Ever wondered how a dance performance is created? Step inside the mind of a choreographer as three leading artists give an in-depth commentary on one of their works. Filmed as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2020, go behind the scenes with Dimitris Papaioannou (Greece), Oona Doherty (N. Ireland) and Eun Me Ahn (S. Korea) as they discuss their creative process with Dance Umbrella’s former Artistic Director and Chief Executive Emma Gladstone.
Watch now
Dimitris Papaioannou on Primal Matter
Oona Doherty on 'Helium' from Hard to Be Soft - A Belfast Prayer
Eun-Me Ahn on Dancing Grandmothers
Watch Choreographer's Cut 2021 +
nora chipaumire on portrait of myself as my father
Claire Cunningham on Thank You Very Much
Eddie Ladd on Cof y corff/muscle memory
Watch Choreographer's Cut 2022 +
Saburo Teshigawara on Glass Tooth
About the artists +
Oona Doherty
Oona Doherty. Photo: Luca Truffarelli
Oona Doherty is an Irish dance artist based in Belfast. Doherty’s distinctive choreography has earned multiple awards. Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus (2015) was awarded a Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival Best Performer Award in 2016, and subsequently a Total Theatre Award as well as The Place Dance Prize at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. Doherty was voted one of the top 10 Irish Artists in 2017 by the Irish Times. Her first group piece Hard to be Soft – A Belfast Prayer (2017), was then voted the UK dance show of 2019 by the Guardian. In 2019 she created Lady Magma: The Birth of a Cult, a group work. Further collaborations include Jamie XX I dont know (2019), The Rubber Bandits (2017-2019), (La) Horde, Ballet National de Marseille (FR) (2021) and Artnight London (2021).
In 2022 she will premiere her ambitious new work. www.oonadohertyweb.com
Eun-Me Ahn
Eun-Me Ahn. Photo: Sukmu Yun
A leading artist from the Korean performing arts scene, Eun-Me Ahn founded her company in 1988 in Seoul before moving to New York in 1991. In 2001 she moved back to Korea and continued her choreographic and performance practice by revisiting classic works from her country including Symphoca Princess Bari, investigating social issues – often working with non-professionals in the Dancing… trilogy and more recently the relationships between South and North Korea in North Korea Dance. Also designing her costumes and set, Eun-Me Ahn has developed a unique and colourful signature visual which she has taken to prestigious stages around the world. Eun-Me Ahn is an associated artist at Theatre de la Ville-Paris.
Dimitris Papaioannou
Dimitris Papaioannou. Photo: Julian Mommert
Dimitris Papaioannou (b. Athens) formed Edafos Dance Theatre, in 1986 as an initial vehicle for his original stage productions, hybrids of physical theatre, experimental dance, and performance art. The Edafos company spanned 17 years, to 2002. In 2004, Papaioannou became widely known as the creator of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Papaioannou’s 25 productions range from mass spectacles with thousands of performers, to intimate pieces, and have appeared in a wide variety of venues, from his famous underground squat theatre in Athens, to the ancient theatre in Epidaurus, and from Olympic stadiums to Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, and Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. His work The Great Tamer (2017) was part of DU 2018 and toured for two and half years, through 4 continents, 23 countries and 38 cities. In 2019, Papaioannou was nominated for the Olivier award for “outstanding achievement in dance”.
