The Monthly discusses the new all island dance company, Luail, with Nicola Curry from Maiden Voyage Dance – Part 2 – Commissioning new work

What do you think an all-island company will offer the dance community locally, nationally and internationally?

Luail is working to enhance and underpin current infrastructure on the island through its strategic focus and carefully curated performance, development and engagement programmes.

Luail has already, in this initial period of establishment, made significant impact with a range of opportunities for numerous artists at different career stages. Locally this includes Co Antrim based Ryan O’Neill, a long-term Maiden Voyage collaborator was appointed the inaugural Dance Artist in Residence for 24/25 to further his practice as an artist.

Co Down based Clara Kerr, following the full audition process, has been invited to join Luail full-time as a Pathway dancer supported by the Maiden Voyage – Luail Partnership.

Co Fermanagh based choreographer Dylan Quinn is a commissioned artist on Luail’s island wide To This I Belong project for his intervention Dance Corner. This joyful participation experience for everyone was successfully trialled this month in Donegal and Enniskillen and will be coming to a town near you in June and August 2025.

Other commissioned artists on this project include Tobi Omoteso, Lucia Kickham and Edwina Guckian.

Luail has already supported independent dance makers and companies for research and development or commissions including Colin Dunne, Luke Murphy, Amir Saba and Croi Glan. Other opportunities for artist development with Luail are through their Archiving Dance Residency in NYC & UL and an International Choreography Intensive at UL.

Nationally, Luail will bring performances to new places, help raise the profile of dance and build audiences for dance and improve networking and touring. We will see this when the company launch their debut performances and touring programmes in 2025. Luail will give profile and platform for the range of diverse makers and collaborators from or based on the island to make work of scale and ambition and offer rich insight into contemporary life on this island local, national and international audiences.

The company has already been responsible for showcasing new work. How has this work been received?

Audiences recently had opportunity to see Impasse, a new work by Mufutau Yusuf, one of Luail’s Choreographers in Residence. Impasse was originally commissioned by Liz Roche Company in 2024 and, the 2025 tour was produced by Luail. Impasse has been performed to great acclaim in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in France and across Ireland including Belfast International Arts Festival with the current tour concluding with two sold out performances at Sadler’s Wells London.

Luail presented a full-day of dance in Limerick in September with Tobi Omoteso’s Boombox Gathering, a community-led street dance gathering with showcases from local hip-hop dance groups, live graffiti art, a live DJ set and a special performance by Tobi in collaboration with saxophonist, Methembe. Over 300 people came to see Luail’s first ever community-based event at Arthur’s Quay in Limerick. Following the success of this event, Limerick County Council agreed to invest in the regeneration of the space at Arthur’s Quay, which had fallen into disrepair. Boombox was one of four new dance commissions for the all-island To This I Belong project.

In October, at the launch of Luail’s partnership with the IWA at UL, Amir Sabra, a graduate of the MA in Contemporary Dance Performance, shared an outdoor performance of his commissioned work, Bridging working with composer Rossa O’Snodaigh, Kíla, and current MA students.

The debut works created for and performed by the full Luail company of dancers are currently in development. This will be a triple bill of new dance works, Chora, and includes new work by acclaimed choreographers Maria Campos and Guy Nadar, Liz Roche and Mufutau Yusuf with live contemporary and baroque orchestral works from the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Chora will premiere at Bord Gáis to open Dublin Dance Festival on 13 May 2025 and Belfast audiences will get a chance to see Chora on 18 May in the Lyric Theatre.