomer that developed into a performance as part of February’s culmination week of events.

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01 Storytelling Workshop at Pembroke Library. photo: Anthony Griffin

The storytelling workshops brought up much local history, including the story of ‘Margaret Keogh’ which became part of the Mystery History cabaret:

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“Down in No. 20 Stella Gardens there lived a woman by the name of Margaret Keogh. She was born in the year 1900.

Margaret was a proud Irishwoman who was a member of Cumann na mBan, Conradh na Gaeilge and the captain of the Croke’s camoige team. She was well known and loved in the area. She was very proud of her heritage and actively involved in protecting it. One time in 1920, she was out fundraising for Conradh na Gaeilge. She was stopped and questioned by the Police. Margaret answered in Irish, refusing to speak the foreign tongue. Because of this, the Copper arrested her! The bleeding cheek of him!!!

Now, on the night of July 10th 1921, the eve of the truce which ended the War of Independence, British Forces were searching and raiding houses in this very area. There was a knock on the door of Margaret’s home. When she opened it there was no one to be seen. As she turned, a shot rang out and she fell to the floor.

Margaret died the following day from her wounds, aged just 21. Around 1,000 people accompanied her remains from the hospital back to her home. Later that night 2,000 mourners recited the Rosary ‘as Gaeilge’ outside her home.

At the time of the shooting, one of Margaret’s younger brothers was fast asleep in bed. He was 13 year old Anthony Keogh... my grandfather. I myself, live just down the road from here so my family roots have been planted firmly in Ringsend and Irishtown for over a hundred years... still only a bleeding blow-in!”

Written and performed by Anthony O’Reardon

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02 – 07 P articipants in the Storytelling Workshop at Pembroke Library. photos: Anthony Griffin

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CONNECTING PEOPLE AND PLACES

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The core of ALIGHT! in multiple ways, the orange double decker allowed dance, design, light, art and music to collide. It brought people together in a fun and novel way, while at the same time physically connecting them to their National Institutions, the National Gallery of Ireland and Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane.

THE ORANGE BUS A NEW DESIGN Access… navigation… journey… what better way to bring people together than with a bus – a fully operational double decker!

The ambitious step of procuring a bus brought a stimulating and new artistic dimension to the project. It became a vehicle in every sense to connect people, communities and their national institutions.

The visionary skills of artist Vanessa Daws and expert assistance from creative technician Martin Cahill gave life to the creative input and designs from local young people as the orange double decker was re-invented and re-born. As Vanessa mentioned when discussing how the bus might be employed, it “could be a place to display art works, like a mobile art gallery”. It became a roving social centre, a useful method of transport and a moving theatre for the duration of ALIGHT!

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It was amazing to work with artists. They have great taste of colour. I would never have thought of picking orange.

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Student from St Patrick’s National School, age 11

01 – 07 Alight! Bus Artwork. photos: Vanessa Daws

ALL ABOARD

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Over four weeks in January, the ORANGE bus went on a series of trips to places and spaces including the Forty Foot, the Martello Tower, James Joyce Museum, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane and many more, creating opportunities for people to discover more about their neighbourhood and shared community experiences.

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TALES DISCOVERED ALONG THE WAY...

Led by the ever-sociable artists Muirne Bloomer and Hugh Brown, these entertaining escapades involved much conversation, some local history and folklore, singing, laughter and general banter, which was summed up well in Project Manager (Dublin’s Culture Connects) Cleo Fagan’s blog about the first maiden voyage in January mentions: “The first stop for our tangerine-orange carriage was the Forty-Foot bathing area in Sandycove. Project artist and avid swimmer Vanessa Daws impressed us with her gusto when she jumped off the Forty-Foot (not once, but twice!) and into the cold sea waters below. From here we walked up to the Martello Tower and to the James Joyce Museum. Upstairs in the museum was a fun recreation of the room imagined by Joyce in Ulysses as the home of Stephen Dedalus and his cousin Buck Mulligan; as well as ephemera on Joyce’s life and work. A wonderful winding staircase brought us further up and gave us a rare opportunity to experience the expansive view from atop one of Ireland’s fifty Martello Towers. Our seaside adventure culminated with sandwiches, tea and biscuits; enjoyed sitting on the bus overlooking the sea.”

The bus provided the perfect setting for exchanges of popular history, local knowledge and folklore including courting stories from the Top Hat dance hall, the origins of the name Irishtown, and tales about Oliver Cromwell’s landing at Ringsend, when “locals were so busy fighting each other they didn’t notice!”

