CoisCéim Dance Theatre: Sparking Debate | Physical Debates
2.30pm - 4.30pm
Doors 2pm
Sparking Debate is an artistic experiment to spark new thinking around conciliation, peace-making and what it means to be Irish today.
The SPARKING DEBATE physical debates mark the final event of our major multifaceted ART:2023 project for the culmination programme for the Decade of Centenaries in collaboration with the 2024 St Patrick’s Festival.
With these physical debates, the goal is to take this concept one step further – by staging a discussion where diverse perspectives are debated with and through the body in one or more dance styles – in an artistic experiment to spark new thinking around conciliation, peace-making and what it means to be Irish today. A debate is defined as a “a competition in which teams of people, discuss a subject [a motion] and the team that is judged to make the best argument wins”.
The structure of the debate is competitive. 7 crews will debate 6 topics though an instant composition. Topics will be chosen by extraction on the day to allow a spontaneous physical discussion driven by the dancers involved. All dance styles are permitted and crews will be judged on skill, dynamism & creative response to debate topic
Topics
Each topic/motion is linked to the 5 poems from each province of Ireland that underpin SPARKING DEBATE and are designed to be catalysts for conversation not to discriminate. They are:
- First Peace, Then Justice (Leinster)
- A United Ireland For All Of Us Or None Of Us (Connacht)
- Borders Should Be Defined By Nature/Bioregions (Ulster)
- If You Would Know Me, Come Live With Me (Munster)
- Northern Ireland Can Teach The World: Peace Is Possible (5th)
TThe topic of the final debate will be chosen by the crews involved – possible subjects include:
To build an Irish identity we all have to want one; Climate care starts at home; The goal of peaceful living is a state of happy unrest; Truth is born from dispute; For peace-making it’s about finding pathways that can evolve not solutions.
Credits
Dance Crew Leaders: Levi Cos, Leon Dwyer, LA Feeney, Lapree Lala, Aoife McEleney, Tobi Omoteso, Sara Pavic, Alex Vostokova
Judges include: Cian Mulcahy (bboy Cian), Suleman Shode (Sly Boogie), Mateusz Szczerek, Jessie Thompson
DJ Damo
MC Dylan Chapman
LIGHTING DESIGN/ CHIEF LX John Gunning
AV TECHNICIAN Archer Bradshaw
HOUSE TECH/SOUND Aidah
ARTISTIC ADVISORS Matt Szczerek & Jessie Thompson
SPECIAL THANKS TO Tobi Omoteso
PROJECT COORDINATOR Inna Mazurenko
For more information please visit: https://coisceim.com/sparking-debate/.