DanceHall Blues
"expertly ingenious.. Bolger's dark odyssey.. packs a punch"
It's 2024 and the witching hour. As dusk approaches, the doors of the hall are flung wide open. You are invited to enter.
Two enigmatic dancers hit the dance floor – quietly questioning their hopes and dreams amongst the surrounding turmoil. As their shadows deepen, they take more chances and dance more dances – “where are we headed to, where does it all end?”
Directed and choreographed by David Bolger, DANCEHALL BLUES unites two of Ireland's most exciting performers, Stephanie Dufresne and Alex O’Neill for the very first time – in an intimate duet that grooves between hope and the dystopia of an angry world.
Underpinned by the experimental freedom that being in the Fringe entails, DANCEHALL BLUES investigates the blurred, vanishing line between fiction and non-fiction – in CoisCèim's first work for the festival in over a decade.
Set within our landmark studio building in the north inner city – the dancehall is waiting to welcome you.
"Responsible for some of the most uplifting and beautifully crafted pieces of the past three decades...even when doing dystopia CoisCéim craft it beautifully.. Dufresne and O’Neill’s physical conversations... beautiful, insightful and heartfelt. At moments it looks a little like heaven."
Gallery
DanceHall Blues
Performed at
part of Dublin Fringe Festival
CoisCéim Studio
Dublin, Ireland
6 - 21 September 2024
PREVIEWS 6, 7 September
OPENING 8 September
(no Shows on 9, 16 – 18 September)
TIME 7.45pm
ACCESSIBILITY
As an artwork created entirely in and for our studio, Dancehall Blues has a special connection with the fabric of our building, as well as with our commitment to making every performance as accessible as possible, so that anyone who wants to see the show can do so. Ticket pricing follows our "Pay What You Can" model. For Culture Night, this includes the option to book tickets for free. All performances are wheelchair accessible, and ear defenders and tinted glasses are available for those with sensory needs.
PRESS
LISTEN | David Bolger and Stephanie Dufresne talk to RTE Arena's Sean Rocks about the history of our studio and all things DANCEHALL BLUES.
READ | The Irish Times: Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 - 19 shows to catch as the festival turns 30
Credits
CAST stephanie dufresne, alex o'neill
Director David Bolger
choreography david bolger in collaboration with the dancers
Composition & sound design ivan birthistle
Lighting design john gunning
costume design arran murphy
projection design Neil o'driscoll
Hair & Makeup Val Sherlock
Production Manager Seán Dennehy
Stage Manager emma doyle, tom o'reilly
chief lx peter bond
assistant projection design Laura Rainsford
production technician sarah keane
costume assistants the rediscover fashion team
set construction Re-Staging
lx crew david hannafin, archer bradshaw
sound crew john norton, vincent doherty
Stage Crew Damien Woods
COMPANY CLASS TEACHERS MUIRNE BLOOMER, GWEN BOLGER, INNA MAZURENKO
virtual reality
direction enya belak
filming and post-production igor CRNKOVIĆ
chief lx anthony quinn
sound recordist ivan birthistle
Photographer/Videographer Ros Kavanagh
Graphic Design Alphabet Soup
bookkeeper susan hoffman
Publicist CultureHead
project coordinator inna mazurenko
Produced by sarah latty & bridget webster
As part of our commitment to make ever more sustainable work, this production continues our partnership with Rediscover Fashion which began with GO TO BLAZES and subsequently PALIMPSEST. It also includes carpentry constructed from recycled theatre sets by Re-Staging.
DURATION APROX 50 MINUTES
CONTAINS Smoke machine and strobe lighting
About The Cast
About The Creative Team
About The Production Team
Partners
Dublin Fringe Festival
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL IS A CURATED, MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTS FESTIVAL AND YEAR-ROUND ARTIST SUPPORT ORGANISATION. WE SEEK OUT AND PRESENT CONTEMPORARY, PLAYFUL AND PROVOCATIVE NEW WORK MADE BY IRISH AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS OF VISION IN AN ANNUAL CELEBRATION ALL OVER THE CITY.
Established in 1995, Dublin Fringe Festival is the agenda-setting festival for new work in Ireland, devoted to talent development and artform development. It is a platform for new and emerging artists in Ireland to showcase their work and offers artists at every stage of their career an opportunity to challenge, subvert and invigorate their disciplines and practice.
Epson Ireland
Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to co-creating sustainability and enriching communities by leveraging its efficient, compact, and precision technologies and digital technologies to connect people, things, and information. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson will become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of around JPY 1 trillion.
In 2024, local subsidiary Epson Ireland partnered with us to enable the projection capabilities for Palimpsest and DanceHall Blues, where each party worked in unison to explore new boundaries for projection in the arts.
Rediscover Fashion
A creative movement connecting people, ideas and resources to support greener low-carbon living. It brings together the skills and expertise of artists, scientists, designers and craftspeople united in a common purpose of sustainability. Located in a bespoke demonstration eco-facility, it supports four reuse social enterprises; Rediscover Furniture, Rediscover Fashion, Rediscover Paint and Rediscover Cycling. These businesses use unwanted materials for new product development and design demonstrating effective resource efficiency, reuse and low carbon living. The Rediscovery Centre is also an accredited Discover Primary Science and Maths Centre.
Rediscover Fashion was established in 2008 as a social enterprise to produce 100% redesigned and repurposed, clothing, accessories and homeware ranges. It creates training opportunities for the long term unemployed and all revenue generated from its activities are reinvested back in the enterprise. The circular fashion model is brought to life through training, lectures and by developing innovative products that highlight circular design principles. These products are then sold in their Eco Store along with other sustainably designed brands.
Celebrating our 30th Year
DANCEHALL BLUES is an anchor of the company’s programme celebrating its 30th Year. If PALIMPSEST cemented CoisCéim’s A-list status as a creator of powerful large-scale spectacle, DANCEHALL BLUES will expose its edgy underbelly that the free-spiritedness of Fringe allows – to reveal a company as fresh and relevant today as when they exploded onto the scene thirty years ago.