ALL ABOARD also included two special visits to the J.B. Yeats Archive in The National Gallery of Ireland, and to Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane to see the work of Frank O’Meara as well as the exhibition Port Life featuring work inspired by the docks in Belgium by artist Eugeen Van Mieghem.

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02 Vanessa Daws leaping off the 40 Foot. photo: Anthony Griffin 03 ALL ABOARD trip. photo: Vanessa Daws 04 ALL ABOARD trip to Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. photo: Vanessa Daws 05 ALL ABOARD National Gallery tour, St Andrew’s Art Class and Senior Group. photo: Vanessa Daws 06 – 07 ALL ABOARD participants. photos: Anthony Griffin

[The artists] made me feel very welcome and gave great encouragement and praise. It was a much needed boost to my confidence as I’d never done this kind of thing before. People in the area stop me to say hello and compliment me on the tour. I’ve become better known in the area.

Anthony O’Reardon Performer in the Mystery History Cabaret

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Creating projects, events and performances ALIGHT!

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EXPLORING THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

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Using the migratory journey of the Brent Geese as a starting point, the students from St Patrick’s National School considered their own local environment in the present and the future. Their drawings became the basis for the design of the ORANGE bus, and fly throughout this book.

THE BRENT GEESE

A dance, drama and design project The students from the 5th and 6th classes took part in a series of weekly creative workshops spanning all art forms to explore where they live, and think about what it might be like in 50 years time. Drawing inspiration from the annual migration of the Brent geese, ideas of time travel abounded. Working with Vanessa Daws, they drew their own imaginary geese using coloured crayon, pencil and felt tipped pens. Together, they looked at how their drawings could be used in the design of the ORANGE bus and how the images could be transferred onto the exterior.

In dance, Muirne Bloomer and the students worked together to develop their own geese-inspired choreography, reflecting the flight patterns and formations. They decided to make a short video on the beach beside the nature reserve where the Brent Geese pause on their long journey.

On the beach and with grey clouds looming, the group leapt into action.

Videographer Jenny Brady filmed their choreography and also their performance of a special rap written by Hugh Brown which was inspired by their ideas about time travel and the creation of a time capsule. In his own words, the rap was ‘a chant to celebrate their being part of an old and important community, a community that is bracing itself against the winds of change.’

The Ringsend RAp

THE BRENT GEESE

We’re the future of Ringsend We are family, we are friend.

Not Facebook, Google or WhatsApp, Community is where it’s at!

We’re the future, we’re the past Ringsend girls built to last!

Brent Geese fly some 8,000kms from their breeding ground in North Canada to Dublin every winter (stopping off in Iceland on the way). They first arrive in Dublin at the Merrion Gates on Sandymount Strand in one large group, where they feed on eelgrass and green seaweed. Once this food becomes scarce, they fly inland in smaller groups to search for more grub in local parks, football pitches and, more recently, Dublin Port.

Hugh Brown, DIRECTOr/writer

Paul O’Rourke www.newsfour.ie

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I loved learning about geese and doing dancing with Muirne.

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Georgie, aged 11

I liked how we all worked together as a team. We got to design a bus and put our drawing on it.

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Brooke, aged 12

We used only vivid colours for the geese drawings, to give the bus a more fantastical look and the vivid colours really made the bus stand out from all the other buses.

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Vanessa Daws, VISUAL ARTIST

My favourite part was doing the moves and rap with Hugh.

Shauna, aged 11

01 – 04 Participants from St Patrick’s National School. photos: Anthony Griffin

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TALK ABOUT YOUTH

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A 5 week-long project was designed for participants from St Andrew’s Resource Centre’s Talk About Youth programme on Pearse Street. The intent was to enable these young people to engage with a range of visual arts practices and techniques.

A PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN PROJECT Working closely with artist Vanessa Daws, young people aged 11 to 14 explored their neighbourhood, looking afresh at their local landscape and the juxtaposition of old and new buildings along the Grand Canal. Using digital photography and sound technology, they documented their experiences and together created a number of artworks to exhibit on the backs of the ORANGE bus’s seats, including a special light sculpture. The series culminated with a special event on the bus showcasing a soundscape created by the participants.

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01 Artwork on the ORANGE bus. photo: Vanessa Daws

It made me realise how beautiful my area was.

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RoisĂ­n, aged 13

I learned about sound-editing, photos and how to change photos with something simple like lights.

