Europe readily embraces The Emerald Isle as a great nation of writers. This is thanks to the wealth of the nation’s literary talent, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats and James Joyce to name but a few.

Aside from Irish literature – Irish dance is now also accepted as a global Irish commodity. Indeed, since the early 1990s most of the romanticism created around Ireland by the wider European public owes to the popularity of Irish dance productions such as Riverdance and The Lord of the Dance.

Originally, Irish dance was presented to an international audience in the context of a show stealing interval performance during the Eurovision song contest in 1994. After this appearance, Riverdance mobilised the dance form as an International commercially viable commodity. Irish dance shows staged since have increased the cultural visibility of Ireland as a dancing nation to audiences worldwide.

Presently, audiences continue to marvel this inherently Irish form of step dancing in hard shoes on stages all over the world and are habitually swayed by the light quality of the dance, facilitated by its second component, Irish soft shoes. While mostly female Irish dancers would glide across the stage, light as feathers, most Europeans now associate Irish dance with the mystical realm of fairies and people are hooked.

Outside of Ireland, Irish dance is commonly accepted as paramount to Irish cultural identity. However, let us not disregard the imposition of Irish dance on school children and the more negative overtones of the dance at home where competitive Irish dancing often commences at the early age of four. But be it romanticism or competition, the impact of Irish dance on the world is undeniable. Irish dance has inspired new generations of dancers and is now widely practised all across Europe. The formation of the first Finnish Irish Dance Collective in Helsinki in 2009 is only one of many examples pointing to the cultural influence of Ireland on Europe and the world.

So aside from the global role of Irish literature, Irish dance, popular music, Guinness and not to forget Irish Whiskey, how does Ireland fare in the realm of Contemporary Modern Dance?

Most of the avant-garde forces in Modern Dance formed part of the initially American movement against the rigid structure of classical dance. Merce Cunningham for instance (1919- 2009) is renowned as one of the most influential key players in Contemporary Modern Dance. He and his female counterpart and originally, his teacher and internationally known “mother of modern dance” Martha Graham (1894-1991) are only a few notable talents within the American Modern Dance movement.

In the shadow of those great names, it is hard to imagine that Ireland, such a small nation, so many years later, would have any stake at all. But the organisers of the annual Dublin Dance Festival (DDF) aptly prove that Ireland can be considered a key player for the Contemporary Modern Dance movement. The Dance Festival is a tribute to Modern Contemporary Dance both within and outside of Ireland.

Inaugurated in 2002 as a bi-annual event under the name of Dance Festival Ireland, the festival turned into an annual (May) event in 2008 under the directorship of Laurie Uprichard. The first festival was true to the origins of Modern Dance. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company performed as a headliner and solidified the important mission of the festival, namely to promote Modern Dance in Ireland and the world.

This year, between the 13- 28 of May 2011, the seventh edition of the festival will further reinforce Ireland’s role as an international platform for Modern Contemporary Dance. Asian-themed, it will provide choreographers and dancers of Asian origin the opportunity to present their work to Irish and European audiences. Like previous events, it will also promote young, upcoming Irish dance talent, therefore demonstrating the relevance of Irish Modern Contemporary Dance nowadays.

The Dublin Dance Festival has the clear mission; “To present a high quality international dance festival that promotes the best of contemporary choreography and develops artists and audiences in Ireland”.

From my experience as a visitor of many DDF performances over the last few years, this goal is generally met. I still fondly remember being awed by Collin Dunne’s performance “Out of time” in the context of DDF 2008 and Jean Butler’s “Does she take Sugar” which she staged in the same year. While both dancers have strong roots in Irish Dance and have also performed as the main cast in Michael Flatley’s shows, they aptly prove that eclecticism pays off. Modern Dance has given them a new channel of expression as artists and DDF has provided a platform for expressing those tangents.

Admittedly, some of the performances staged in the context of the festival may create a sense of confusion to some. Even though I am passionate about dance and teach modern belly dance myself – I must admit that some contributions come across as rather pretentious. While I am generally thrilled about Jean Butler’s force and impact, and loved “Does she take Sugar?” (DDF 2008), her solo piece “Day” staged in the Abbey Theatre Dublin for DDF 2010 is one such example.

My friend and I went to see “Day” which Tere O’Connor’s choreographed especially for Jean, hoping for great technique and engagement. But it turned out to be disappointing. To our mind, the choreographer did not do Jean’s great talent any justice or use it in a convincing and accessible way. But while not all the pieces may be easy to understand, this is where you, as the audience can decide for yourself, go see as many performances as you like, compare them and make your own judgment call!

