29th September 2025

Mags Byrne, the founding Artistic Director of DU Dance (NI) for over 24 years, is to step down in 2026 to focus on research, project delivery and allow her time to travel.

Under her creative and committed leadership, DU Dance (NI), based in Belfast and working across the island of Ireland, the UK and internationally, has become a vibrant, progressive dance development company highly regarded for its work at the cutting edge of dance and community development.

Working through the medium of contemporary dance theatre, DU Dance (NI) has constantly pushed the boundaries of where and with whom dance has value. The company’s work focuses on young people but involves people of all ages and abilities. It was founded on and epitomises the distinctive approach that dance is a means of bringing about positive individual and community transformation, raising self-esteem, facilitating integration, and promoting attitudes based on tolerance and respect.

Mags Byrne has worked professionally in dance for over 35 years. She has performed and toured with many contemporary dance companies and choreographed and mounted projects for groups and companies all over Britain and Ireland, as well as in Austria, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Palestine, Romania, South Africa and Switzerland.

As Artistic Director she has played a vital role in delivering non-competitive, collaborative dance projects in a variety of settings – from youth centres to cathedrals, from car parks to international stages – and the work is rooted in community partnership, co-creation and a belief in the power of dance to inspire change. She leaves an incredible legacy behind, including:

·       large scale dance performances such as the Opening ceremony for the World Police & Fire Games, eMERGEncy and most recently SHIFT in August 2024

·       ongoing intercultural dance projects in Dungannon and Belfast, intergenerational work in Ballycastle and projects with young carers

·       Northern Ireland’s first boys only dance group Belfast Boys

·       major annual dance festivals Unanimous, Primary School Dance Festival and Day of Dance

Commenting on her departure, Mags Byrne has said: “I am excited to see how DU Dance (NI) will develop under a new Artistic Director and wish the whole team all the very best moving forward.  As a founding director it is hard to leave, but the time is right for both me and the company and there are more challenges and thrills ahead, so we are all embracing the change.”

Rosamond Bennett, DU Dance (NI) Chair added: “This is a significant moment in the company’s journey, as we look ahead to a new chapter of leadership. Mags has been the driving force behind DU Dance (NI) for over 24 years, building on decades of experience in community dance across Northern Ireland and internationally. Her vision and commitment have shaped a company recognised for its inclusive ethos, high-quality participatory practice, and powerful, socially engaged performance work.”

Mags Byrne will remain in post until a successor is appointed.  DU Dance NI’s recruitment for a new Artistic Director will begin in October.

3rd September 2025

26th August 2025

29th July 2025

Belfast Boys flew back from London late last night after the most fantastic trip to London to perform at the prestigious U.Dance Festival 2025 where they represented Northern Ireland.

Held at Sadler’s Wells East, a fabulous new venue in London’s Olympic Park, this is the UK’s largest youth dance festival and the boys joined hundreds of other young people from across the UK for an extraordinary weekend of performances, workshops and career development opportunities.

In the days before and after, the DU Dance team had lots of opportunities to explore the city on various forms of public transport and on foot with a Thames River Walk planned by Debs. All activities were, of course, fuelled by pizza followed by pizza!

If you’ve been following our Instagram and Facebook accounts you will have seen many of these fun and memorable moments captured by Sean and the boys as they took over our socials.  Here are just a few of the behind the scenes photos with more to come!

Thanks to everyone who has made this trip possible through fundraising and on the ground support.

2nd July 2025

Instigated by our Youth Steering Group, and following on from SHIFT which took place last August, we are busy pulling together plans for a large-scale community dance project later this year.

CLASH will involve 85 performers aged 7 – 87 years old and include a series of choreographic workshops, artist training opportunities and a residential with community dancers from across Northern Ireland, leading to four, site-specific performances in Belfast.

The project is being delivered by DU Dance in collaboration with 5th Element Belfast and choreographer Conor (Doke) O’Kane.

CLASH aims to give participants the opportunity to ‘shout’ about issues that they are passionate about, ranging from community concerns to social pressures and showing them that what they think matters. The vehicle for this expression will include urban street arts, (Breakdancing, Parkour, Graffiti, Rapping) and Contemporary Dance Theatre.

CLASH will see people of all ages and different cultural, social and economic backgrounds coming together to create this new work.

Watch this space!

17th June 2025

This month, we were very pleased to receive funding from LFT Charitable Trust’s Enriching Lives Award for our intergenerational dance programme, Alternative Energies.