Paul, aged 12

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I liked this programme because everyone used their own ideas and worked together.

Liliana, aged 13

The Talk About Youth group from St Andrew’s Resource Centre was really engaged, this was helped by having an enthusiastic group leader Lisa Downes who went out of her way to let (the ALIGHT! project) happen for us and the group.

Vanessa Daws, VISUAL ARTIST

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02 – 07 Artwork on the ORANGE bus. photos: Vanessa Daws

TEA DANCE

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The result of informal conversations with people aged 50+ at the start of the project, this colourful tea dance brought people from all four neighbourhoods together to socialise and dance informally in a joyous event.

VALENTINE’S TEA DANCE Bright knitted bunting, a cheerfully decorated hall, a dress up box and a homemade selfie booth were all created by the community. These set the colourful stage for the live music as over 100 people danced the afternoon away with new friends and old. Tea and plenty of cake kept everyone energised as the choir sang and the band played on...

We had a truly, wonderful time...

Brilliant to dance to the live band...

I didn’t lose my heart, which was probably just as well...!

When’s the next one...?

Thanks a million for all the tea and dancing – we’ll be back next year!

What a great event, loved every moment...

Tea Dance Participants

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03 01 – 06 Participants at the Valentine’s Tea Dance at Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA club, Ringsend. photos: Anthony Griffin

CELEBRATING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

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The Mystery History Cabaret tour was the celebratory culmination of ALIGHT! It was a highly ambitious piece of travelling theatre with scenes happening on the ORANGE double decker bus as well as at prime locations in each of the four areas of Pearse Street, Irishtown, Ringsend and Sandymount.

MYSTERY HISTORY CABARET DANCE, DESIGN, drama, LIGHT, ART, MUSIC & VIDEO COLLIDE ON & AROUND THE ORANGE DOUBLE DECKER BUS. The Mystery History Cabaret tour aimed to map the ALIGHT! journey along the No. 1 bus route in a dramatic celebration of the design and decoration of the Orange bus while finding theatrical expression, fun and imagination in the stories and talents that emerged from all of the creative conversations that took place along the way.

In the words of Muirne Bloomer, “The Mystery History Cabaret really was a mystery to us before we started, as we didn’t know what it would be about until we had met and talked with local people.”

Many participants in the various ALIGHT! activities expressed interest in exploring performance. This fearless core group worked with co-Directors Muirne Bloomer and Hugh Brown to create the cabaret.

Drawing on the ideas, knowledge and experiences of the community; stories were adapted and text written, scenes were developed on and off the bus, songs were practised, choreography was created, locations were confirmed – and despite the inclement weather – baton-twirling dance sequences and flamboyant choreography was rehearsed outdoors!

As the time for the performance neared, the bus was decorated to its full glory – with glittering lights and mirror ball, knitted colourful bunting, pink seat covers, freshly painted bright blue walls and ceilings, and the Brent Geese drawings displayed proudly on the orange exterior. Lighting was designed

by MA lighting design students from the Lir Academy and guided by awardwinning designer Sinéad McKenna.

The Mystery History Cabaret ran for three performances over three nights at the end of February 2017.

Open to everyone, the ORANGE bus was full each night, attracting many people who had attended workshops, conversations and other ALIGHT! events. Master of Ceremonies Hugh Brown (in an orange boiler suit and goggles) and bus conductor and

raconteur Anthony O’Reardon, entertained the audience with stories, songs, magic tricks, juggling and general mischievousness. The bells of St John’s Church rang as the bus arrived at its first destination. Music and drama unfolded with a live organ recital followed by a heart-breaking dance theatre piece. Inspired by a true story, it was written and performed by Esme Lewis. Spirits were soon lifted as James Joyce in the form of Rodney Devitt arrived to entertain passengers with Joycean ribaldry on the journey to Pearse Park. Here audiences were treated to a magical dance performance led by young dancer Amy Kellet set to the song The Stolen Child (which is from an original poem by Sandymount-born poet W.B. Yeats).

The performance showcased the

talents of the baton-twirling Dazallettes with their glowing display, ending with mesmerising fire choreography by Aidan Phelan.

The cabaret concluded at The Vintage Inn in Irishtown. Half the group were met by owner Kathy Gleeson, clad as former landlady Lizzie Quinn, who held court and informed them of the rules and intricacies of the Inn’s title deeds, and the joys and challenges of her life as a female landlady and publican. Meanwhile the other half of the audience met the ghost from Lorna Kelly’s story in Hugh Brown’s monologue, DESERTERS. The cabaret ended in joyful song by all, and a perceptive address about the future of the area and community by MC Hugh Brown.

