MÁM

–GREEK DEBUT–

MÁM means a mountain pass

But it also means obligation

In the evocative, rock-strewn landscape of West Kerry, on Ireland’s southwestern coast, the land is seeded with myth. There, people still speak the ancient, wind-scoured language of the place.

MÁM in Irish means “a pass between mountains.” It also means “an obligation.” A path not chosen, but often imposed. A route the traveller follows without necessarily knowing why. “Sometimes as artists,” says choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan, “you feel this obligation to do something, even if you can’t really say why.” Maybe the answer lies in connection, that moment when separation diminishes, and you feel connected. “Perhaps that’s why I love theatre, because you’re creating moments of connection.”

Guided by this sense of inner necessity, the artist composes a choreography in which twelve dancers from across the world form a charged field of relations – a community of bodies pulsing wildly, ecstatically, rhythmically, turning the stage into a revelry, a kind of feast.

A flame-haired girl wakes inside a nightmare, only to tame it. The nightmare becomes ritual, and ritual turns into celebration. The pitch of intoxication keeps rising. A dancer spins with such force you feel her heart might tear free and strike someone in the audience. At one point, the entire ensemble sits along the length of the stage and looks out at us – and for a moment, we become the Irish Sea.

As the dancers whirl, touch, and embrace, the distances between them dissolve. The “in-between” begins to shrink, and the stage transforms into a space of shared breath. The traditional concertina of Irish virtuoso Cormac Begley meets the sound of the European contemporary ensemble s t a r g a z e, giving rise to a work of dance and theatre that The Irish Times described as “90 minutes of ritualised ecstasy” – sweeping audiences into a haunting, otherworldly journey soaked in the landscape and culture of Ireland.

Nominated for the Best New Dance Production Olivier Award (2020).

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10 June

The performance will be followed by a discussion with the choreographer, along with the screening of Pat Collins’ documentary Dance (85 min.), which captures the company’s creative process.