Go To Blazes
CoisCéim Dance Theatre have jumped off the edge of mainstream response and performative form, creating an immersive experience that manipulates the physical senses
Winner of an Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Movement.
Nominated for an Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Costume, Best Video Design and Audience-Choice.
“O, Rocks!” In a meaty delicacy that ignites the senses, David Bolger’s evocative response to Ulysses Episode 4 probes dual realities to create a highly original dance performance installation of unsettling, voluptuous beauty. Each audience member is taken on an intimate, deeply personal, multi-sensorial journey designed to linger long after they have left the landmark building of 42 Fairview Strand.
a heady, scented experience… A live and virtual treatment of a classic text that comes right off the page into intoxicating life
It’s a riveting, magical, overwhelming mixed media dance piece… it entrances the soul through sound, sight, and smell… Don’t miss it.
you don’t walk away from the experience so much as float…Go To Blazes honours its inspiration by searching for new possibilities. Creating a work of staggering beauty. Not to be missed.
an engaging take on one of the most famous episodes in Joyce’s book… an immersive dance to Denis Clohessy’s searing music that wrenchingly evokes the Blooms’ sundering and reunion, their past and uncertain future.
a beautifully judged 40-minute multisensory experience…
Gallery
IN PRODUCTION
BEHIND THE SCENES | FILMING FOR VIRTUAL REALITY
IN REHEARSAL
Performed at
Bloomsday Festival / MoLI
CoisCéim Studio
42 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
14 - 18 June 2023
part of Ulysses 2.2
CoisCéim Studio
42 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
9 - 20 November 2022
ABOUT
“In my response, I wanted to focus on the chapter right in front of me – not what happened before or right after – or what that might lead to in the odyssey of the journey of the day. Chapter 4: Calypso is the first time we meet Leopold Bloom and Molly Bloom – it intrigued me that the chapter opens with a description of what Leopold Bloom likes to eat for breakfast – kidneys. It’s interesting to me as a choreographer – to start with a part of the body. I’ve been researching with Justine Cooper working primarily in dance – drilling down into core elements to build a series of scenes – e.g. about Molly and who she represents, of who Leopold is, or who he describes himself to be, his eating habits – or about the smells.” – DAVID BOLGER
In the striking surroundings of CoisCéim’s studio, witness a unique live and 180° virtual reality experience that features three extraordinary dancers, Justine Cooper, Jonathan Mitchell and Rosie Stebbing, an original composition by Denis Clohessy and a world-class creative team of Neil O’Driscoll (projections), Arran Murphy (costume), Matt Burke (lighting), Val Sherlock (hair & makeup), Enya Belak and Igor Crnković (VR capture creators).
MEDIA
LISTEN | Lorcan Murray interviews Justine Cooper | www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm
READ | Deirdre Falvey feature in The Irish Times | A TANG OF URINE AND SPICY PIGS BLOOD
Credits
CAST Justine Cooper, Jonathan Mitchell, Rosie Stebbing
with voiceover by Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
Director & Choreographer David Bolger
Composer & Sound Designer Denis Clohessy
Projection Designer Neil O’Driscoll
Lighting Designer Matt Burke
Costume Arran Murphy
Hair & Makeup Val Sherlock
Scents Justine Cooper
Props Martin Cahill
VR Director Enya Belak
VR Filming and Post-Production Igor Crnković
VR Sound Recordist Alexis Nealon
Production Manager Stephen Bourke
Stage Manager Aaron Kennedy
Chief AV/LX Michael Stapleton
AV & VR Technician Laura Rainsford
Stage Operator Sarah Keane
Costume Assistants Siv Keating, Ewa Majer, Clare Phalan (Rediscover Fashion)
Photography Néstor Romero Clemente, Ste Murray
Communications (CoisCéim) Jeanette Keane
Communications (Ulysses 2.2) Lisa Nally
Ulysses 2.2 Project Manager Gráinne Pollak
Producers Sarah Latty & Bridget Webster
Aligning with the goals of CoisCéim’s new strategic plan, THREE ANCHORS TO THRIVE – costumes for GO TO BLAZES were created with the support of Rediscover Fashion, led by its Programme Manager, designer Arran Murphy, at the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy.
About the Cast
About our Collaborators
ANU Productions
ANU are devoted to an interdisciplinary approach to performance / installation that cross-pollinates visual art, dance and theatre in an intensely collaborative way. ANU create works of art that continually push the boundaries and conventions of performance and installation. They aim to present unconventional work, concentrating on creating innovative exchanges with audiences.
Landmark Productions
Landmark Productions is one of Ireland’s leading theatre producers. We produce wide-ranging work in Ireland, and share that work with international audiences.
Led by Anne Clarke since the company’s foundation in 2003, our productions have received multiple awards and have been seen in leading theatres in London, New York and beyond.
Our 18 world premieres (and counting) include new plays by major Irish writers such as Enda Walsh and Mark O’Rowe, featuring a roll-call of Ireland’s finest actors, directors and designers.
In Ireland, we produce a wide range of ambitious work – mostly plays, but occasionally operas and musicals, too – in theatres ranging from the 66-seat New Theatre to the 1,254-seat Olympia. We co-produce regularly with a number of partners, including, most significantly, Galway International Arts Festival and Irish National Opera.
The company has received numerous awards, including – at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards – the Judges’ Special Award in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, and for developing imaginative partnerships to bring quality theatre to the Irish and international stage, and a Special Tribute Award for Anne Clarke, for her work as a producer of world-class theatre in the independent sector in Ireland.
With the support of the Arts Council and Culture Ireland – and with the backing of individual investors for our commercial productions – we aim to support artists to make their best work, and to make sure that work is seen as widely as possible.
MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland)
MoLI is a partnership between University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland.
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.
ULYSSES 2.2 | 1 BOOK. 1 YEAR. 18 ARTISTIC EXPERIMENTS.
Commissioned by Ulysses2.2 – a collaborative project between ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI funded through an OPEN CALL award from Arts Council Ireland.
To mark a century of Ulysses, three of Ireland’s most innovative arts organisations and practitioners – ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI have come together for Ulysses 2.2, a year-long, nationwide odyssey of creative responses to the 18 episodes that chronicle an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom. ulysses22.ie