Kildare County Council Arts Service

Laban in Practice

A weekend of Laban based dance workshops
with Anna Carlisle and Cathy O’Kennedy
Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March 2008
Middle Loftus Hall, South Campus NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare

Hosted by Kildare County Council Arts Service, Laban in Practice comprised of a series of related workshops led by Anna Carlisle, President of the Laban Guild and Cathy O’Kennedy, Artistic Director, Fluxusdance. These workshops were designed to support and inform a broad range of dance practices including Community Dance, Dance in Education, Choreography and Dance Making and Integrated Dance Practices.

To demonstrate integrated practice, a lunchtime performance took place of Pieces of Elsewhere a work in progress by Counterbalance, Ireland’s first integrated dance project. This is a promenade, site specific, performance which has been created by the seven core Counterbalance performers in collaboration with choreographer Cathy O’ Kennedy, dance artist Lucy Dundon and film maker Jana Riedel. The weekend programme also included the screening of Shade a new dance film by Louise Costelloe, Dancer in Residence, South Dublin County Council, the launch of When We Danced, a new publication documenting Kildare’s Dance Development programme and an awards ceremony for recent graduates of the Laban Guild’s Community Dance Leaders Level 1 course.

In the revision of techniques and fundamentals, Laban in Practice provided an opportunity for Laban students, graduates, community dance practitioners and dance artists to progress their understanding of Laban’s work and practical application in their own work and practice.

Photo Gallery of  Laban in Practice Workshops

THE TUTORS 
Anna Carlisle, President, Laban Guild
Anna was Head of Dance at Lewes College and Lecturer in Choreological Studies at LABAN, London.  She has taught extensively on the international circuit.  Choreographic projects have run in Copenhagen, Iceland, France and Ireland and choreographic commissions for the Brighton Festival include Dances Sacrees et Profanes with the Musicians of All Saints and the Community Opera, Figlia del Mago.  Recent site specific works for her inter-generational Community Dance Group, Thin Skin, include The Rise of Spring and Where the Land Meets the Sea for the Arts Council Big Dance, summer 2006.
She is currently Director of the Phoenix Project, a Professional  Development Course in Laban Studies for Dance and Theatre practitioners  based at Royal Holloway College, London.  Anna was awarded the MBE for Services to Dance in 2002.

Cathy O’Kennedy, Artistic Director, Fluxusdance
Cathy O’Kennedy is an Irish dance artist and choreographer with over three decades of experience of teaching, performing and creating dance in community and education settings in Ireland.  She is currently the creative director of Counterbalance Integrated Dance Group and is the Artistic Director and choreographer for Fluxusdance.  Cathy is currently a PhD candidate with The University of East London.

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