Culture
Maretta Dillon previews what’s on in the arts around the country in the next few months
Maytime playtime
Already a favourite from the festival circuit, director Carmel Winters film, Float Like A Butterfly, is set in 1960s Ireland. Filmed in West Cork, it features a knock out (literally) performance from newcomer Hazel Doupe as Frances
If it’s May, it’s Bealtaine, the festival that celebrates the arts and creativity as we age. There’s plenty to choose from but here is a miniature selection: Blow the Dust Orchestra is the National Concert Hall’s resident community orchestra for older people; Growing Old Disgracefully (satirical songs/poems Cabaret Style) is based on the trials, tribulations and joys of growing older; and Beginner Creative Writing Workshop for Adults, Tullamore Central Library. See bealtaine.ie for all the details. Music Network continue their exciting and innovative tours with the arrival of incredible French-Canadian folk super group De Temps Antan whose live shows are dosed with catchy honkytonk tunes, uncontrolled laughter, and sudden, impromptu shifts in rhythm and harmony. Three powerful vocals combine to create joyous harmonies; several of De Temps Antan’s songs also feature close-up call-andresponse vocals that date back to the work songs of Quebec’s lumber camps. In lots of venues around Ireland – musicnetwork.ie
Dublin Dance Festival is back on various stages in Dublin in May featuring an eclectic mix of dancing styles and modes for every audience. Highlights include traditional Irish dancer Colin Dunne and Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in a new collaboration and the return of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker dance company who made such an impression on their first visit to Dublin. All this and more from dublindancefestival.ie
Writing & Ideas in Co. Carlow. Already confirmed are Christine Lamb, a UK foreign correspondent who has reported from most of the world’s hotspots starting with Afghanistan in the late 1980s; psychotherapist Phillipa Perry whose most recent experience was counselling Love Island celebrities; and poet Paul Muldoon who will publish his 13th book of poetry this autumn. Plenty of choice in a beautiful and uplifting setting – festivalofwritingandideas. com
Already a favourite from the festival circuit, director Carmel Winters film, Float Like A Butterfly, is set in 1960s Ireland. Filmed in West Cork, it features a knock out (literally) performance from newcomer Hazel Doupe as Frances, a teenage traveller coping with tragedy, hardship and prejudice. Like her hero, Muhammed Ali, Frances must fight to live her own dreams. A feminist fable about finding your place in the world. A must see from May 10.
Cork Midsummer Festival sees award-winning site-specific theatre company Corcadorca return to Cork with The Small Things by Enda Walsh, to be performed at the Old Waterworks, Lee Road, and starring Peter Gowen and Pauline McLynn. Also, at the festival is A Different Wolf, a new dance opera created by the acclaimed Junk Ensemble and innovative music-theatre company Dumbworld. The performance blends visceral movement, text and exquisite song to create a powerful visual & sonic experience for the audience. Lots to anticipate and enjoy.
Some but not all the speakers have been announced for Borris House Festival of
22 Senior Times l May - June 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie
