2023……. A Very NAF Year
Happy birthday is also in order as NAF Dance is now officially one year old, and what a year it’s been. From festivals, residencies, interviews, awards, funding, blogs, workshops, performances and so many flights. Thank you to everyone who has made all of it possible, audiences, funders, organisations, technicians, performers, musicians, videographers, crew, featured makers and so many more.
We’re giddy with excitement for all the wonderful madness that 2024 has in store, but first lets indulge in all the magic of 2023…..
We charged into the year full steam ahead preparing for Scene and Heard Festival in Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin with ‘Usual Programming.’ It was all things fabulous, trashy reality television and our proper introduction to the Irish theatre scene after being in the Netherlands for so long. It was a pivotal moment for us as it lead to radio interviews, RTÉ Culture writeups and started new collaborations that are still thriving including with Smock Alley Theatre.
Watch the full piece Here
Back we went to Tilburg to kick-off the the next production, my graduation piece - ‘You gotta trust the future is gonna be a bit Sexy,’ and never a truer sentiment. The first rehearsals were in Fontys University along with the promo shoots and then we headed for our first residency in the stunning DansBrabant. All nerves, all excitement and all fire - even the unplanned ones.
Drumroll please… NAF Dance was selected as the Dance Academy nominee for the Jacque de Leeuw Award, which is a recognition for your vision and innovation in your art field. This gave us the focus to invest in our website, portfolio and mission. Along with presentations and interviews about all our big plans where of course we dressed up as Charlie Chaplin, because why not?
We ploughed on through Sexy Piece travelling between DansBrabant in Tilburg, Crea Amsterdam and a week long residency in Panama Pictures in s’Hertogenbosch with coaching by Pia Meuthen. The piece really began to come together tying in costumes (cowboy boots of course), video materials, music and disecting it all over train rides up and down the country.
Now June was possibly the maddest month of them all this year - premiere time and a whole lot of travel. It kicked off with the choreography deaprtment hitting the Theatre de Nieuwe Vorst for two nights, and ‘You gotta trust the future is gonna be a bit Sexy,’ was finally unveiled to the world. It was absolutely terrifying as it was such a personal, wacky work but the exhiliration when the crowd laughed, cheered, cried and sang along was indescribable.
It was the biggest and most ambitious production to date and was a real culmination of everything that NAF Dance stands for, silliness, sadness and pure joy.
An ode to growing up, the terrible, beautiful messiness of it all. Truly one for all the Dolly Alderton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge lovers out there.
Listen to the playlist of it all Here
Then off we went to Eindhoven, weighed down in props for a reimagined outdoor performance of it in the scorching heat. The cabaret moments really took on a whole new meaning…
It was time to bring the show to Ireland for Dancer for the Dance Festival in the Project Arts Centre. It was incredible to be billed alongside such national and international dance icons as we marched through in our stunning dungarees.
Although the Jacque de Leeuw Awarrds Gala was the next day which meant we had to fly to London that night and sleep in glamorous Stansted airport and fly to Eindhoven at 9am the next morning to make it back in time. We’re really living our rockstar years as the moment we landed we darted to Theaters Tilburg for our tech rehearsal before hitting the stage that night to perform again. We made the tiredness worth it as we even ended up in the parers!
All roads lead to Skibbereen!!
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All roads lead to Skibbereen!! 〰️
We made the journey down south to spend two weeks in Uillinn Arts Centre as the Dance Artist in Residence there to begin researching the new production… ‘Ham Sandwiches and Discipline.’
It was a big moment for us as it was the first full length production we were embarking on so equally overwhelming and thrilling.
We collaborated with the O’Donovan Rossa GAA club, Junior Ladies team to help us dive into the world of the GAA which was invaluable. Our fabulous videographer Dean O’Sullivan came down too to document everything. The fortnight culminated in a reseach sharing as part of Skibbereen Arts Festival.
Ryanair jetted us back again to s’Hertogenbosch for two nights in the goreogeous, reknowned Theaterfestival Boulevard. We recieved coaching, workshops and a stunning location.
The travelling routine continued as we headed west to Galway, continuing our research for ‘Ham Sandwiches and Discipline.’
We completely fell head over heels for Terryland during our two weeks there. It seems like it loved us two as in the Galway Dance studios we completed the first full draft of the piece… eek!
In September we knuckled down and powered through applications, admin and more excitingly launched our series, Notes for a future Memoir.
We’ve featured makers from theatre, music and visual art and are looking forward to sharing more wonderous young makers with you in 2024.
The behind the scenes days - video editing, props shopping and tech, making it all possible.
So thrilled to be a recipient of an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland to further develop the NAF Dance research and movement language.
It is a huge step forward and will make the next few plans all the more attainable.
Another week, another city. Back off to Galway for a research residency for ‘Let Them Eat Cake.’ A new reimagining of the very first piece that represented the Netherlands in the Szoloduo Festival in Budapest 2022. Turning it into an even camper, all singing, all dancing, theatrical extravaganza. It was commisioned by On-Mute which led to flying back and forth for rehearsals over the next two months.
Back to sexy piece and back to Skibbereen for Uillinn Dance Season. On a stormy Wednesday night we managed to have a delicious audience for a sold out show and the team and café there were as lovely as ever. It was also made possible with being the recipient of an Emerging Artist Bursary Award from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
With October came another role, coaching four gorgeous senior Dublin Youth Dance Company coaching dancers for their Winter Gala in Smock Alley Theatre as part of their Emerging Voices programme. A solo extract of ‘You gotta trust the future is gonna be a bit Sexy,’ was also shown as part of the event. It was so lovely to go back to the DYDC roots.
As we continue the journey of ‘Ham Sandwiches and Discipline,’ we had a week long residency in Dance Ireland where we focused on refining the material and making it all the more camp. It’s quite refreshing being able to stay with a project for a longer period of time and be allowed to flesh it out to be all that it can.
After weeks of rehearsals, open rehearsals and repetoire workshops, the new ‘Let Them Eat Cake,’ was shown to the world at On-Mute of the Arts in Tilburg. It was the perfect signature NAF Dance note to end the year on, utter lightness, drama and a whole lot of nonsense.
It’s really been a momentous year with so many incredible opportunities and paved the way for so many more.
Thanks again for all your support and keep your eyes peeled for everything 2024 has to offer…