At the time of writing, i.e. August 2011, I’ve been in China four months now. According to Lindsay Clandfield and Duncan Ford, in their short treatise ‘The Language Teacher’s Survival Handbook’ (ITS, 2008), there are four stages of culture shock. I’m not sure if I’m at any particular stage.

After being enthralled by the performances presented in Mixed Bills I for Re-Presenting Ireland, I also watched the contributions for Mixed Bills II. Overall, I was newly inspired as regards my own dance practise. Also, after seeing the works presented for Mixed Bills II I am now eagerly conducting more research into modern contemporary dance in Ireland.

Right so, four stars because even though I have nothing to complain about, like the sea, I’m a harsh, unforgiving mistress.

The Grand Canal Theatre Dublin opened its doors in March 2010. At a twenty-minute stroll from O’Connell Street, it is the newest and biggest addition to Dublin’s vibrant cultural life. With a 2000 seating capacity, within a year after its inauguration, it represents Dublin’s primary venue for theatrical productions. Therefore, the decision by Dublin Dance Festival to host the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan at the Grand Canal Theatre was extremely significant. In this wonderful setting, I was enticed by Songs of the wanderers (1994), which was presented by “Asia’s leading contemporary dance companies” (The Irish Times) and hailed as the centrepiece performance of DDF 2011.

The Dublin Dance Festival organizers have envisaged Re-presenting Ireland as an annual cultural venture with a very concrete purpose. Featuring as a solid festival component, Re-presenting Ireland presents rising choreographers with the opportunity of presenting their completed and unfinished works to Irish audiences. The project celebrates the diversity of the Irish modern dance scene. And indeed, all the works presented in Re-presenting Ireland 2011, highlight the versatility of modern dance in contemporary Ireland.

Some dance performances, like a number of modern paintings and potentially any piece of art, prove challenging to understand, difficult to follow, and to be brutally honest, at times, come across as plain pretentious. Writing a review on Hiroaki Umeda’s work is the exact opposite.

In anticipation of tonight’s performances Fanfare and Bell, I sit down in the Great Hall at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, scrutinising the 17th century portraits of Kings and Queens. Queen Anne is staring back at me intently.

Technological music, Electronica in all its forms is sort of like the rust covered dead mech or robot warrior a good Transformers movie keeps cutting back to. There in the rubble of that facility – still – seemingly now, at long last – lifeless.

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.

It may be said that 2010 was a marker moment of for counter-culture.

That it witnessed the rebirth of Irish Rave culture, the warehouse party and the resplendent resurgence of Techno.

On the 6th of February I arrived late to the Irish Writers Centre in the fear that I’d missed the fortune cookies. The event in question was a night of Chinese and Irish literature and traditional music from both countries. Wandering through the crowd with the only recognizable face being that of Mr. Hayden (one of the organizers), I began to pass an increasing amount of empty food plates and glasses. Worried I’d arrived too late and would now be forced to wait in a graveyard of free food and drink, my heart began to sink. That was, until a guest moved to the table and took a previously thought empty bottle and poured himself a glass.

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Dublin began on Friday the 1st of February in the Irish Film Institute with a small ceremony and a screening of Jia Zhang Ke’s ‘Still Life’ (Sanxia Haoren).

Before writing about the Chinese New Year celebrations in Ireland and cultural dialogue, I need to get a couple of things straight. I’m Irish; I live in Dublin and while many of the messages I send from the Big Rock Candy Mountain reference Ireland or have a distinctly Irish hue. Mine is not the only voice here. We have Finns, Swedes, Dutch, Australians and French writing, Canadians, Americans and English editing, and we hope to add to that.

In an effort to offer a wider variety of articles on the mountain. This year we will be covering the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations or as you’d probably more commonly know it, Chinese New Year.