We are delighted to welcome Robyn Byrne for a one week residency at Excel Arts Centre, Co. Tipperary, to develop her new work Queen of the Meadows.

Robyn is the recipient of the 2022 National Dance Residency Partnership (NDRP).

Artistic support is fundamental to the development of dance artists and the dance sector. It is a priority for us and our partners: Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, Firkin Crane and Galway Dance Project.

The National Dance Residency Partnership is a partnership to provide a networked support to a choreographer in the production of new dance work. By coming together, the partners acknowledge that our collective infrastructure and resources can go further and encourage more ambition in the dance sector. Each partner will contribute financially and/or in-kind space to develop work, which will allow for up to six weeks rehearsal time across the country; in addition to support from artistic staff and accommodation support.

Artistic Statement by Robyn Byrne:

“It’s very daunting to take your first steps as a choreographer. I have been craving the time to develop my work in a non pressured environment, where I have the space to try new ideas, to throw them out, to try again and to slowly refine over a period of time. I’m so excited that I have been given the space through NDRP to do just this. I will be using this time to continue devising a new work, Queen of the Meadows, whilst also building invaluable connections across the major dance organisations in the country.

The inspiration for Queen of the Meadows came after the passing of my grandmother. I wanted to honour her life through dance and performance and pay tribute to a generation of women who, along with their folklore are slowly disappearing. I remember growing up around my grandmother’s unconventional, “old fashioned” ways; putting cobwebs on my cut knees instead of plasters, knocking on wood or having bizarre cures for various ailments. I always recall these moments in my head with such theatricality that they almost seemed otherworldly, absurd and far-fetched.

I will be devising this work in collaboration with Danish dancer Susanne Engbo- Andersen. Over the course of the NDRP, we will develop the choreographic language of the piece and contextualise our work through historical and social research. Through movement, sound, text and song we will take the essence of Old Wives Tales to build scenes and universes that are visually, sonically and emotionally rich.”