25th November 2014

Our 4th Unanimous youth dance performance platform took place in December 2014 , at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast.  This celebration event gives youth groups from all over Northern Ireland a chance to perform their work in front of a public audience and their peers.

MC Conor ‘Doke’ O’Kane compered an exciting evening of new dance from groups from Ballymoney; Belfast; Derry/L’Derry and Dungannon.

DU Dance, working collaboratively with STEP (South Tyrone Empowerment Project), brought a unique intercultural programme of work to Dungannon culminating in a fantastic performance in the Market Square on Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th April .

Inspired from the legends, myths and heroes from around the world Heroes on the Hill celebrated our diverse and separate histories. 60 young people took to the stage in and through music, dance and storytelling captured our imaginations engaging and celebrating as they reclaimed our hill of many heroes.

Heroes on the Hill, Dungannon. The sun warmed my bones and the performance warmed my heart, your project was a shining example of what the Intercultural Arts Programme was established for!
Joan Dempster, ACNI Arts Development Officer, Community Arts

Went to see Heroes on the Hill show on Sunday in Market Square Dungannon. Amazing show ……. Well done to the organisers & all of the young people involved, an absolute credit to you all. Hope to see this type of show again in Dungannon. Brought together young people from all different traditions, races & backgrounds. This is how to do it no doubt!

Cllr Linda Dillon, Chair Mid Ulster Council

Principal Funder: Arts Council of Northern Ireland with support from Dungannon Arts Forum, Mid Ulster Council Good Relations Programme & Dungannon Youth Resource Centre.

21st October 2014

FALLEN – the final performance in DU Dance (NI)’s three year long inter-generational programme – Alternative Energies – designed to bring people of all ages together to work and create – took place at the atmospheric Titanic Drawing Offices on 9th, 10th & 11th November 2014 to mark the 100 year anniversary of the outbreak of World War I.

The six- week long project and performance included people from across Belfast and Ballymoney aged 9 to 90 years.

FALLEN does not tell a narrative story of World War I, make any political comment or attempt to historically recreate images from that time, instead it is an exploration of the human cost for those who went to war and those who remained at home.

” Excellent – a powerful dance performance – evocative, thought provoking theme sensitively treated – challenges war!”

“Excellent, superb, outstanding performance, moving & compassionate”

“Show was excellent, great to see so many different age groups working together”

“Beautiful moving piece of dance! Lovely inter-generational work”

“Seldom see different ages performing together”

“inter-generational work is powerful for so many reasons”

10th September 2014

A lovely note to us all from one of our dancers heading off to university to further her dance studies .. We wish you the very best and thank you for all your work with the company, keep in touch!

Dear all of you,

I haven’t known you for long but have a lot to be thankful for.  The last, barely two years, were amazing and full of new and exciting experiences for me, both on professional and personal level.  I’ve got to know many great people and all and everyone inspired me in some way.  Thanks to the many projects I had the chance to take part in, I’ve become a more confident dancer who believes there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.  I’ve got a taste of real hard work and I finally could be passionate about dance in the right environment.  I’ve also learned that being shouted at may actually mean encouragement.. still having doubts at times but it surely toughens one up – in the right way 🙂  I think the work DU Dance is doing is incredible, amazing and definitely something everyone should know about and experience.  While I’m leaving for university and for getting more experience in dancing and life, I’m hoping I can still be helpful in one way or another.

8th August 2014

DU Dance were once again delighted to work with Dungannon Youth Resource Centre to deliver ‘Inte-gr8’, from June to August 2014. This project engages with local young people from 7-25 years of age to explore cultural identity and heritage through a programme of visual arts, dance and music.

The young people involved in the Inte-gr8 project all live in the greater Dungannon area with many of the individuals originally from Africa, East Timor, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The aim of the project is to support inter-cultural dialogue between these different cultural groups and, through enjoying activities and sharing experiences together, to promote greater tolerance and understanding. DU Dance facilitator Sheena Kelly, from Dungannon, with assistance from Sean O’Neill and Lisa Ryan, led 12 weeks of dance workshops, alongside drumming and music sessions with a final celebratory showcase event taking place at the Dungannon Youth Resource Centre attended by friends and family.

