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  Hot on the heels of The Dance, Pat Collins’ masterful documentary on the same subject, Episode Five of We Are The Makers takes a deep-dive into the making of a contemporary theatrical masterpiece, Mám, by choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan, which premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2019.   Our host Dónal Dineen travels to the West Kerry home of Keegan-Dolan’s company Teac Damsa (house of dance or a place for dancing) and the base for both the production and the origin of the story itself. ‘Mám is abstract and instinctive… it effectively plays out a story of modernity intruding on traditional life’ (the Guardian).   This episode traces the acclaimed choreographer’s singular creative journey on a passion project which has intricately woven classical music with contemporary dance practice into the rich tapestry of traditional culture out of which it emerges. We hear in detail about how the unique musical collaboration at the heart of the production between West Kerry concertina player Cormac Begley and Berlin classical collective Stargaze, evolved and achieved concord under Keegan-Dolan’s hand. We discover the origins of his belief in dance as the art of transformation and the evolution of his practice to this point of true expression.   The investigation is timely as Mám is set to return to the Irish stage for an autumn tour. The production was universally praised upon its debut at the 2019  Dublin Theatre Festival and has since been rapturously received at both Madrid’s Teatros Del Canal and Sadler’s Wells in London. A graduate of the Central Ballet School in London, Keegan-Dolan has overseen productions at the English National Opera, The National Theatre in London and the Bavarian State Opera as well as a string of ground-breaking shows as artistic director of the Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre.   Find Pat Collins’ film The Dance here: https://www.volta.ie/#!/browse/film/134638/the-dance   https://teacdamsa.com/   https://www.cormacbegley.com/   https://we-are-stargaze.com/   https://harvestfilms.ie/   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences.   Photo by Ros Kavanagh. Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   ///  

Full episode streams on Saturday April 30th.   Hot on the heels of The Dance, Pat Collins’ masterful documentary on the same subject, Episode Five of We Are The Makers takes a deep-dive into the making of a contemporary theatrical masterpiece, Mám, by choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan, which premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2019.   This episode traces the acclaimed choreographer’s singular creative journey on a passion project which has intricately woven classical music with contemporary dance practice into the rich tapestry of traditional culture out of which it emerges. We hear in detail about how the unique musical collaboration at the heart of the production between West Kerry concertina player Cormac Begley and Berlin classical collective Stargaze, evolved and achieved concord under Keegan-Dolan’s hand. We discover the origins of his belief in dance as the art of transformation and the evolution of his practice to this point of true expression.   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences.   ///

Episode Four features a new collaboration from two Limerick artists, rapper and poet Denise Chaila and filmmaker Brian Cross (B+). Their piece, Energy: A Visual Mixtape is a short film like no other, at just 15 minutes long, it contains a multitude.   The film eulogizes local Limerick spaces including Ardnacrusha Power Station, Mount Trenchard House and People’s Park, montaging archival and contemporary footage to form visual couplets that marry diasporic histories, racial discrimination and political ideologies, magic and music.   For this episode Dónal Dineen travels to Limerick and spends two days with the artists as they prepare to show the film to a hometown audience at the Belltable theatre for the first time, before installing it for exhibition at Ormston House gallery. Denise and B+ share their thoughts on the experience of making work together and explain exactly how that came about.   We discover how their respective practices resulted in connecting Irish and African histories and get an insight into some of the critical information they discovered during their combined research. We also get a valuable insight into the collaborative process which in this case spans disciplines and generations.   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced and edited by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Cover photo by Paul Tarpey. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences. Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   https://www.solasnua.org/   https://denisechaila.bandcamp.com/   http://www.mochilla.com/bplus   https://ormstonhouse.com/programme/energy-a-visual-mixtape/   https://www.cultureireland.ie/   ///

Episode Four features a new collaboration from two Limerick artists, rapper and poet Denise Chaila and filmmaker Brian Cross (B+). Their piece, Energy: A Visual Mixtape is a short film like no other, at just 15 minutes long, it contains a multitude. The film eulogizes local Limerick spaces including Ardnacrusha Power Station, Mount Trenchard House and People’s Park, montaging archival and contemporary footage to form visual couplets that marry diasporic histories, racial discrimination and political ideologies, magic and music. The full episode streams on Saturday December 11th. For this episode Dónal Dineen travels to Limerick and spends two days with the artists as they prepare to show the film to a hometown audience at the Belltable theatre for the first time, before installing it for exhibition at Ormston House gallery. Denise and B+ share their thoughts on the experience of making work together and explain exactly how that came about. We discover how their respective practices resulted in connecting Irish and African histories and get an insight into some of the critical information they discovered during their combined research. We also get a valuable insight into the collaborative process which in this case spans disciplines and generations.   https://www.solasnua.org/events/we-are-makers-episode-four-denise-chaila-and-brian-cross-b   https://ormstonhouse.com/programme/energy-a-visual-mixtape/   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences. Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   ///

