"Close to Closure" & "Play for Bad Actors"

4th to 10th July

A photography Exhibition at the Back Loft

Part of PhotoIreland Festival 

Times: 6-8pm 4th July & 1-7pm 5th-10th July

Close to Closure opens up a range of perspectives on the contemporary world of an eclectic group of photographers living and working in Dublin. Encompassing a variety of techniques, styles and personal preoccupations this group show is characterised by its vitality and variety. The subject matter ranges from the highly personal to the almost political.

Close to Closure brings together a group of award-winning photographers from different backgrounds and nationalities who first came together at NCAD in 2009. Since then this loose collective - comprising individuals from Ireland, Poland and Romania – has continued to  support individual and collective endeavours and provided a platform for the exchange of ideas, projects and information.

Close to Closure is our first exhibition together and will be held at the Back Loft Gallery, Dublin.

Exhibition Features Photography from: Arthur Sikora, Fiona O'Donnell, Monika Fabijanczyk, Sharon Murphy, Rebecca McGetrick, Calin Ploscar, Jeanette Lowe & Huge McCabe

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At the same time of "Close to Closure" photo exhibition the Back Loft is glad to present the hilariously funny play "Play for bad actors" written by Neil Sharpson and presented by Inspirado Theatre Group as part of the "10 days in Dublin Festival".


Daily viewings from Thursday 5th-Tuesday 10th July, 8pm.

Set in an old Manor house, Godfrey, Gweneth and Buddy must survive the Madwoman on
the moors. This hour long show will have you guessing all the way. A play full of
unexpected twists and thrills and lots of outrageous comedy, you're
guaranteed to go home with a smile on your face.

The Play features Albert Gillick, Eamon McCarron, Lauren McGarry,  Michael O’Toole & Ailish McCarthy (producer)

For more info on this play pls contact Ailish McCarthy at contactailish@gmail.com;

UNIT 1

Unit 1 presents Conor Foy, Alan Magee, Brenda Murphy, Sean Wright, Cian O Sullivan and Eimear Walshe!

*Note the change from Unit 1 normal venue* (normally at Exchange Dublin, kindly hosted by the Back Loft on this occasion).

All are welcome to come along to what promises to be a great night of live performance art from NCAD's Sculpture department!

Unit 1 is a monthly night of live performance co-curated by Ciara McKeon and Dominic Thorpe. The aims of Unit 1 are to provide a supportive space for anyone interested in making performance art and to provide an opportunity for audiences to experience new performance.

unit1performanceart@gmail.com | www.performancecartnetwork.ie

This month Unit 1 will be having a fund-raising raffle on the evening where you could win theatre tickets, comedy tickets, dinner for two etc!

PATTERNS

Opening at the Back Loft on Thursday 24th May, 6-8pm, daily viewing til Sunday 27th May


'PATTERNS' is a 2nd year Visual Arts Practice IADT exhibition that
explores conceptual trending,  visual sameness,  camaraderie and
equivalence. "


" Patterns reoccur regardless of faculty".
 " Patterns spring from environment and ripple through practice".

More info on this exhibition: Rachel-Rose O'Leary

EXPLORIMENT!

Friday 18th-20th May

La Cat Explore presents Exploriment! A dance fringe week-end  dedicated to celebrating Exploration, Movement & Experimentation! 

Let the body breaks its boundaries, making the physical fizz and igniting the imagination in action! This weekend is an open invitation to Dublin's dancers and dance-lovers and a unique opportunity to explore moods of movement in diverse workshops, to see fresh performance concepts staged before your very eyes and to play, discuss and dream at our open Corroboree Café evenings of improvisation, entertainment, beverage and biscuitry.

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Friday 18th May
 doors 8pm, starts 8.30. free entry

Embodying Visions and Dancing Senses 

An introduction to BUTOH dance facilitated by Ambra Bergamasco. More information on THIS LINK


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Saturday 19th May

12pm– 5pm - Don't Stop the Dance workshops

The weekend kicks off in style with a series of workshops by the legendary 'Don't Stop the Dance' collective, including an introduction to aerial acro-pole with Lisette Krol – visit their website for more info.

6pm– Chamber Dance - free  admission

For our Saturday show, we are delighted to present an exclusive preview of 'Chamber Dance', a new collaborative performance blending live classical piano and fluid movement for magical results, by dancer Rachel Mulcahy and veteran pianist Doug Lowe. Take a journey through the Romantic era with the most stunning works of Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms and Gershwin brought to life with hypnotic simplicity. Composer, pianist and dancer merge in a beautiful harmony of pure expression. Savour the afterglow at our evening corroboree café...

