Dance United Northern Ireland emerged from Dance United, a non-profit organization established in 2000 by choreographers Mags Byrne and Royston Maldoom and independent television producer Andrew Coggins. In April 2007, Byrne as Artistic Director and Maldoom as Consultant Director established Dance United Northern Ireland as an entirely separate and independent entity. This professional dance development company works across the island of Ireland and internationally, advocating dance as a tool to facilitate personal and social development, advance dance as an art form, build community connections, and foster tolerance and respect. Its approach has been formulated into four separate but interconnected programmes of work. Building Bridges aims to connect young people who are at risk of being socially segregated due to their special needs, cultural difference, behavioural difficulties, or disability. Crossing the Divide focuses on cross-community work, bringing communities together using dance as a tool to provide people with a safe environment to let go of fears and prejudices. Closing the Gap focuses on inter-generational work and addresses the breakdown in contact between people of different ages. Opening the Spectrum comprises workshops and performances that have a social or developmental aim but do not naturally fit into the company’s other generic programmes. In April 2012, Dance United Northern Ireland changed its name to DU Dance (NI).
International Dance Festival Ireland was inaugurated in 2002 under the guidance of Catherine Nunes to pioneer the promotion of contemporary dance in Ireland. Originally a biennial event, the Festival was an immediate success, attracting international work from highly respected artists. In September 2007, Laurie Uprichard replaced Nunes as Artistic Director, and the festival name was changed to Dublin Dance Festival. From 2008, the Festival has been an annual event and continues to feature a breadth of international artists while also showcasing the best of Irish contemporary dance. More information about the festival and its history can be found at www.dublindancefestival.ie.
Fitzgerald & Stapleton is a contemporary dance company founded and directed by Emma Fitzgerald and Áine Stapleton. The company’s choreo¬graphic work focuses on the interaction between the body and contemporary society, and the objectification of the body to create revenue for the beauty, diet, and pornography industries, aiming to offer an alternative value system for looking at and relating to the body. In addition to Irish venues, Fitzgerald & Stapleton have toured widely and performed their work at Chocolate Factory Theater and Judson Church, New York; the Pompidou Centre, Paris; and the Performing Arts Forum, Reims. Áine Stapleton has been named as one of the Top 30 Artists under the ages of 30 for her contribution to Ireland’s cultural life.
The City of Dublin Championships was established in 2007 as an annual international competition. It takes place over two weekends each year, for graded dancers in January and Open Championship and graded adult dancers in March. The competition has attracted participants from all over Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Norway, Finland, Russia, Australia, Japan, Taipei, Czech Republic, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, and Austria. One of the unique aspects of the championships is the City of Dublin Plate Competition (junior and senior), in which the top three dancers in each championship compete for the overall champion award (plate). Instead of the traditional costumes, the dancers must wear black outfits for the plate competitions.
The Irish National Youth Ballet Company (originally named the Irish Junior Ballet Company) was co-founded by Anne Campbell-Crawford and Professor Jean Wallis of the Akademie der Tanzen, Heidelberg, Germany. The company had its first auditions in 1995 and gave its first performance in February 1996 at the Royal Hibernian, Gallaher Gallery, Dublin. Its dancers are aged 10-21 years, and a junior level for children aged 8 and over was established in September 1999. The company aims to provide young dancers an enriching experience during their formative years and to give them a flavour of what it might be like to pursue a career in dance.
Daghdha Dance Company was established by Mary Nunan and Teresa Leahy at the University of Limerick in 1988, and was led by Artistic Director Mary Nunan until 2000. During this time, Daghdha established itself as a dance company with a unique artistic identity and attracted funding from the Arts Council. During Mary Nunan's directorship, the company toured extensively throughout Ireland and was invited to perform at international dance festivals in London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Barcelona and Mexico City. In 2000, Yoshiko Chuma took over as Artistic Director. For the next three years, Yoshiko Chuma further developed Daghdha's international profile by touring theatrical dance concerts, street performances and large-scale productions throughout Europe, America and Japan. Michael Klien was appointed Artistic Director in 2003, and shortly afterwards the company moved to Limerick city centre to Daghdha Dance Space in the former St John's Church. During Michael's tenure, Daghdha developed as a progressive arts organisation. In 2011, the Arts Council withdrew its funding, and the company subsequently disbanded.