All things considered, I firmly believe that the DDF offers such a great variety of choreographers and performers that it does what it claims: It reflects diversity in modern dance and will offer you, as the audience, a great variety of contributions to chose from.

I also support DDF’s vision to promote excellent and innovative dance in Ireland. When I arrived in Ireland in 2001, I did not find there were enough opportunities for me as a dancer to develop as much as I wanted. Aspiring to improve my Irish dancing, I was struggling to find adult classes on offer in Dublin. Ballet was quite established back then. Even so, most dance studios I trained in did not provide a very welcome or clean environment to study dance seriously. I believe, that when Dublin Dance House was established in 2006, an important step into the right direction was taken for the Dublin dance scene.

Dance House provides an amazing establishment with spacious, airy and friendly studios for dance students. This luxury was previously almost unknown to Dublin. Likewise, with Dublin Dance Festival being inaugurated as a promoter of Modern Dance in Ireland in 2002, a necessary step was made to stimulate initiatives such as Dance House and other dance festivals.

The fact that the Festival has hosted artists such as the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rex Levitates (Dublin based), Jean Butler and Colin Dunne amongst other outstanding performers, demonstrates that the festival meets its vision – “to promote excellence and innovation in modern dance”.

In addition to all the wonderful performances, the festival also promotes active engagement. It invites us to participate in and learn about dance. Every year, Dublin Dance festival offers a number of dance workshops and master classes taught by renowned choreographers for the public to sign up for. Therefore, the festival really achieves public participation, and increases access to the art of Modern Dance. For many, the Festival may facilitate their first dance class, which may in turn have them hooked to dance for life.

I am particularly excited and impatiently looking forward to DDF kicking off on May 13. This year’s festival will have a distinct Asian flavor to it. The internationally renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will perform Lin Hwai-min’s signature work Songs of the Wanderers. Providing the centerpiece performance for DDF 2011, the company will perform in Dublin’s newest and biggest theatre, the Grand Canal Theatre.

This year, I am also excited about the work of Japanese dance artist H. Odema who will perform his Haptic & Adapting for Distortion in the Project Arts Centre on 17 and 18 May. It’s an avant-garde piece, which combines technology and computer art with dance. By the looks of the trailer, it is worth checking out. It may even provide a source of entertainment for the more tech-minded individuals amongst us.

As always, DDF 2011 will also give local talent and other international dancers the chance to contribute. Some of these, like José Navas, have performed for the festival before.

Speaking of local talent, I spotted Fearghus Ó Conchúir’s piece with the title Tabernacle on DDF’s website. The piece will be presented as a world premiere on 27 and 28 May in the Project Arts Centre. It should be a quite interesting contribution from home, portraying the influence of the Irish church and the making of the Irish body. In other words, Fearghus investigates the relationship between the body and buildings in the context of urban regeneration.

In addition, “Re-Presenting Ireland” continues to be an indispensable platform for presenting young Irish dance talents. Re-Presenting Ireland gives a body of new young choreographers the opportunity to present their work to a larger audience each year. This provides a means of proving the vitality and strength of the Irish contemporary dance scene. I am really looking forward to Liv O’Donoghue’s Ten: white/grey studies in movement (working title) and the work of the Cork-based Chrysalis Dance Company. However, there are many more choreographers in the course of Re-Presenting Ireland whose work you will be able to check out, so go for it!

Last but not least, the family dance workshops on offer in the context of DDF 2011 will again provide an excellent way for parents and children to bond.

I believe that promoting DDF is fundamentally important. It will give you broader awareness on what is out there in the contemporary dance world, if you are a dancer already. It will introduce you to the world of dance as a spectator. For those of you, who have never danced before, it will give you a window of opportunity to attend modern dance classes taught by some of the most exquisite modern dancers.

Finally, the DDF is of fundamental importance for Ireland’s representation to the world as a dancing nation and for the portrayal of Ireland as a promoter of Contemporary Modern dance and of dance in general, as a form of communication which bridges borders.

I hope you enjoyed my brief window into DDF, its history and present endeavors and here is to DDF 2011, the seventh edition.

Tune back – in May – for my reviews on some of this year’s DDF performances!

Further Information Regarding The Festival Can Be Found At -

Dublin Dance Festival 2011