8pm - 11pm – Lady Windermere's Corroboree Café

Free Entry All Night

Inspired by the Australian Aboriginal corroboree interactive dance concept, the corroboree cafes offer a chill-out space, spontaneous performances both comical and serious, open improvisatory dance opportunities, vintage dance-related cinematic visuals and reading matter, beverages and biscuitry. Come one, come all to dance, discuss and dream... Featuring masterful audiovisual maestro Marco Gutierrez, cult comic improv crew 'The Princes of Lagos', the sinuousApollonia tribal bellydance and a jaw-dropping aerial acro-pole display by Lisette Krol.

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Sunday 20th May

12pm– 2pm – Butoh Workshop E 20, E18 conc.

In preparation for the first ever Butoh Festival Dublin on 23rd- 26th August, get a taste for yourself of this unique Japanese dance form with an exclusive workshop facilitated by Ambra Bergamasco. Butoh is a profoundly human artform, that speaks from soul to soul through images rather than shapes, building philosophical mindfulness through the body.

3pm– 5pm– T.A.C. Workshop E7

From Far East to near at hand, the Traditional Arts Collective have been earning rave reviews across Ireland for their creative fusions of traditional dance and modern approach, putting the craic back into the ceol. Come and get a taste with this exclusive workshop and performance showcase, including an introduction to the basics of sean nós dance by Mary Beth Taylor.

6pm– Afternoon Avant-Garde - €10

Pushing the boundaries of dance and movement in all directions, this unique mixed bag of performances includes experimental dance piece 'In Whose Hands' by Deirdre Murphy, risqué performance art dance madness by Darren & Terence, tribal silhouette dance byRoisin Corrigan and musical mimo-mask physical theatre performance by Sandra Gonzalez Bandera. Over 18s only. Blending seamlessly into our evening's Corroboree café, speaking of which...

8pm– 11pm - Lady Windermere's Corroboree Café

Free Entry All Night

Rounding out Exploriment with another night of spontaneous performance and vintage visuals, this time with a dynamic cabaret twist including a provocatively funny musical show by the gorgeous Rose Lawless, and full-throated jazzy blues by Delta O'Hara and Johnny Rayge, with perhaps a sneak preview of Mr. Rayge's forthcoming album, at everyone's favourite decadent evening of beverage, biscuitry, vintage visuals, dance, discussion and dreaming...

EXPLORIMENT! Is supported by the Arts Council under the Samll festival scheme and  is presented by La Cat Explore, in collaboration with Corroboree Productions, as part of the La Cat Salons in-house curated programme at The Back Loft.

"Embodying visions and dancing senses"

A night dedicated to Butoh dance

Friday18th May
Doors opening at 8pm

Event 8.30 – 9.30, Free admission

‘Embodying visions and dancing senses’ is an evening dedicated to the theme of Butoh dance, as part of the EXPLORIMENT! week-end produced by La Cat Salons in collaboration with Corroboree Productions. 


This event aims to enlarge the Butoh experience engaging with the audience through the presentation of a performance (Vulnerable Raw)*, video footage, Q&A and a short workshop* on the spot.  The objective of this intimate evening is to create an informal but practical space in which performace, video and practice is accessible to the curious eyes.

This event is a natural prelude to the inaugural "Butoh Festival Dublin" Presented by Butoh Dublin that will take place from August 23^rd to 26^th, both in the Back Loft and in the studios of Dance House. The festival will feature international and Irish artists who will share performances, workshops and talks to engage all senses. 

ABOT BUTOH:

Butoh dance is of Japanese origin. 
Founded by Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo in the late 1950's as a rebellion against established Japanese art and under the influence of the cruelty of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima,Butoh is based on images and personal experiences rather than formalised shapes. 
Against a complex historical and socio-cultural background, Butō evolved in a catalytic atmosphere: anti-American protests and experiments of the avant-garde alternated with intercultural inspirations (e.g. existentialism, Ausdruckstanz) and intracultural innovations - e.g. reritualizations of Japanese dance and theatre traditions ((extract from Michael Weiss).

."Butoh is mindfulness, it is in every day’s work , it opens your eyes to experience the beauty of things by acknowledging their circle of evolving, blooming and dying. There is dance in everything... (Yoshito Ohno)

  

* Vulnerably Raw is a 10-minute Butoh performance that will be presented on this occasion by Ambra Bergamasco. It is an intimate piece stripped of any particular design or articulated choreography. It is the performer’s intimate poetics that unveils in front of the audience, rendering visible the vulnerability of creation: slowly, breathing, allowing fear and insecurity to dance with dignity and desire. It is in this space that the performer dances her urgency of being.
This performance is dedicated to Bridgit McCone and to her wonderful creative energy in making Exploriment! happen.