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DESERTERS An extract

A monologue inspired by Lorna Kelly’s ghost story of what she witnessed one unforgettable afternoon in a house on Sandymount Green in 1960 When I look down now, on those streets, I can still see all the faces, I can hear their voices, I dunno, like they’re a part of me, inside me. We used to run wild. There was me and Jamie Mac, we were like brothers. And then Bosco McCann, Wacker O’Shea and Shane Mulligan.

That was our gang.

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And these streets, these were our streets. The shop, on the corner, Old Man McKenna and his missus, that was theirs. Jamie, well he used to distract the oul fella and I’d fill me pockets with brandy balls. Little shites we were, but we didn’t really mean any harm, you know that way!? And down there, on the green, that very bleeding lamppost on the corner. That’s where I met up with Lizzie Redmond the first night.

I couldn’t afford the pictures, so off we went down the Quays and walked right up to the Old Lighthouse and watched the ships come in. From England, Holland, India, Australia even.

But you know what? Right there and then, in that very moment, if you’d a told me I could go anywhere I liked, even to that bleeding moon up there. I’d have stayed still. Right here, Irishtown, Dublin... The centre of everything I ever wanted... And Lizzie Redmond, I tell ya, she was a beauty.

01 The Mystery History Cabaret. photo: Vanessa Daws

I’d joined the Defence Army by then. 2nd Brigade. Dublin. There wasn’t much else. Everything was changing though, the world was changing. Ireland, she was changing. And Europe, it was at War. You’d hear stories ya know, from the older lads who were living in England. They’d all gone over for work long before, sure there was nothing here. And for them, when it all kicked off, it was either, come back here to nothin’ or go to War and hopefully make a few quid. And me, I don’t know, I was struggling, pay was shite and there’s only so many walks down the Quay ya can do!

Lizzie, I knew she wanted more. She wanted to be married, and me, well I wanted that too. I really had nothing though and there wasn’t just me and Lizzie, there’s me Ma and my little sisters and brothers, and her family, we were all struggling. So, me and Jamie, we made a plan, off we went, up to Belfast... And we signed up to the British Army.

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I know, not something I ever thought I’d do but you’d hear of others doing it and well, to be honest it just seemed like a way out. A way to make a future, for us all. I was 17. Sure, I didn’t know the end of me arse from me elbow. Next thing we know, we’re in bleeding hell. I don’t know how to tell ya, even now, we were only boys, we were only bleeding boys. All you could do was try and make it through each day, keep your head down and carry on as best you could. We were brothers and we had each other’s backs. And we did, we both made it. I don’t really know how. Or why.

And then we came home, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a pint and go for a walk by the Dodder with my Lizzie.

Hugh Brown Sandymount, Dublin 25/01/17. Performed by local actor Philip Murphy.

02 The Mystery History Cabaret. photo: Marc O’Sullivan

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03 – 04 The Mystery History Cabaret. photo: Anthony Griffin 05 The ORANGE bus at St Andrew’s Resource Centre. photo: Marc O’Sullivan 06 – 09 The Mystery History Cabaret. photos: Marc O’Sullivan

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Impact & Outcomes ALIGHT! brought a group of highly skilled, innovative artists with a wealth of experience working in different art forms together with varied communities. Working collaboratively, they implemented a dynamic vision to create a project that put participants of all ages at the very centre of the artistic process with opportunities for tailor-made mentorship along the way.

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It all started by encouraging people to look anew at their local surroundings with a view to re-imagining what their community could become in the future. The colourful stories, dramatic local history and artistic voices of the participants were heard and formed the source materials for the creative evolution of all the elements of ALIGHT! As a point of focus, the ORANGE double decker was highly successful and became a dynamic, recognisable symbol over the course of the project. It fulfilled the objective of connecting communities with their national institutions.

The project culminated with three performances of The Mystery History Cabaret that brought together all the component parts of ALIGHT! in a truly engaging, imaginative and entertaining way.

A key goal of this project was to start a meaningful creative conversation within and between the four neighbourhoods to lay the foundations for people to explore their surroundings and enjoy artistic activity throughout their lives. As Hugh Brown memorably stated at the end of the Mystery History Cabaret, “this area is changing fast, but if the creativity, passion and commitment of the local community is anything to go by – it is in safe hands for the future”.

