New Work

So what is surfacing

Directed by Jessie Keenan

Set in the stunning surrounds of the Museum of Literature Ireland, three dancers - Lucia Kickham, Marion Cronin, and Sarah Ryan - move between their individual interior world and their collective exterior world.

Movement, spoken word and vocals combine to explore capturing the fullness of a memory in all its complex layers. Ultimately, focusing on the body and its capacity to communicate what cannot be spoken.

Tension builds as words falter and disappear creating space for the body and sounds to soar.

The choreography is held by a vocal score and sound design composed by Robbie Blake and performed by Michelle O’Rourke and Bláthnaid Conroy Murphy.

Directed by Jessie Keenan

Choreographed by Jessie Keenan in collaboration with performers

Performed by Lucia Kickham, Sarah Ryan and Marion Cronin

Filmed and Edited by Steve O’Connor

Dramaturgy and Original Research by Zosia Kuczyńska

Music Composed by Robbie Blake

Vocal Performance by Bláthnaid Conroy Murphy and Michelle O’Rourke

Lighting by Matt Burke

Sound Design by Robbie Blake

Costumes by Jessie Keenan

Costume Assistant LaurA Fajardo Castro

Sound Mix and Master Engineer Seán Mac Erlaine

Vocal Recording Engineer Benedict Schlepper-Connolly

Production Manager Eoin Kilkenny

Producer Sophie Coote (2021) / Natalie Hans (2020)

Production Support Michelle Cahill

Filmed on location at the Museum of Literature Ireland.

The Creative Process

Dance solos, 31 August 2020

These are early versions of dance solos by Lucia Kickham, Marion Cronin, and Sarah Ryan. Each solo was created using some of the listening and responding techniques developed by Jessie Keenan and adapted for Zoom workshops held in April 2020.

The Creative Process

So what is surfacing, 25 March 2021

These photographs were taken by Zosia Kuczyńska during and between filming sessions for Jessie Keenan’s short film ‘So what is surfacing’ at the Museum of Literature Ireland on 25 March 2021.

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The Creative Process

The Groove

In this video clip from 29 April 2021, masked performers Bláthnaid Conroy Murphy and Michelle O’Rourke rehearse music by Robbie Blake written for Jessie Keenan’s film ‘So What Is Surfacing’.

Related Manuscript

So what is surfacing

This note towards Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) contains a phrase that directly inspired Jessie Keenan’s short dance film of the same name, ‘So what is surfacing’.

The Creative Process

So what is surfacing, original improvisation

This is Jessie Keenan’s original 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).

Portrait: Jessie Keenan

Jessie Keenan is an Irish choreographer whose work intersects science, visual art, architecture and archives.