“If dancing is the alternative to language, has language been inadequate for these people? Has language failed these people? Has language betrayed these people?”

Quote

Related Manuscript

Has language failed these people?

The idea that words are not enough was something that followed Friel through his writing career, and informed many of his most well-known plays.

The Creative Process

Dance House, 11 August 2020

In this recording, Jessie Keenan teaches dancers Marion Cronin, Lucia Kickham, and Sarah Ryan the first part of a dance phrase. This phrase was taken from footage of Jessie rehearsing a live dance improvisation to audio she recorded in response to the question ‘So what is surfacing?’, adapted from a phrase written by Brian Friel during the composition process for Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).

“How do you archive the moving body?” – Zosia Kuczyńska

The Creative Process

Robbie Blake's blue notebook, 1

In this page from Robbie Blake’s project notebooks, Robbie adapts a phrase from Friel’s archives, ‘So the play should grow in joyousness’.

The Creative Process

Jessie Keenan notes, 5

In this extract from Jessie Keenan’s project notes, Jessie maps out a version of how she visualises the different stages of collaboration in the life of a live performance work.

“A legacy is not a thing that you set in stone, it's something that you can put in motion.” – Zosia Kuczyńska