Legacy I truly believe that the project has a resonance as participants from the four different areas experienced and enjoyed spending quality time in each other’s company, were introduced to different areas of these communities, and exchanged experiences and stories during the bus trips and events.

Importantly, they also witnessed what can be achieved when communities work together towards making something happen.

This was manifest in the satisfaction expressed by the performers of the Mystery History Cabaret and in the number of people who had been at our first few meetings in various centres, who came up to me after the cabaret and were very emotional, expressing their surprise and delight at what we had achieved in such a short space of time.

I believe there is a hope from the participants, as well as the spectators and passengers from various trips, to do more. I think something even more artistically, creatively ambitious could be achieved as the participants during this process really got to know and trust the artists involved. I feel we were only really getting started when the project ended and that the area is ripe with so many artists, and culturally and artistically inclined people who have just been introduced to each other. There could be a fantastic, evolving and lasting legacy from this project.

Muirne Bloomer Director and Choreographer

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Into the Future...

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ALIGHT! Project Credits Director and Choreographer Muirne Bloomer

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Director and Writer Hugh Brown Visual Artist Vanessa Daws Costume Coordinator Arran Murphy Photographer Anthony Griffin Additional Photography Vanessa Daws, Hugh Brown, Marc O’Sullivan Videographer Jenny Brady Book Designer Siobhan Griffin

Book Text Muirne Bloomer, Philippa Donnellan Book Editors Sarah Latty, Rowena Neville, Bridget Webster Project Managers Cleo Fagan, Dublin’s Culture Connects, Philippa Donnellan, CoisCéim BROADREACH MYSTERY HISTORY CABARET Sound Design Alexis Nealon Production and Stage Manager Martin Cahill Stage Management Viv Gleeson Talk About Youth and Dazallettes Coordinator Louisa Murray

ORANGE DOUBLE DECKER BUS Assistant Bus Decor/Design Martin Cahill Design Assistance Caitriona McGowan Lighting Design Sinead McKenna with assistance from Peter Parish, Anna Quintas and with special thanks to The Lir Academy MYSTERY HISTORY CABARET PERFORMERS Hugh Brown, Anthony O’Reardon, Deke Rivers, Rodney Devitt, Kathy Gleeson, Hannah Molloy, Amy Kellet, Rory Dignam, Caoimhe Mulcahy, Philip Murphy, Esme Lewis, Lorna Kelly, Aidan Phelan - Realta Dazallettes Emma Martin, Aoife Kinsella, Roisín Cork, Englentina Doda

Alight! Bus Driver Tony McEvoy, Aardvark Bus Hire ALIGHT! ADVISORY GROUP Declan Hayden, Elizabeth Turley, Sheena Barrett, Dublin City Council Caoilte O’Mahony, Brina Casey, The National Gallery of Ireland Jessica O’Donnell, Logan Sisley, Katy Fitzpatrick, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane Iseult Byrne, Cleo Fagan, Dublin’s Culture Connects CoisCéim Dance Theatre David Bolger, Philippa Donnellan, Sarah Latty, Bridget Webster

THANK YOU Ray Yeates, Ruairí Ó Cuív, Pembroke and Pearse Street Library staff, Lynn Daly, Phil Scanlan, Michael Noonan, all of Dublin City Council; Sean Rainbird and Sinéad Kathy Rice of The National Gallery of Ireland; Barbara Dawson of Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; Kathy Gleeson and The Vintage Inn; Donal Lehmann and all at St Patrick’s National School; all the young people who worked with Vanessa Daws in creating designs for the bus, Fergus and all at Screenlink Printers; all staff at James Joyce Museum, Sandycove; Margaret Beausang and Ringsend College students; Riccy’s Youth Café; Lisa Downes, Louisa Murray, Nina Burke and all at Talk About Youth; The Zone; Lisa Kelleher, Ivan Connolly and all the staff at St Andrew’s Resource Centre; Dekes Diner; Paul

Barlow, St. John’s Church; Sueann Moore, Ringsend Community Services Forum; Patsy and all the GALs; Betty Watson and the Arts and Craft Group; Cary Posavitz and The Players; Marie, Olive and all at Ringsend Active Retirement Group; Chris Kelly and Greenore Community Choir; Lorraine Barry, Barbara Doyle and Marie of the Irishtown Ringsend Community Centre; Brian Siggins; Pat and all at Clanna Gael; Claire Rafter, City Quay National School; Sandra Rodríguez Campos, Rowena Neville and all the team at Dublin’s Culture Connects; Cormac of Frank Day Motors for his advice and the amazing paint job on the bus.