*Sunday 20th May

12pm– 2pm – Butoh Workshop E 20, E18 conc.

In preparation for the first ever Butoh Festival Dublin on 23rd- 26th August, get a taste for yourself of this unique Japanese dance form with an exclusive workshop facilitated by Ambra Bergamasco. Butoh is a profoundly human artform, that speaks from soul to soul through images rather than shapes, building philosophical mindfulness through the body.

 About Ambra G. Bergamasco

Ambra has been practicing Butoh since 1998 studying with a diversity of dancers from Japan – Daisuke Yoshimoto, Italy (Anna Vullo, Stefania Lo Maglio) and dancers that have worked with Carlotta Ikeda’s company such as Sabine Seume, Germany. Ambra's teacher, Anna Vullo, comes from the Ono lineage of Butoh, and shares the working methodology and the space to develop one's own understanding and one's own subjective dance.

For More info on Butoh Dance and on the Butoh Festival in August
Contact: ambrabergamasco@gmail.com

Griffith College end of year group show

Opening May 11th, 6-8pm, runs til Sunday 20th May


"This is an independent exhibition of photographic work presented by the BA Photography students of Griffith College Dublin. The group show examines different topics ranging from the social disconnect caused by the financial crisis to independent experiences of immigrants to Ireland. This show is a fascinating look at the development of show participants  embark before their final year of their BA degree." 

La Cat Acoustic/ ERGODOS

Laura Hyland & Seán Mac Erlaine

17 May 2012
Doors open 8pm, concert starts 8:30 pm
€10

Ergodos presents Laura Hyland (vocals/guitar) and Seán Mac Erlaine (reeds/electronics) in an evening of intimate solo performances. The evening is part of the "La Cat Acoustic events series" at the Back Loft, an in-house production of La Catedral Studios by La Cat Salons,  made possible by the Arts Council Small Festivals grant.

Both soloists will perform in the atmospheric setting of The Back Loft, part of La Catedral Studios. Hyland will perform completely acoustic, while Mac Erlaine will perform on a portable multi-channel rig designed by Dan Trueman, last year’s Fullbright Scholar at Trinity College in the Music Department.

Laura Hyland is a performer-composer. In 2008 she founded the quartet Clang Sayne to explore the boundary between song and improvisation. Under her direction, the group released their debut album, 'Winterlands' in 2009 to notable critical acclaim. She is currently developing a choral section for the group with fellow composer/singer, Judith Ring, and singer Laura Murphy.

Seán Mac Erlaine is a Dublin based multi-instrumentalist and composer, recognised as one of Ireland’s most forward-thinking jazz musicians. Seán works in a variety of settings maintaining a busy performance schedule in Ireland and internationally.

The concert has been curated by Ergodos, the Dublin based music production company and record label run by composers Garrett Sholdice and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. Ergodos presents regular concerts and releases the work of contemporary composers and musicians.

 More info:

http://www.ergodos.ie

http://www.sean-og.com/

http://www.myspace.com/vixenmews

The World is A Vamprie, by Dublintellectual

Dublintellectual invites you to an evening to celebrate Bram Stoker’s Centenary this Friday, May 4th at 7:30pm in the Back Loft.

The World is a Vampire 

Entry €5, RSVP info@dublintellectual.ie 

Programme:

Moïra Fowley, "A Field Guide to Teenage Vampires".

Sorcha NiFhlainn, “Vampire Narratives Post 9/11 & the Presidency of George W. Bush"

Mary Bridgeman, "Dead Vampire is Redundant: Life, Love, and Death in Mystic Falls"

Debut screening of Gary J. Byrnes film short, VAMPIRE STORY

Big Smoke Literay Cafe

Wednesday, May 16th 7pm - 9pm Doors open at 6.30 Free of charge.  Refreshments will be available. An evening of creativity, inspiration and mingling...Not to be missed!! To mark International Flash Fiction Day on Wednesday, 16th May, Big Smoke Writing Factory will hold a Big Smoke Literary Cafe, in conjunction with The Back Loft. This on of a kind event will feature readings of original work by emerging writers and guest readers (including award-winning short story writers Eimear Ryan and Alison Wells) as well as live music. If you are interested in submitting a piece for the event, please check the following link: http://www.bigsmokewritingfactory.com/Events.php For further details, please contact us at bigsmokewritingfactory@gmail.com or on 087 9766253