“Inspired by life and the extra-ordinary of the everyday, Pageant celebrates the performer in us all.”

The opening scene involves a single dancer on stage with no music, whirling a massive flag above and around his head. You hear the ripple and slap as the fabric beats the air and as he pulls and drags the flag. The staging is simple with a number of  columns at the sides of the stage and a white backdrop. The lighting is used effectively throughout, with light and shadow thrown to  all corners of the stage. The shadows the dancers throw as they move are one of the main visual images, and some of them are quite beautiful to watch, you can even end up watching the shadows and not the dancers on occasion!

The dance progresses from there, and soon all seven members of the cast are on stage. A number of the dances start from humble beginnings, such as someone listening to music on their head phones in their kitchen, the dancers on the stage mimicking the hand movements of the one listening to the music!

In another, a dancer moves while a projection of his shadow is on the wall behind. This carries on, until the projection gets bored and moves away, leaving the dancer alone! There are a number of times where the piece is quite funny, and it never takes itself too seriously, keeping the feel light and fun.The beauty pageant is one of most humorous moments, with the dancer revealing the person who inspires her most and how she thinks world peace can be achieved!

They even manage to use Ravel’s Bolero to some effect, and drag it back from Torvill and Dean! The dancers move behind a white screens at the front of the stage, so their shadows are projected onto it. They loom large when near the light source, and diminish as the move away. This is another impressive show from CoisCeim and their warmth, humor and skill is obvious in everything that they do. Pageant runs upstairs in the Project Arts Centre until March 2nd with tickets form €17/20.

CoisCéim Dance Theatre

For more images of CoisCeim’s previous work, check out their youtube page here.

Directed and Choreographer by Muirne Bloomer & David Bolger
Lighting Design by Sinéad McKenna
Set and Costume Design by Maree Kearns
Sound Design by Ivan Birthistle and Vincent Doherty

Cast includes: Muirne Bloomer, David Bolger, Jen Fleenor, Robert Jackson, Mónica Muñoz Marín, Jonathan Mitchell and Emma O’Kane.