What Next Dance Festival - Three days of discovery and celebration

Jean Baptiste Baele - Photo by Piotr Jaruga

placeholder image — Jean Baptiste Baele - Photo by Piotr Jaruga

WHAT NEXT Dance Festival returns for a seventh edition at Dance Limerick.

This year’s festival gathers performers from across Ireland and internationally to create three days of discovery and celebration packed with fresh and vibrant performances, workshops and discussions.

Since 2018, the festival has been an important platform which shines a light on new creations from local and international artists.

Thanks to our funders, volunteers and supporters, WHAT NEXT Dance Festival and Limerick city have become a household name for contemporary dance in Ireland and beyond.

WHAT NEXT co-curator and director of Dance Limerick Mary Wycherley is delighted to welcome audiences to Limerick to Dive in and Discover Dance. The festival is a wonderful opportunity to gather and experience the humour, pleasure, curiosities and joy of dance.

Central to WHAT NEXT since its inception is the Artists’ Creative Exchange.

Each year the festival artists spend 3 days together at Dance Limerick, sharing their practice. This allows them to connect, reflect and be inspired, have fruitful discussions and interactions and gain invaluable insights into each other's work.

Dance Limerick’s Performance Space at St. John’s Church will be the stage of three mixed-bill nights featuring a total of nine performances by exceptional dance artists such as the Limerick- based Parsley Collective, a group of five dance artists with a shared interest in improvisation and exploration into the raw materials of movement.

Other Irish artists featured in this edition are Jessie Keenan, with her exploration of bodies and buildings in The Picture Palace, Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín, who will be asking us ‘Can I have your best move?’ and Amir Sabra, who will offer a personal take on traditional Palestinian ‘Dabke’ in Within this Party.

WHAT NEXT will also present work by emerging Irish dance artists Ghaliah Conroy, exploring the perception of the black female body in Sunken Works, and Rosie Stebbing, who will be presenting her original choreography TEST 1 in which she explores the relationship between the real and the virtual self with Jessie Thompson.

Audiences will also be able to enjoy the work of Aerowaves Twenty23 artists Structure-couple and Jean-Baptiste Baele, who will present their awarded pieces.

In Believe, French duo Structure-couple, formed by artists Lotus Eddé Khouri and Christophe Macé, engage in a “choreographic miniature” based on the principle of an original movement that is progressively deformed in response to the distortions of a popular music track.

Belgian choreographer Jean-Baptiste Baele will close the festival with Nabinam, an autobiographical account about his adoption story.

Originally from Madagascar, Jean-Baptiste weaves the many different challenges faced growing up into his work to create a roller coaster of emotions in its unpredictable change of paces that is sure to be one of the highlights of WHAT NEXT 2024.

The piece will be followed Catherine Young and The Welcoming Project’s Ceílí Afro Dabke Ukraine, an upbeat world music ceílí dance with live music where all are welcome to dance the night away!

In addition to the performances, this year’s festival includes open workshops with Jean Baptiste Baele and Sonia Sabri, who will teach the fundamentals of traditional Kathak dance; as well as a roundtable discussion on Dance and Cultural Identity featuring festival and visiting artists.

Events take place at Dance Limerick Performance Space in John’s Square and feature a range of affordable prices.

Mixed performance bills ensure there is a show to suit everyone’s taste.

Why not discover dance in 2024, at WHAT NEXT dance festival from 8-10 February.

Tickets available at www.dancelimerick.ie

For further enquiries please contact [email protected] or call 061 400994.

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