CHOREOGRAPHER and Sadler’s Wells associate artist Michaal Keegan-Dolan brings back his company Teaċ Daṁsa to Sadler’s Wells Theatre, one of the world’s most famous music venues, from Wednesday, November 27 to Saturday, November 30.
Michael Keegan-Dolan (55) is from Dublin and trained at the at the Central School of Ballet in London. Returning to Ireland, he went on to form his dance company Teaċ Daṁsa in 2016 when his company, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, moved from the midlands of Ireland to the West Kerry Gaeltacht.
Keegan-Dolan told The Irish Post: “Teaċ Daṁsa makes dance and theatre work that nurtures deep and meaningful connections with the traditions, language and music of Ireland. Teaċ Daṁsa creates a place where artists can come together to make dance and theatre work that aspires to transform both artist and audience through the experience of the work. While grounded in Ireland, the company draws upon an international ensemble of performers, artists and collaborators and has created productions that have toured and resonated nationally and internationally.”
The latest production Nobodaddy (Tríd an bpoll gan bun — or through the bottomless pit) is an inventive take on a William Blake poem created by Keegan-Dolan from within West Kerry’s Gaeltacht. It is a large-scale dance and theatre ritual for a company of nine dancers and six musicians.
The piece brings together familiar and new collaborators, including American folk singer and musician Sam Amidon. The multi-instrumentalist from Vermont specialises in banjo, guitar and fiddle.
In the production Keegan-Dolan brings presents his signature style of contemporary dance through a close-knit company that brought the show together over eight weeks in Kerry. A multi-disciplinary piece, Nobodaddy features dancers incorporating singing into their work, as well as musicians performing live on stage.
The English Romantic poet William Blake had already conjured up the name Nobodaddy – a contraction of “Old daddy Nobody” or “Nobody’s daddy” – by 1798, the year of the United Irishmen’s non-sectarian rebellion against the injustices of British rule in Ireland.
While Blake’s Nobodaddy was the name of a destructive divinity who appears in several of his notebook poems, Teaċ Daṁsa’s Nobodaddy is, according to Keegan-Dolan “an ode to the peacemakers and the bringers of good things”.
Explaining the background to the production, Michael Keegan-Dolan said: “In the spring of 2020, I was working with Sam Amidon for the first time, on a new creation, The Only Tune. But the world changed, and it never made it to the stage. We come back together to present Nobodaddy, after a few very special weeks in Ireland, spent bringing the show to life. I am looking forward to coming back to Sadler’s Wells to show what we are about: a group of artists who care about coming together, singing and sharing good stories. And above all, a group who cares about dancing.”
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Michael Keegan-Dolan/ Teaċ Daṁsa
Nobodaddy (Tríd an bpoll gan bun)
Wednesday, November 27 – Saturday, November 30
Tickets from £15
Tickets: 020 7863 8000 or here
See More: Dance, Sadler's Wells