The aim of Enriching Lives is to support programmes and initiatives which bring different generations together to engage in meaningful, mutually beneficial activities which encourage greater understanding and respect and contribute to greater community connectedness and cohesion.  With this important financial support, we are looking forward to a fruitful year ahead with Alternative Energies in Ballycastle.

LFT Charitable Trust is a Belfast based family foundation offering small grants and support for charitable activities. The priority of the Trust is to fund organisations which make a lasting difference to people’s lives; deliver activities that focus on reducing isolation, inequality and stigma and initiatives to inspire and empower individuals to realise their potential.

4th June 2025

On 2nd April, the women we have met at the ‘Journeys’ workshops, which have taken place in women’s centres across North Belfast, came together for the first time for a celebration.

Hosted at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, the gathering was a huge success as over 40 women enjoyed sharing their favourite things promted by cards with pictures of hobbies, family, food and clothes.  They also really relished trying different foods made by some of the women and, of course, moving together.

At the beginning of April, our intergenerational project – Alternative Energies – came together for a sharing of ‘work in progress’ by the group who meet weekly and also the Yr 11 Drama Class students at Cross & Passion College in Ballycastle.

More recently, some members of the group enjoyed dancing and moving to music with the residents at Glendun Nursing Home in Cushendun and Leabank Nursing Home in Ballycastle.   Staff at the home said of the visit, “It’s been an energetic day at Leabank with a visit from DU Dance NI who got us all moving – Thank you!  You’re never too old to bust some moves. Residents loved this, it spread so much joy.”

30th May 2025

Last week we held one of our favourite events of the year – the Primary School Dance Festival.

Now in its 15th year, the two day celebration of dance took place at Belvoir Studio Theatre with over 200 children from the following primary schools Belmont, Finaghy, Glenwood, Holy Cross Boys, Holy Rosary, Holy Trinity, Victoria and Penrhyn Prep.

The morning runs like clock work as each class has time to rehearse . Heading into the dark theatre is always a little daunting but with the support and expertise of stage manager Mags and Belvoir Theatre’s technical crew, the children soon feel quite at home on the stage.

Aside from rehearsals, the children have time to play outside (this year in glorious sunshine), enjoy their break and take part in a dance-themed craft activity.   But, in the blink of an eye, its 11am and SHOWTIME!

This year we enjoyed a wide array of dance styles, music and costumes. On Day 1 we did some spring cleaning, enjoyed The Greatest Showman and took a trip to ‘Where the Wild Things Are’.  On Day 2, with the Juniors, we ventured down the yellow brick road and had a lesson in Irish mythology with Finn McCool!

Once everyone had performed, the children could sit back and watch a short dance piece called PLAY which was created especially for this year’s festival by professional dance artist Sean O’Neill.

Thank you to Jim Corr for his wonderful photography.  Thank you to the volunteers who helped at the event and to our hosts Belvoir Studio Theatre.

Holy Trinity Primary School (P7) with ‘Ease on the Down the Road’ from the Wizard of Oz.

Victoria Primary School and ‘Ready for the Ride’

Holy Cross Boys with ‘Spring Clean Tideo’

Glenwood Primary School with ‘Heaven’s Eyes’

Belmont Primary School with ‘This is Me’.

Finaghy Primary School (P5-7) with ‘Hard Knock Life’.

Glenwood Primary School (P3) with ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Holy Rosary Primary School (P3) with ‘Count on Me’

Holy Rosary Primary School (P4) with ‘I am a Giant’

Sean performs ‘Play’.

(Photo credit: Jim Corr Photography)

19th May 2025

DU Dance (NI) is excited to announce our Belfast Boys have been selected again to perform at the U.Dance National Festival 2025.

Presented by One Dance UK, the festival will take place from 25-27 July in partnership with Sadler’s Wells, at their fabulous new venue, Sadler’s Wells East in London’s Olympic Park.

The largest event of its kind, the U.Dance National Festival is a celebration of youth dance.  Young people aged 11–19 (or up to 25 for dancers with disabilities) from around the country perform in world-class venues, take part in workshops with leading dance professionals, connect with like-minded dancers and are offered inspiring dance careers information.

U.Dance National Showcases feature talented groups from around the UK, selected from hundreds of groups to represent their home region or nation. Groups who take part represent a wide range of dance styles, and are normally selected via a U.Dance Regional Platform, held each spring across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Belfast Boys performance day at Sadlers Wells East is Saturday 26 July and, if you would like to come along and support the boys, tickets are on sale now HERE. 

Watch this space for more details on the fundraising campaign to support this exciting opportunity for the group. 

#UDance2025

The event is supported by Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Bronze Sponsor of the U.Dance National Festival, and Trinity Laban, the Access Sponsors.