The internationally
known CoisCéim
Dance Theatre celebrated
15 years of awardwinning
productions with
a Dublin run followed by
a national tour of ʻAs You
Areʼ by Muirne Bloomer and
ʻFaunʼ by David Bolger, both
longtime residents of Sandymount.

Muirne Bloomerʼs ʻAs You
Areʼ starts off with a somewhat
shocking image: a naked
man, Robert Jackson,
dancing in the background in
a living and moving model
of da Vinciʼs Vitruvian man,
caught in the circle of the
world.

The dance asks the simple
question of whether it would
be better to live a life as Superman
or Clark Kent. Six
dancers– James Hosty, Eddie
Kay, Megan Kennedy, Robert
Jackson, Lisa McLoughlin
and Emma OʼKane– portray
a group of different individuals
struggling for power and/
or independence or conformity
in a futuristic world.

Costumes and
gestures remind
one of space stations
and robots.

One character
begins to rebel
against the boring
conformity
and violent
games, but there
is a price to be
paid for standing
out.

In Bolgerʼs
ʻFaunʼ, the same
six versatile
dancers revisit
the extraordinary
performance
of dancerc
h o r e o g r a p h e r
Vaslav Nijinskyʼs ʻAprésmidi
dʼun Fauneʼ. That ballet
defined modernism in dance.

Bolgerʼs dancers tell the
story in words and movement
of the sensational first
performance by Nijinsky of
his own sensual and revolutionary
work, and the shock
it caused in Paris in 1912.
Then three fauns and three
nymphs perform Bolgerʼs
wonderful interpretation of
the Debussy score, and also
dance to the modern beat of
Queenʼs ʻI Want To Break
Freeʼ. The Bolger choreography
is fluid and demanding,
though the dancers make it
look effortless.

Bolger seems to wonder
whether or not choreography
still has the power to shock,
to connect us with our feelings,
and if an artist can still
break free.

While referring to Nijinsky,
the work is clearly
original. The six dancers
were engrossing to watch, as
their bodies carried not just
the story and the mood, but
the very history of change in
dance gesture.

The contemporary inferences
are also enhanced by
the two-way mirrored backdrop
set with its rich red fabric
and subtle lighting, which
allows us to see through a
glass darkly, hinting at voyeurism
and yearning.

There is luscious sensuality
and seduction in the air
as men and women, nymphs
or fauns, collide, caress, and
embrace.

Both pieces have additional,
splendid music by
Ivan Birthistle and Vincent
Doherty. The set by Maree
Kearns, lighting by Lucy
Carter, and costumes by Paul
Shriek were all very professionally
done.

Avove: David Bolger
Top: Muirne Bloomer
Bottom: CoisCeim performing
ʻFaunʼ by David Bolger