Articles and Reviews
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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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THE REVIEWS HUB review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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IRISH TIMES review of Man At The Door (Number 54), Cork Midsummer Festival 2018

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IRISH TIMES review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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EXEUNT MAGAZINE review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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THE BIG LIST NI review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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EXEUNT MAGAZINE review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

THE REVIEWS HUB review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE SCOTSMAN review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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THE STAGE review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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THE HERALD review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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EXAMINER.COM review of Walking Pale, 2016

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2015

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THE IRISH TIMES review of It Folds, 2015

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THE STATE OF THE ARTS review of It Folds, 2015

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BROADWAY WORLD review of It Folds, 2015

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LE COOL review of It Folds, 2015

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THE NEW YORK TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2015

TANZ MAGAZIN review of The Falling Song, 2014

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EXEUNT MAZAZINE review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE PUBLIC REVIEWS review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE STAGE review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE SUNDAY TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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EXAMINER.COM review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE IRISH TIMES feature on junk ensemble and Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH EXAMINER review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Falling Song, 2012

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of The Falling Song, 2012

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RACHEL DONNELLY review of The Falling Song, 2012

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TOTALLY DUBLIN review of Bird with boy, 2012

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THE SUNDAY TIMES review of Bird with boy, 2011

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Bird with boy, 2011

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Bird with boy, 2011

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THE VIEW on RTE TELEVISION review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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THE IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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IRISH HERALD review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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DANCE EUROPE review of Drinking Dust, 2009

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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THE METRO review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Rain Party, 2007

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THE IRISH INDEPENDENT review of The Rain Party, 2007

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THE METRO review of The Rain Party, 2007

THE IRISH TIMES
19 Aug 2013
Dancing in the dark: Junk Ensemble brings on the blindfolds

'Dusk Ahead' asks its dancers to step into the unknown - 'they genuinely don't know what is ahead'

Michael Seaver

Rehearsal studios are a bit like classrooms: even a quick visit will reveal the learning dynamic. Is there a contented hum of collaborative activity from everyone, a passive silence from those waiting to be told what to do, or downright chaos? The first impression of Junk Ensemble's rehearsals for Dusk Ahead is of quiet, insistent productiveness.

A giant sculpture of strings stretching from floor to ceiling dominates one side of the space. Beside it, one of Junk Ensemble's artistic directors and choreographers, Jessica Kennedy, works out the practicalities of a dancer trying to move with a rope tied around her waist. On the other side of the studio, Megan Kennedy is polishing a rhythmic unison sequence with three dancers. It is nit-picky stuff, as they focus on one small jump that isn't perfectly together.
"Do you want to break for lunch now?" Megan Kennedy asks the dancers.
"Let's try it one more time," comes the reply.
Eventually, after discussion and dissection, the split-second synchronisation is worked out.

The studio experience isn't surprising. Since it emerged in 2004, Junk Ensemble has shown a remarkable ability to draw diverse elements into a unified whole, while still remaining focused on the smallest details. It might have been tempting for the Kennedy twins to create broad brush strokes of choreography when dealing with a mix of professional dancers and children in previous works such as The Falling Song or Bird with Boy, but instead they produced subtle pointillist choreography where every element was integral to the overall concept.

Megan and Jessica Kennedy may be identical twins, but that doesn't guarantee a harmonious rehearsal studio. "Our early works were duets for ourselves, so it was fine if we were bickering," says Megan, but as they worked with bigger casts they had to be more professional than familial.


Very individual twins
These are not the kind of twins who complete each other's sentences. "We tend to talk over each other," warns Megan as I set up my voice recorder in front of them.
Sure enough, the interview is a fascinating counterpoint of opinions as one speaks over the other, sometimes agreeing, sometimes contradicting, but always enriching each other's statements.

Dusk Ahead revisits some of the themes found in earlier work: memories, illusiveness, and a state of in-betweenness. "We're really focusing on the idea that dusk is the hour between dog and wolf, between domestic and wild, and between hope and fear," says Jessica. Encroaching darkness also raises issues around blindness and invisibility, and at different times the dancers move wearing blindfolds.

"And they really are blindfolded," says Megan. Rather than use transparent cloth, they wanted the dancers to be genuinely uncertain in their movements.
"They genuinely don't know what is ahead, and that uncertainty is beautiful to look at," says Jessica. "And it's amazing; even the smallest movement feels bigger than it looks when you're wearing a blindfold." Although content to let multiple meanings emerge in their choreography, they did have a problem with using a black blindfold. "It seems so archetypal and sinister, but we tried grey and white, but returned to black," says Jessica.

Research in Newcastle
Moving blindfolded on a set-strewn stage might seem hazardous, but the choreographers are not asking the dancers to do anything that they wouldn't do themselves. The pair spent two weeks researching Dusk Ahead in Dance City in Newcastle upon Tyne, where they tried out ideas blindfolded, as well as facilitating workshops with visually impaired groups.

Time was also spent gathering a broad range of influences: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's film Intacto, with its extraordinary sequence of blindfolded runners in a forest; photography books; and the writings of Oliver Sacks and Jose Saragamo. This research - and watching blind runners at the Paralympics - led them to consider the issue of co-dependency and how dancers move when physically tethered to one other. It also inspired a short dance film called Blind Runner, one of 12 commissioned by Dance Ireland as part of its 21st anniversary celebrations.

This tethering finds resonance in designer Sabine Dargent's sculptural set, which is dominated by groups of parallel wires dissecting the stage at different angles, and even the strings on Zoe Reardon's cello and the ukuleles played by the dancers. Probably the most important element will be Sarah Jane Shiels' lighting design, which mirrors the crepuscular light of dusk.

Harnessing these creative inputs into a coherent whole was a challenge. "Rather than have a collection of ideas we wanted to combine everything into one arc," says Jessica. "We edited the material as if it was a film."
"We are always aware of the audience, not in what they will think about the choreography, but in how they experience it," says Megan. This is easier in site-specific works than in the traditional theatre setting, where the audience is at a remove from the action.

"In Bird with boy [which was performed in the dank basement of Kilmainham Gaol], the audience was being led around different spaces, so we could control what they saw," says Megan. Instead, Dusk Ahead relies on traditional stagecraft to impart its non-narrative themes. Junk Ensemble's creations have always been engaging, even if they revel in the illusive. "It's a metaphoric state that we love to portray," says Jessica.

Dusk Ahead runs October 1 to 6 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2013. Blind Runner is online at www.danceireland.ie

THE IRISH TIMES feature on junk ensemble and Dusk Ahead, 2013