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Timeline of principal projects COMING TOGETHER

TASTER WORKSHOPS & INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS

When October 2016 – January 2017

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Who & Where • T alk About Youth, St Andrew’s Resource Centre, Pearse Street • Adult Education, St Andrew’s Resource Centre, Pearse Street • Riccy’s Café Youth Project, Ringsend • St Patrick’s National School, Ringsend • Art & Design students, Ringsend College • Ringsend Active Retirement Group • The GALS Group • Greenore Court Arts & Craft Group • Sandymount Tidy Towns Group • Sandymount Sikh Community • Sandymount members of the public • Ballsbridge members of the public • Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre

Artists Muirne Bloomer, Vanessa Daws.

ALL ABOARD When January – February 2017 Where

THE BRENT GEESE

A dance, drama and design project

When January – February 2017

• S outh East area – Pearse Street, Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount, the Forty Foot and Joyce Museum Martello Tower in Sandycove • National Gallery of Ireland • Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane

Where

Who

• 5 th and 6th Year students from St Patrick’s National School, Ringsend

• T he Seniors Group & Art Students Adult Education, St Andrew’s Resource Centre • Greenore Court Art & Craft Group • The GALS Group |rishtown and Ringsend • Ringsend Active Retirement Group • CoisCéim BROADREACH Dance Ensemble aged 50+ • The Poetry Club, Pembroke Library • Members of the public

Artists Muirne Bloomer, Hugh Brown, Vanessa Daws.

• S t Patrick’s National School • Sandymount Strand • National Gallery of Ireland

Who

Artists Muirne Bloomer, Hugh Brown, Vanessa Daws.

TALK ABOUT YOUTH

A photography and design project

When January – February 2017 Where

VALENTINE’S TEA DANCE

MYSTERY HISTORY cabaret

When February 2017

When February 2017

Where

Where

• Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA club

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• St Andrew’s Resource Centre

Who • 2 groups of young people from TALK ABOUT YOUTH at St Andrew’s Resource Centre • Special interest Arts Group & Applied Leaving Cert Group • Talk About Youth coordinators Lisa Downes and Nina Buckley

Artist Vanessa Daws.

Who • R ingsend Active Retirement Group • Greenore Community Choir • CoisCéim BROADREACH Wednesday dance class for people aged 50+ • The GALS, Irishtown & Ringsend • Members of the public

Artists Vanessa Daws, Muirne Bloomer, Hugh Brown, Cary Posavitz and The Players.

n the ORANGE bus O St John’s Church Pearse Park The Vintage Inn

Who • Public Event

Key Artists involved (see full credits page 52) Muirne Bloomer, Hugh Brown, Vanessa Daws, Martin Cahill, Alexis Nealon.

Postgraduate students in Technical Theatre, The Lir Academy.

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Project partners

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CoisCéim BROADREACH creativity, participation, access Founded on the principle that dance is a performing art, CoisCéim BROADREACH’s activities are pioneering, targeting all sections of the population in an exciting and innovative manner to create a genuine curiosity in dance. Every year, CoisCéim BROADREACH touches the lives of thousands of people, through classes, workshops, residencies and dance performance participation projects.

DUBLIN’S CULTURE CONNECTS | the national neighbourhood The National Neighbourhood spans the Dublin City Council administrative areas, and brings together the Public Libraries, the Area Offices, the City Arts Office and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane in partnership with Dublin based National Cultural Institutions (The Abbey Theatre, The National Museum of Ireland, The National Library of Ireland, The National Gallery of Ireland, The National Concert Hall, The Chester Beatty Library, The National Archives of Ireland and The Irish Museum of Modern Art).

The core value of the programme is the public and cultural community working together, connecting Dubliners in significant ways on projects that are relevant to their expressed interests and ideas. Each project has evolved from a series of conversations and is harnessing the appetites of particular groups for cultural engagement.

A partnership project led by CoisCéim BROADREACH and Dublin’s Culture Connects with The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin City Arts Office, Dublin City Public Libraries and Dublin City Council South East Area Office. #CultureConnects

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ALIGHT! COISCÉIM BROADREACH AND DUBLIN’S CULTURE CONNECTS

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coisceim.com | dublinscultureconnects.ie Dublin’s Culture Connects | The National Neighbourhood is connecting communities across the city through partnerships between Dublin City Council, Dublin City Public Libraries, Dublin City Arts Office and the national cultural institutions and artists.