Episode Three is an exploration of the work of visual artist Isabel Nolan, with particular emphasis on the making of her latest exhibition, A Delicate Bond Which is Also a Gap, at Solstice Arts Centre in Navan.   Isabel has an expansive practice incorporating sculpture, painting, textile work, photography, writing and works on paper, driven by a restless inquisitiveness and a burning intelligence. For this episode Dónal takes a deep dive into her recently published book of artwork and essays Curling Up With Reality, before focusing on the inspiration and methodology behind her latest show.   The opening chapter of this episode was recorded on the nearby Hill of Tara, a suitable portal into an intriguing world of contemporary art.   Isabel’s work is included in public collections such as: Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Tate, London; The Hugh Lane Gallery, Ireland and Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Abu Dhabi. Isabel has shown her work all over the world and she represented Ireland at the 51st Venice Biennale as part of a group exhibition in 2005. In late 2020 Launchpad and Kerlin Gallery published a survey of the last 10 years of Nolan’s work which includes over 20 of the artist’s writings.   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced and edited by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien.   Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences.   Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   https://www.kerlingallery.com/artists/isabel-nolan https://solasnua.org/ https://cultureireland.ie/   ///

  Episode #3 of We Are The Makers is an exploration of the work of visual artist Isabel Nolan, with particular emphasis on the making of her latest exhibition, A Delicate Bond Which is Also a Gap, at Solstice Arts Centre in Navan. The full episode streams on September 25th. Isabel has an expansive practice incorporating sculpture, painting, textile work, photography, writing and works on paper, driven by a restless inquisitiveness and a burning intelligence. For this episode Dónal takes a deep dive into her recently published book of artwork and essays Curling Up With Reality, before focusing on the inspiration and methodology behind her latest show.   https://www.kerlingallery.com/artists/isabel-nolan   https://www.solasnua.org/events/we-are-makers-episode-three-isabel-nolan   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences. Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   ///  

Episode Two charts the arc of choreographer Liz Roche's journey to the top of the contemporary dance world. From starting at ballet school in Dublin at aged of seven, through training in London Contemporary Dance School, to dancing across Europe, Dónal hears how her education and experience onstage informs her finely wrought and beautifully choreographed productions. Together they talk about the act of making, the collision of sound, movement and image and the cross-disciplinary influences that have inspired her art and career.   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced and edited by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences. Cover photo by Matthew Thompson.   Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.   https://solasnua.org/ https://cultureireland.ie/ https://lizrochecompany.com/    

Streaming in full from tomorrow, June 26th, Episode #2 of We Are the Makers charts the arc of choreographer Liz Roche's journey to the top of the contemporary dance world. Together she and Dónal talk about the act of making, the collision of sound, movement and image, and the cross-disciplinary influences that have inspired her art and career.   We Are The Makers is written and presented by Irish broadcaster Dónal Dineen and produced by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences.   Kindly supported by Culture Ireland. Solasnua.org Cultureireland.ie Lizrochecompany.com

Episode one follows the many creative journeys of Eamonn Doyle. Told through in-depth interviews with Dónal Dineen, we trace his impact on the world of electronic music and Ireland's musical underground before charting his meteoric rise to the top of the photography world. His unique ability to mine the poetic and the extraordinary from the ebb and flow of people moving through the streets of his hometown sets him apart as an artist uniquely attuned to the rhythms of life in contemporary multicultural urban Ireland. https://www.eamonndoyle.com/ https://d1recordings.bandcamp.com/   Written and presented by Dónal Dineen. Produced and edited by Ian Cudmore. Original music by Ultan O’Brien. Cover photo by Matthew Thompson.   Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences. Kindly supported by Culture Ireland. http://www.solasnua.org/ https://www.cultureireland.ie/      

The cultural map of contemporary Ireland is a rich tapestry of many interweaving threads and cross-flowing patterns made of form, light and sound. In We are the Makers we will be making our own marks on this ever-changing map by pulling on individual threads and following those lines all the way back to the creative source and well of inspiration. The golden thread in episode one is the ground-breaking photography of Eamonn Doyle. Beginning with the trilogy of photo-books he produced between 2014 and 2016, I, On and End, his impact on the world of photography has been profound. With his singular way of seeing, the Dubliner has turned the world on his doorstep into timeless works of art. His unique ability to mine the poetic and the extraordinary from the ebb and flow of people moving through the streets of his hometown sets him apart as an artist uniquely attuned to the rhythms of life in contemporary multicultural urban Ireland. These shows are extended profiles of some of our most eminent makers but before making a magical series of photo works, Eamon Doyle had more than made his mark in the world of electronic music with his label D1, his DJ’ing, club nights and the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival. We will be charting his journey through Ireland's musical underground before tracing his meteoric rise to the top of the photography world and his journey since through exhibitions, installations and recent cinematic work. In between there will be many twists and turns in a tale like no other. This story’s narrative arc spans a multitude before bending back around to this very spot, right where it all started, in the heart of Dublin city.   With original music by composer and fiddle player Ultan O’Brien, and produced by Ian Cudmore, this episode will stream on Solas Nua’s website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more on Feb 27th 2021. Commissioned by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., bringing contemporary Irish art to U.S. audiences.   http://www.solasnua.org/   Kindly supported by Culture Ireland.