Arts Council Awards Dance Ireland �100,000 For Choreographic Research And Services In 2007

ON SUNDAY APRIL 29, World Dance Day is celebrated all over the world by the international community of dancers and dance enthusiasts. Dance Ireland, the resource organisation for professional dance, will mark the day with the news that it has received a major grant of �100,000 from the Arts Council to create development opportunities and support for professional choreographic practice this year.

Dance Ireland plans to direct these welcome funds at projects that supplement and complement the organisation�s existing programme, including: a Choreographic Bursary Programme for up to four choreographers [an advanced �incubator� programme for choreographers which complements Dance Ireland�s existing incubator programme for dancers]; Multi-disciplinary Exchanges, workshops and networking for choreographers interested in collaborating with other artists and art forms; and a strategic International Exchange Programme where Irish choreographers / dance artists will have the opportunity to work in partnership with their international peers, both in Ireland and abroad.

Paul Johnson, Dance Ireland Director, commented today �we believe these projects, which are contrasting yet complementary, to be strategic, targeted and of immense value to current and future choreographic practice, by providing unique and valuable opportunities for dance artists - through having the time, money, space, and strategic/informed support - to focus on their professional choreographic development.�

This is the first time that the Arts Council has made an award of this kind, recognizing the need to nurture choreographic practice and further endorsing Dance Ireland�s work as a valuable resource for dance in Ireland.

Other dance events happening on World Dance day include:

• Liberation Dance weekend workshop led by Kalichi at DanceHouse, Foley Street, Dublin 1
• Rex Levitates Dance Company performs The Same Jane & Cross Purposes at Hawk�s Well, Sligo