PRESS RELEASE
22 April 2015
Experience a kaleidoscope of creativity at “Pigtown Scratchings”, Thurs 7 May at Dance
Limerick
“Pigtown Scratchings”, an exciting kaleidoscope of creativity by artists of all genres, takes place at
Dance Limerick on Thursday 7 May at 8pm. Presented by Softday, in collaboration with Dance
Limerick, “Pigtown Scratchings” is a creative performance event, featuring artists exploring,
creating and presenting new collaborative work in a live cabaret-style setting. Tickets €10 from
www.dancelimerick.ie
Initiated by Softday, the art-science collaborative team of Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernström,
Pigtown Scratchings is an occasional series of experimental music and performance events at
Dance Limerick organised around improvisation and listening, involving established and emerging
artists working in sound, media, literary and performing arts. It is a rare opportunity for artists to
showcase their current work and a chance for the audience to experience the excitement of new
work being created before their eyes through improvisation.
The innovative artists performing at Pigtown Scratchings 2015, selected from an open call earlier
this year, are: performance poet/award-winning playwright, composer, and actor Roger Gregg;
Artist and storyteller Steve Lally; audio-visual artist Leon McCarthy, who also has a background in
classical music, music technology and architecture; Limerick based contemporary dance artist
Angie Smalis; Musician and sonic artist Gunter Berkus and visual artist Marie-Clare Boothman.
Each artist will perform their own work for 15 minutes, after which all performers will come
together for an improvisational jam as the finale of the performance. (Further details on all artists
below)
At the announcement of the line-up for Pigtown Scratchings, Sean Taylor of Softday commented
“Through the open call, we have tried to identify, support and present emerging and established
artists who are making significant contributions to their field of practice and who are open to
collaboration and creative risk taking. We’re very excited at the cross-section of artists we have
lined up as we really want to provide the platform and space for the exchange of ideas at the
intersection of different artistic disciplines and creative genres”.
Jenny Traynor, Director of Dance Limerick, added “We’re really pleased to collaborate with Softday
on Pigtown Scratchings and would encourage anyone curious about artistic experimentation to
come along. The excitement is in the unknown of improvisation: When all these fascinating artists
come together, what will happen? Who will click with whom, what will emerge? You’ll have to
come along to find out!”
Softday is the art-science collaboration of artist Sean Taylor and computer scientist Mikael
Fernström, engaged with issues relating to natural cycles in time, climate change and its global
effects. As a collaborative team they use their arts practice to explore relations to and
understandings of nature, expressed through sonifications and multimedia artworks and
performances. Both artists are interested in exploring the cracks between various media and
creative genres such as expanded theatre, sound art, socially engaged practice, sculpture, music,
dance and the application of new technologies. www.softday.ie
Dance Limerick is a resource organisation for professional dance in Limerick and beyond.
Through performances, talks, classes, workshops, projects and residencies, Dance Limerick
provides opportunities for dance to be created, experienced and discussed in many ways, by all
ages. For further details, see www.dancelimerick.ie
Pigtown Scratchings is a non-profit interdisciplinary project which aims to:
- Provide a platform for the exchange of ideas at the intersection of different artistic disciplines and
promote an environment uniquely conducive to experimentation and cross-disciplinary
explorations.
- Create the space to explore “scratching the cracks” between various media and creative genres
such as expanded theatre, performance art, sound art, socially engaged practice, music, film, dance
and the application of new technologies.
- Establish itself as a space of innovation, dialogue, connection and improvisation where artists,
experimental composers and performers can share ideas with like-minded people.
- Be inclusive in all of its endeavours, featuring different perspectives and areas of expertise in all
areas of creativity and community.
- Identify, support, and present emerging and established artists who are making significant
contributions to their field of practice and who are open to collaboration and creative risk taking.
- Be committed to promoting innovation and change, never looking back and never staying still!
Pigtown Scratchings is supported by Limerick City and County Council. Dance Limerick is funded
by the Arts Council and Limerick City and County Council.
