Ailish Claffey

 

Biography:

Ailish began at BullAlley, Liberties College with Performance Arts, and went on to The College of Dance, Monkstown. She then completed a BA(hons) in Dance Theatre at Trinity Laban, a conservatoire for dance, London. She spent a year with Daghdha as part of the Daghdha Mentoring Programme. She has a Cert. from National University in Maynooth (NUIM) in Theatre Directing and is currently doing self directed study for a specialist diploma in choreological studies with Trinity Laban. 

Ailish has worked with choreographers Joanna Fong, Charlie Morrissey, IMDT, Sara Rudner, Anneke Hansen, and Daria Fain among others. She has worked with Slovenian Experimental Theatre Company, Via Negativa and Physical Theatre Company Elan Fucecchio, Tuscany, Italy performing alongside No Fit State Circus.

Ailish was selected by Dance Ireland to receive choreographic mentoring from Tedd Robbinson of Le Groupe Dance Lab, Ottawa and on invitation has been supported by The Arts Council Ireland to travel to The Barn, (www.tengatesdancing.ca) Ottowa to create new work alongside Laura Murphy. Ailish received a choreographic bursary from Dance Ireland, 2010.

Ailish and Laura together are known as Folded Productions, established 2009. They have been collaborating and creating work since 2007 and with the kind support of The Arts Council and Dance Ireland the duo are generating a repertoire of diverse, raw and inter-disciplinary professional works.

Folded Productions has produced and performed works internationally in venues such as Dance Theatre Workshop Studio, New York; Dance House, Ireland; The Firkin Crane, Cork; The Project Arts Centre and The Back Loft, Dublin; Daghdha Space, Limerick; Abundance, Sweden and The Barn, Ottawa, Canada.

The duo also worked as Dancers in Residence for Kerry County Council, Ireland (2008 - 2009) focusing on integrating dance into the community and developing creative dance programmes for various groups from young children to the older adult.

Contact:        foldedproductions@gmail.com

Production history:

'Bound' is the outcome of a Choreographic Bursary Award from Dance Ireland with the aim of finding new ways of communicating with audiences through the use of movement and text.

It began with the question, "Why do my friends look forward to a night at the theatre yet avoid contemporary dance performances at all costs?” To begin finding answers Ailish directed a full length play “Bedbound” by Enda Walsh working with actors Deirdre Murphy and Thomas Farrell. This was performed at The Back Loft, 08.01.2010 with the kind permission of Nick Hern Books, London. Invited to the event was a select and diverse audience in which feedback and dialogue was the key.

"Bound"

Directed by Ailish Claffey.

Co-created with Laura Murphy (Folded Productions).

Performed by Thomas Farrell, Deirdre Lennon & Laura Murphy.

Music performed live by Tom Lane.

Bound is a physical theatre work loosely based on the play "Bedbound"

by Enda Walsh.

It is a performance piece free from the traditional roles associated

with dance or theatre thus communicating with wider and more diverse audience bases.

Blurring these boundaries, an alternative theatrical experience emerges. This cross-disciplinary work portrays the meeting of... an actress and a dancer to tell an

unconventional family tale as mother and daughter in 1950s Cork.

The Dad, well "He loves the fuckin work". "Work work work work work work

work work work.. satisfuckinfaction boys, satisfuckinfaction!".

Bound is a raw edge performance piece and a welcome release from

traditional theatre expectations.

This event was made possible with the kind support of Dance Ireland,

Cork City Council and The Arts Council Ireland.  Special thanks to The

Back Loft, Paul Johnson, Abundance Dance and Choreography Festival, Fishamble Theatre Company.

About my work / practice (1000 words):

My interests are rooted in physical theatre. I am interested in the primitive / rawness that lives within all of us. I like the use of dark humour and a sense that the audience is kept on edge. I evoke imagery through the use of physicality, text, story, props and costume.

I draw movement material from instinctive human and animalistic behaviours and enjoy defragmenting its natural order. I play with changing the context in which we see movement, enjoying unusual rhythms and work closely with the dynamics and intimacy of movement. I believe that text and movement together are a powerful mix and am always interested in experimenting with new ways of communicating with audiences.

A selection if images from Ailish's work

'Bound'