Helga Deasy - Mr & Mrs Butterfly (BEAG)
12 September to 20 November 2021

Mr & Mrs Butterfly, a short video conceived & performed by Helga Deasy as part of BEAG Early Years Arts Programme from birth to three, aimed at carers and their babies will be developed by the artist to become a live interactive dance with original live music.

The artist proposes to develop the story over the course of 8 to 10 studio days whilst researching live performance for parents and their babies. At the end of the residency, the artist will share, with a selected audience of parents and their babies, her work on the piece to date. This will give the artist the opportunity to test the work with the desired age group and provide a platform for honest and constructive feedback.

Helga Deasy - Research Residency
1 May to 30 July 2021

During her residency at Uillinn, Helga will undertake choreographic research into Laban’s effort theory, an analytical system which delineates the elements of kinetic energy and how they are organised in dynamic bodily movement. Specifically, she will investigate the motion factor ‘flow’ and its relation to weight, space and time, in search for a movement vocabulary characterised by a nuanced dynamic flux of give and take, push and pull, active and passive.

In her research, Helga will draw inspiration from the philosophical concepts of Heraclitus who observed that nature is in a constant state of flux – everything is always in motion, as life itself is movement, a current of fleeting experiences and encounters. In times of a pandemic, dealing with constant change has become the norm. Through the moving body, Helga will explore the idea that navigating uncertainty – as unsettling as it may be – also holds transformative possibilities. The work takes solace in the thought that only by letting go and moving forward with the currents of life, by embracing change instead of resisting it, we can experience growth.

Helga Deasy (Ireland/Germany) is a choreographer, dance artist and teacher.

Her work captures the universal significance of personal experience and draws attention to the subtleties that go unnoticed in day-to-day life.

Grounded in choreology and somatics, Helga’s practice spans choreography, performance and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

During her post as Dance Artist in Residence at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre in 2017 and 2018 supported by the Arts Council and Cork County Council, Helga created the ensemble work ‘Helica’ which sold out at Uillinn and Firkin Crane and toured to New York for a performance at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies 40th anniversary celebration, with support from Culture Ireland.

Further credits include ‘River Fragments’ (Cork Midsummer Festival 2019), ‘When I’m here, I remember you’ (Dublin Dance Festival 2016 and West Cork Arts Centre 2017), ‘Traces of the Hand’ (Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement 2015) and ‘Longing Belonging’ (Cork Midsummer Festival 2015).

Helga has received awards from the Arts Council, Cork City Council, Dance Ireland and artsandhealth.ie among others and is currently artist in residence at the Firkin Crane with kind support from Cork City Council.

Socially engaged dance forms a significant part of Helga’s practice. Over the past 10 years, Helga has worked extensively in dance and health, most recently as artist in residence with MusicAlive on ‘Creative Enquiry – Arts and Older People’ / Arts Council Invitation to Collaboration Scheme (2019-2020). She is a facilitator on the Teacher Artist Partnership Programme (Arts in Education Initiative) and works for Graffiti Theatre Company on the early year’s programme BEAG.

Helga is Alumni Ambassador for Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London.

www.helgadeasydance.com

Helga Deasy Dance Artist and Choreographer | Facebook

State of Flux – sharing of research for new performance
Saturday 10 July 2021 at 1.00pm (30 mins duration)

This will be a private sharing for an invited audience. Helga will share her research for a new performance work 'State of Flux'; this will include a few short videos to give context to the research and its process so far as well as an element of live performance.

The work draws inspiration from the philosophical concepts of Heraclitus who observed that nature is in a constant state of flux –everything is always in motion, as life itself is movement, a current offleeting experiences and encounters. In times of a pandemic, dealing withconstant change has become the norm. Through the moving body, the work explores the idea that navigating uncertainty – as unsettling as it may be – also holds transformative possibilities. The work takes solace in the thought that only by letting go and moving forward with the currents of life, by embracing change instead of resisting it, we can experience growth.

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.