ENDS
ADDITIONAL INFO
Pigtown Scratchings – Artist Information
Steve Lally – Storyteller
Kildare native Steve Lally has worked as an artist and storyteller throughout Ireland for over 15
years. Steve writes his own material in addition to telling folks tales from Ireland and around the
world and includes recitations, myths, legends, story songs and participation stories among his
repertoire. He has been involved in many storytelling based projects dealing with a diverse range
of subjects from peace building to mental health. Steve is the official Storyteller at The Royal
Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast and he is part of the Poetry Ireland Writers in Schools scheme.
He has published two books of folk tales. He is also an accomplished artist and has exhibited
widely. http://www.storyman.info/
Roger Gregg – Performance Poet
Award-winning playwright, composer, audio-producer, musician and actor Roger Gregg has
written plays for many theatre companies around Ireland over the last 33 years. His plays have
also been produced abroad in Germany, the US and Australia. In 2006 in a special feature
reviewing his audio work, BBC Radio 4 hailed him as “one of a handful of truly great radio
dramatists”. As a sound designer, he has created music and soundscapes for many theatre
productions including Barabbas’s acclaimed Johnny Patterson, for which he was nominated for Best
Sound Design at the 2009 Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAH6qHHDbe4 (Bee Loud Glade Cabaret profile)
Leon McCarthy – Audio-Visual Artist
Léon (aka 3pin) is an audio-visual artist, PhD researcher at Northumbria University and lecturer at
the University of Limerick. His background spans classical music, architecture and music
technology. Leon’s first foray into digital performance was as a VJ. He has produced and
performed as a musician, featuring as one half of the once renowned Irish electro outfit Les Bien.
He co-founded the Irish video production company, MercuryBoy. With his current performances,
Leon hopes to engage audiences intellectually, forcing an interrogation of their live experience.
https://vimeo.com/album/2619225
Angie Smalis – Contemporary Dance Artist
Angie Smalis trained and worked professionally as a dance artist in her home country of Greece
before moving to Vienna, Austria in 2001 to join the Viennese Folk Opera (Volks Oper Wien). She
relocated to Limerick in 2003 to join Daghdha Dance Company. Angie is an independent
contemporary dance artist, leads Limerick Youth Dance, is Artistic Director of Limerick Youth
Theatre and is Founder and Director of Patterns Dance Collective, a group of contemporary dance
artists with intellectual disabilities, based at The Hunt Museum, Limerick. Her own work has
received funding from Culture Ireland, the Arts Council of Ireland, the Mid-West Regional Authority
and Limerick City and County Council. https://vimeo.com/angiesmalis
Günter Berkus – Musician and Sonic Artist
German born Gunter Berkus was curator of the Synergy Music and Art Workshop, a multimedia
performance project in Cork in the 1980s, performed regularly at the Soundworks events at the
Triskel Arts Centre and worked on performances and soundtracks with a wide range of
collaborators. Inspired by the deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, Gunter bought a
Waterphone in 2011 and began hosting improvised music sessions in his home studio. He set up
the Cork City Gamelan project to promote the idea that any and all sounds can be used to make
music and that anybody can make music, regardless of ability, disability, skills or lack of formal
training. Most recently he has been developing software tools for working with experimental
sounds and music. His composition “Pay Back Your Stolen Colours” was premiered on Lyric FM
(Nova) in 2014. http://www.corkcitygamelan.ie
Marie-Clare Boothman – Visual Artist
Visual artist Marie-Clare Boothman is a graduate of NCAD. Her art work is observational drawing
of the human figure. She has facilitated life drawing workshops at the Limerick City Gallery of Art
and is a founding member of the Limerick Figure Drawing Society. From 2010-2014 she was a
member of Contact Studios in Limerick. In April 2012 she took part in a residency project in
Ormston House Limerick, observing the activities on Patrick Street: making sketches from inside
the Gallery looking out. Currently, Marie-Clare is working in studio on a new series of semitransparent drawings. She has also embarked on an animation course, with the view to acquiring
new skills through which to explore figurative drawing. http://www.marie-clareboothman.com/
ENDS
Further info: Dance Limerick (061) 467813 / [email protected]