22nd July 2014

Supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, through a Small Grant, in May 2014, DU Dance devised a new short performance piece and workshop following on directly from our spring 2013 tour Escape, as part of the company’s CROSSING THE DIVIDE programme. This new work focuses on Peace Walls around the world.

This project recognises the potential young people hold for the future, and through a creative exploration of peace walls in Northern Ireland and across the world including Berlin and Palestine, we will explore issues around contentious, contested and divided environments that can lead to intolerance and social divisions.

The performance piece and workshops use the physical attributes of walls and divisions to explore the political and social connotations that they throw up. This project will enable young people to explore difference and to learn what it means to live as part of an interdependent, inclusive society.

The company plans to tour this work to schools, youth and community centres in Belfast and Co Antrim subject to funding.

30th May 2014

Our Dungannon based integrated youth dance group Sutemos was delighted to take part in the Irish Youth Dance Festival at the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, 28th -29th June.

The group of 13 talented and hard-working young people performed alongside other youth dance groups from Dublin, Kerry, Laoise, Waterford and Wexford  together with Diverse Space Youth Dance Theatre, USA. The groups did an amazing job raising their own funds to take part and thank you also to the many individuals who supported them.

29th April 2014

One of Northern Ireland’s leading youth dance groups had a fantastic opportunity representing Northern Ireland at this major cultural event in July.

Merge Cru – an exciting Belfast based youth dance group fusing contemporary dance and breakdance – were selected to perform at the first ever Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival in Glasgow, 10th to 12th July. With 36 spectacular youth dance groups from across the Commonwealth countries taking part including a blend of talented young people from Africa, Australia, Canada, India, Malta, New Zealand and the UK this was a prestigious invitation and an exceptional opportunity for the eight young members of the Belfast group.

Clare Adamson MSP, Education & Culture Committee said     “I write to both thank and congratulate all members of Merge Cru for your   contribution to the recent YDance Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival. I was able to attend some of the Festival. It was a truly uplifting experience – stunning performances, humbling enthusiasm and sparkling creativity which gave me even more confidence in our young people and their ability to shape our future positively.”

Thank you to everyone who helped support Merge Cru through donations.

Photographs: YDance/Paul Watt; DU Dance/ Joe Fox

31st March 2014

Our third platform event took place on April 14th, 2014  at the Waterfront Hall Studio, Belfast with a fantastic line up of youth dance groups including Alternative Energies, Ballymoney; Equinox & Pulse from Down Arts Centre; iD from Derry/Londonderry; Merge Cru, Belfast; Sutemos, Dungannon and two solos from Belfast Met.

A unanimous thanks to all those who took part.

12th February 2014

DU Dance, NI Opera and Square Pit brought their own unique style of creative collaboration together for the final act at this prestigious awards ceremony at the Ulster Hall on 6th February 2014.

Images courtesy of Arts & Business NI /Joe Fox

Using the illustrious 1862 Ulster Hall as a back cloth – which itself has seen classical and contemporary, piano recitals and punk performances – guests were treated to a multi-component dance performance fusing contemporary dance and opera with urban street forms – Breaking, Free Runners, BMXers, and a Rap Choir. This bold, exhilarating fusion of classical and urban, the cultural and corporate impacted on the audience as performers leapt from balcony to stage, high speed bikers teared down the aisles whilst contemporary dancers and breakers blended a narrative through a variety of movements and styles on stage. An urban-influenced score, mixing a rap choir with opera and the sweeping tones of the Ulster Hall Mulholland grand organ provided the energy and tempo that underpinned this exhilarating performance.

All the more powerful that this performance merged professional performers alongside young people from DU Dance, New Lodge Arts and Square Pit – some of whom had never performed before in a venue – and so the standing ovation was a fitting tribute.

See the Belfast Telegraph online Awards Supplement for full coverage of the event.