Liz Roche Company present a mesmerising contemporary dance piece responding to the work of iconic visual artist Brian O’Doherty (Patrick Ireland) for Dublin Dance Festival 2019:

Liz Roche Company stages the Dublin premiere of theirstunning dance piece I/THOU, a major stage production in response to the work of the iconic visual artist Brian O'Doherty. Emerging out of a dialogue between Brian O’Doherty and Liz Roche, this superb dance show draws upon the complex notations and symbolism in O’Doherty’s landmark work One Here Now; The Ogham Cycle – a nine-part series of spectacular, floor-to-ceiling wall paintings at Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, Cork that encapsulates his career-long concerns with migration, language and identity.

Liz Roche was commissioned to respond to this work as part of the performance project that ran throughout 2018 to celebrate their restoration. Inspired by O’Doherty’s mix of perfection and playfulness, Roche’s production re-works these paintings into dynamic choreographic patterns exploring the intimacies that form our connection to our surroundings and each other. The dancing body is set in distilled landscapes of sound, colour and light, creating a world of possibilities in which, even if for a moment, we can transcend individuality. Running at Samuel Beckett Theatre Dublin for three shows only from May 8th to 10th, at Dublin Dance Festival 2019.

I Thou premiered at Cork Opera House on 7th September 2018 as a centre piece of the Sirius Arts Centre's year-long programme celebrating O'Doherty's remarkable career. Co-produced by Cork Opera House and Liz Roche Company and in partnership with Sirius Arts Centre I/THOU is a dance of connection in the disconnected world we live in.

Liz Roche Company was delighted to commission a new score from Cork composer Linda Buckley that features recorded vocals by Suzanne Savage and Robbie Blake, with live performance by cellist Kate Ellis. Set and costume designer Joe Vanek and lighting designer Stephen Dodd complete this exceptional creative team with a cast of world class dancers in Sarah Cerneaux, Miguel do Vale, Gloria Ros Abellana, Ailish Maher, Jack Webb & Kevin Coquelard.

I/Thou was the recipient of a significant Making Great Art Work/Open Call award 2018 from the Arts Council of Ireland.

Liz Roche says - “The creation of I/THOU has proven to be artistically enriching from day one. Emerging from the rich and layered textures and emotions of One Here Now is a surprisingly physical and rigorous movement quality that touches into heightened and dynamic energies that I had not originally expected to find. The heart of the work feels intensely human and complex, and yet, there is a serene logic emerging at every turn”.

Liz Roche Company is company-in-residence with Dublin Dance Festival 2017–19 and Civic Theatre Tallaght, also 2017–19.

DANCERS - Sarah Cerneaux, Miguel do Vale, Gloria Ros Abellana, Ailish Maher, Jack Webb & Kevin Coquelard.

RECORDED VOCALS – Robbie Blake & Suzanne Savage

LIVE MUSIC – Kate Ellis (cello)

CREATIVE TEAM:
Choreography by Liz Roche
Music Composition by Linda Buckley
Set and Costume by Joe Vanek
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd