News
Live MASTERCLASS via zoom
NEW IRISH CREATIVES FESTIVAL
6 Dec 2020 @ 13.00-14-30
Marguerite Donlon is a renowned, innovative, contemporary choreographer and Dance director based in Berlin with the Donlon Dance Collective and Theater Hagen as the Ballet Director and house choreographer. After an exciting career as a dancer in London and Berlin working with choreographers such as William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Meg Stuart and Maurice Bejart she became a choreographer and is now at home with her own unique creations. Her work can be seen on major international stages such as The Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, The Collisium, London, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Sadlers Well London but also in many other Theaters in Germany. Marguerite has received many acknowledgements for her creative work among them the Saarland Medal of Merit, a nomination for “Die Faust” and “Prix Benois de la Danse” and a Civic Reception by the Longford County Council, Ireland. In addition to her dance work, in 2014 she became an accredited PCT and RD1st Business Coach and Leadership Mentor. On her live zoom masterclass, she will talk about the world of choreography: what it’s like to start a creation from a blank canvas. The importance of following flow and building trust within the creative team so as to step out of the comfort zone. She will share how to recognise a mistake or a misunderstanding as a possible chance or opportunity to find new ways. How to devise choreographic tools to help break habits and knowing when to let go and allow the dancer to take ownership. There will be time to ask questions and discuss specific points. She will also talk about the importance of building up a network and finding the courage to follow ones own unique voice.
Applicants are invited to submit questions prior to the zoom masterclass.
Limited places:
Please contact…
Embassy of Ireland in Berlin
candice.gordon@dfa.ie
Marguerite Donlon to be the new Dance Director for Theatre Osnabrück
I am happy to announce that I will join the newly designated Intendant Ulrich Mokrusch to be the new dance director for Theater Osnabrück from 2021/22.
It has been such a joy to brainstorm and create new ideas together with leading team, Juliane Piontek, Andreas Hotz, Norbet Schmittberg, Christian Schlüter, Claudia Lowin, Tanja Springer, Matthias Köhn and my longtime assistant and artistic collaborator Francesco Vecchione.
I’m excited to bring new and old dancers together to find inspiring and unique ways in dance and I look forward to opening many new doors in and outside of our new Theater.
Marguerite Donlon
Oct: 2020
For further information see Link below
https://www.danceforyou-magazine.com/2020/10/05/marguerite-donlon-wird-neue-ballettdirektorin-am-theater-osnabrueck/
Lost in translation, Marguerite Donlon
STEP UP DANCE PROJECT 2019,
PHOTO BY DON MOLONEY
Step Up 2020, Dance Limerick
Deadline extended to 17th April, auditions to be held in mid June, date TBC.
Step Up Dance Project 2020 continues to bridge the gap between dance education and professional contemporary dance practice. Step Up is curated by Irish born, Marguerite Donlon, International choreographer.Step Up aims to enhance young dancers’ professional networks, by connecting them to the Irish and international contemporary dance community, thereby improving professional opportunities for young dancers in Ireland and abroad. The eight-week programme is open to dancers who have completed their professional training within the last three years and participants will be selected via audition on 10 April.
Please see link for further details….
https://dancelimerick.ie/news/step-2020-applications-open
My first published chapter “Somewhere Between Remembering and Forgetting” in Dance and Modernism in Irish and German Literature and Culture, edited by Sabine Egger, Catherine Foley, and Margaret Mills Harper, has been published by Lexington Books. It is an examination of the choreographic process for a creation I made for Stuttgart Ballet. It deals with how I was inspired by the poem “The Man Made of Rain” by Brendan Kennelly. This publication came out of a multi-disciplinary conference I spoke at in University of Limerick in November 2016, entitled “Irish-German Connections in Motion”. The book features lots of fascinating contributions by top-notch academics and practitioners, check it out here:
https://rowman.com
Retrospective
TO THE MOON AND BACK [Der Rest ist Tanz]
To the moon and back. Choreographer: Marguerite Donlon. Dancer: Bridgett Zehr
MiR – Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, Germany
21. & 27.10.2018
03.11.2018
12.01.2019
19.01.2019
See link for further information
https://musiktheater-im-revier.de
LE CAGE AUX FOLLES
Regie: Martin Berger
Choreographer: Marguerite Donlon
Theater Basel, Switzerland
Premiere: 14.12.2018
See link for further dates
https://musicalzentrale.de
Ruff Celts
Theater Nordhausen, Germany
22.02.2019
See link for further dates
https://theater-nordhausen.de/
The Last Lifeboat
BALLET X
Philadelphia, USA
See the link here for further information
https://www.balletx.org/repertory/the-last-lifeboat/
Donlon Dance Collective on tour:
“HEROES” and “THE LAST LIFEBOAT”
Heroes. Photo: Bettina Stöß
Last Life Boat. Choreographer: Marguerite Donlon.
Dancer: Claudia Ortiz
07. & 08.09.2018 Backstage, Co Longford, Ireland
www.backstage.ie/
05.10.2018 Apollo Theater, Siegen, Germany
www.apollosiegen.de/veranstaltungen/heroes/
LAST LIFE BOAT
[Choreographic work in progress]
First public showing as part of CRAW, the alternative Irish Music & Arts festival.
Choreography and Concept:
Marguerite Donlon
Dancer: Claudia Ortiz Arraiza
Music composition: Dirk Haubrich
22. & 23.06.2018 Kultstätte Keller, Karl-Marx-Straße 58, 12043 Berlin, Germany
This is the story of my Grand Aunt Katherine Gilnagh who at the age of 16 survived the Titanic. She was the last passenger on the last life boat. This work in progress will show an excerpt of a dance solo we are working on using an interview from my Grand Aunt when she was 60, explaining what it was like…. she explains that at first she had no idea what was happening until the life boat was some distance away, it was then she heard explosions as the ships boilers hit the water and she started to see more and more bodies in the water.
The internationally acclaimed composer Dirk Haubrich has created an electronic music score to accompany an interview Katherine gave at the age of 60, recalling the night in question.
Photos: Olga Kuzminskaya
TRACK 6
The Irish Trinity Dance Company, Chicago, USA
Choreography: Marguerite Donlon
Japan Tour 2018
June 17 – Hyogo Performing Arts Center (Osaka)
June 20 – Actucity Hamamatsu (Hamamatsu)
June 22 – Tokyo Theatre Orb (Tokyo)
June 23 – Tokyo Theatre Orb (Tokyo)
June 24 – Kanazawa Prefectural Hall (Yokohama)
June 26 – Across Fukuoka (Fukuoka)
June 27 – Kumamoto Citizen Hall (Kumamoto)
July 1 – Westa Kawagoe (Saitama)
July 2 – Seitoku University (Chiba)
July 3 – Nihon Tokushu Tokyo Shimin Hall (Nagoya)
Photo: Paul Marshall
The ONE Grand Show
Friedrichstadt Palast Berlin
Premiere: 06.10.2016
Last Show: 05.07.2018
Homepage Friedrichstadtpalast
Trailer The ONE
Running for 2 years – THE ONE Grand Show to close on 5 July!
Choreography: Marguerite Donlon, Brian Friedman, Alexandra Georgieva, Craig Revel Horwood, Ronald Savković
Music: Daniel Behrens, Christan Lohr, Gregor Meyle, Maya Singh, KT Tunstall
Stage: Roland Welke, Jan Wünsche, Stage One UK
Costumes: Jean Paul Gaultier
Light: Peter Morse
Video: Marc Vidal
Photos: Sven Darmer
1,634 guests watched the show during the total of 491 performances staged between
September 2016 and July 2018.
Jean Paul Gaultier fulfilled a lifelong dream with THE ONE Grand Show: “My
creations have been brought to life in the most fantastical way.” Both the guests and the media were amazed by the poetic scenes and the style icon’s quirky costumes that will never be seen again in such splendour or dimensions. The international press were also impressed: the New York Times raved about “Gaultier’s fantastical imagination”, while the Guardian wrote of “an ecstatic and poetic dreamworld”.
“Must-See in Berlin” (The New York Times)
“After a few warm-up revues in the last years, the Palast has now struck gold.
Its latest spectacle, The One, is an orgy of colour and style with costumes by French fashion icon Jean-Paul Gaultier. ‘It’s been such a fabulous experience, I just love it,’ said an ecstatic Mr Gaultier on opening night. ’As a boy I dreamed of designing a revue and now it has finally happened.’ […] And then the show explodes into life, with the ruined theatre now a location for a colourful underground rave-cum-fashion show. To thumping, catchy music by Daniel Behrens, a massive cast spreads out before the audience’s eyes like a Gaultier gourmet. Each a unique character, they are wearing outfits that run from drugged-up Disney villainesses to Village People tribute acts. […] Just as your eyes adjust to the opulence, each scene is succeeded by another, including dizzyingly inventive scenes by Berlin-based Irish choreographer Marguerite Donlon. A veteran of Germany’s dance world, who most recently worked in Moscow’s Bolshoi, she embraced The One to get a taste of the ‘Palast’ revolution from the inside. (Derek Scally, The Irish Times)
RUFF CELTS
“Ruff Celts”, created for Visceral Dance Chicago in 2016, has been selected to be presented in New York at the “Women in Dance Leadership conference” in January 2018. Also, Visceral Dance Chicago continues its fifth season with its first tour to New York, highlighting new works from international choreographers and dynamic returning company repertoire. This program highlights the technique and masterful movement of this ensemble, featuring Mark Godden’s technically dynamic Minor Threat, Nick Pupillo’s newest visual sensation Synapse, crowd favorite Ruff Celts by Marguerite Donlon, the masterful and harmonious trio She Three by Pupillo and Pick a Chair by Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Recipient Danielle Agami. Visceral Dance Chicago continues Year Five true to form, with “strong athleticism, a dense and inherent technical proficiency, and a lot of passion.” (LA Splash)
Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College,
524 West 59th Street, between 10th and 11th Ave,
New York, NY 10019
18.01.2018
Women in Dance Leadership Conference 2018, New York, USA
20.01.2018
SOMA / BODY [Dancing Souls]
Theater Hagen, Germany
Premiere: 13.01.2018
Extremely close: Diese Choreographie des international wirkenden Spaniers Alejandro Cerrudo wird erstmals in Deutschland aufgeführt. Extremely close ist das zweite Werk, welches er für die Company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago kreierte. Es wurde 2008 am The Joyce Theater in New York uraufgeführt, gefolgt von zahlreichen, weltweiten Präsentationen, u.a. von der Compañia Nacional de Danza Madrid, dem Cincinnati Ballet, dem Milwaukee Ballet. Cerrudos Tanzwerke bestechen durch ihre Dynamik. Extremely close (Sehr nah) nimmt den Zuschauer auf eine bewegende und vielseitige Reise mit, in der es in einer abstrakten Form um Liebe und menschliche Nähe geht. Der Choreograph verwendet als Musik für dieses Stück Klavier-Kompositionen von Philipp Glass und Dustin O’Halloran.
Soma: Mal selbstironisch, mal witzig, mal bizarr, so beschreibt die irische Choreographin Marguerite Donlon ihre Stücke. Mit Leichtigkeit verbindet sie in ihren Kreationen klassisches Handwerk mit zeitgenössischer Power und zelebriert die Tänzer und ihre persönlichen Stärken. Von dieser international gefragten Künstlerin, die mit Ballettcompagnien rund um den Erdball arbeitet(e), ist innerhalb dieser Produktion die Choreographie Soma aus dem Jahre 2011 zu erleben. Diese thematisiert die Sehnsucht des Menschen nach der Unendlichkeit. Wie können wir einen schönen Moment festhalten? Wie schaffen wir etwas, das bleibt? Donlon hat dafür Philipp Glass‘ Violinkonzert ausgewählt, das durch seine Struktur dieses Gefühl des Stillstands der Zeit auch in der Musik erzeugt.
Luminous Heart: Unter dem Titel Luminous Heart (Leuchtendes Herz) erzählt der neue Ballettdirektor des theaterhagen Alfonso Palencia die Geschichte einer jungen Frau, die schwer herzkrank ist und eine Transplantation benötigt. Ihr Freund, ihre Familie und Freunde versuchen, ihr Hoffnung zu geben. Da passiert etwas Unglaubliches: Der Freund stirbt, ihr wird sein Herz implantiert und damit kann sie weiterleben, allerdings ohne ihre große Liebe, doch diese trägt sie nun im Herzen und bewahrt sie in ihren Erinnerungen. Palencia setzt sich intensiv mit dem Thema Organspende auseinander und stellt sich die Fragen: Wie leben diese Menschen mit dem Herzen eines anderen Menschen in sich, lebt der Verstorbene, dem das Herz gehörte, in irgend einer Art und Weise in ihnen weiter? Musikalisch wird diese Choreographie untermalt von Werken von Philipp Glass und Alexandre Desplat.
HEROES [Ballett? Rock it!]
Theater Augsburg, Germany
Premiere: 10.02.2018
Choreography: Marguerite Donlon, Ricardo Fernando, Riccardo De Nigris
Music: Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse
Stage: Peer Palmowski
Costumes: Rosa Ana Chanzá
Dramaturgy: Johanna Mangold
Heroes –A: Marguerite Donlon
Club 27: Ricardo Fernando
Anima Fragile (UA): Riccardo De Nigris
Ballett? Rock it! ist ein dreiteiliger Ballettabend und eine Hommage an Rockmusik. Sie dient nicht der passiven musikalischen Zerstreuung in der Straßenbahn, sondern das ist Musik mit einem enormen Identifikationspotential. Gerade in ihren Ursprüngen in den 50er und 60er Jahren war sie von einer revolutionären Kraft beseelt. Sie stand für die Befreiung einer ganzen Generation – sexuell, politisch und gesellschaftlich – und fasste die brodelnde Unzufriedenheit mit den bestehenden Verhältnissen in noch nie gehörte Gitarrenklänge. Die Rock- und Popmusik mit ihrer Vision von Liebe, Freiheit und Frieden wurde für viele zur Ersatzreligion und Musiker wie David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix oder Jim Morrison zu Halbgöttern.
Auch wenn Rockmusik heute durch ihre Kommerzialisierung viel von ihrer gesellschaftlich-revolutionären Kraft eingebüßt hat – ihre unvergleichlich elektrisierende Aura ist bis heute unverfälscht. In Ballett? Rock it! spüren drei Choreografen ohne Wenn und Aber dem Lebensgefühl von Rockmusik nach. Riccardo De Nigris erforscht mit Anima Fragile, ausgehend von Songs des zeitgenössischen italienischen Musikers Vasco Rossi, die Hauptquelle künstlerischer Inspiration. In Heroes – A erzählt Marguerite Donlon zur Musik von David Bowie den Weg von fünf jungen Menschen: »Ein Weg voller Hindernisse, großem Erwartungsdruck und Übernahme fremder Träume.« (Marguerite Donlon). Und in Club 27 choreografiert der Augsburger Ballettdirektor Ricardo Fernando die Musik von Künstlern, die das Alter von 27 Jahren nicht überschritten haben: Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain und Amy Winehouse. Ballett? Nein! Rock it!!
L for Ford
The Irish Trinity Dance Company, Chicago
08.07.2017 Premiere preview. Backstage, Longford, Ireland
2017/2018 Chicago & Japan (tba)
STROKES THROUGH THE TAIL – SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA [Amore – three one act ballets]
World Premiere: 12.05.2016 — Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti, Modena, Italy
Russian Premiere: 24.05.2016 — The Bolshoi Theatre, Historical stage, Moscow, Russia
30.06.2016 Ravina, Italy
03.07.2016 Genève, Switzerland
06.07.2016 Monte Carlo
08.&09.11.2016 Napoli, Italy
13.12.2016 Riga, Lativia
14.&15.03.2017 The Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
26.&27.09.2017 Trans-Siberian Art Festival Japan 2017, Bunkamura, Tokyo, Japan
UK Premiere: 21.-25.11.2017 Coliseum, London
see link for dates and more information
Choreography & Concept: Marguerite Donlon
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Costumes: Igor Chapurin
Light: Andrey Abramov
Dancers: Svetlana Zakharova, Mikhail Lobukhin, Denis Savin, Vladislav Kozlov, Alexei Gaynutdinov, Anton Gaynutdinov
Photos: Jack Devant ballet photography
‘This incontestable star of Bolshoi (without any taint of exaggeration) has the body, which may be possessed by one among ten millions of ballerinas” (Daily Telegraph)
“Svetlana Zakharova’s Odette may be the finest performance I’ve seen from her. Her adagio line is exquisitely fine-spun, yet there’s a weight in her arms, a wildness in the movements of her head that pitches this Swan Queen eloquently between human and bird.” (Guardian)
The three faces of Amore presented by the sublime Svetlana Zakharova in her brand new triple bill are passion, ambiguity and playfulness. She is joined on stage by top Bolshoi male artists, including Mikhail Lobukhin, Denis Rodkin and Denis Savin. Live music will be provided by the Orchestra of English National Opera under the direction of Pavel Sorokin.
The evening opens with Yuri Possokhov’s masterpiece Francesca da Rimini. Set to Tchaikovsky’s symphonic poem, it tells the story of the tragic lovers from Dante’s Inferno condemned to eternal punishment.
Rain before it falls, choreographed by Patrick de Bana is a ballet which concerns the struggle with the choice between darkness and light. It is set to classical sounds by Bach and Respighi decorated with modern electronic music tapestry by Pina-Quintana.
The third piece features Svetlana Zakharova supported by five male dancers. Set to Mozart’s Symphony No.40, Strokes Through the Tail is a humorous piece choreographed by Marguerite Donlon, providing the perfect ending to the evening. Part of the fun is costumes by fashion designer Igor Chapurin who also created the costumes for the unforgettable Francesca.
TALKS
Marguerite Donlon talks on “THE CREATIVE PROCESS”
The American Women’s Association Berlin
31.03.2017
Marguerite Donlon talks on “FEEDBACK IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS”
Assemblée International 2017, Toronto, Canada
01–06.05.2017
with Canadas National Ballet Schools Artistic Director Mavis Staines and Deborah Bull, former ballerina and current Assistant Principal at Kings College London.
TO THE MOON AND BACK [Der Rest ist Tanz]
MiR – Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Premiere: 20.05.2017
Choreography & Concept: Marguerite Donlon
Music: Max Richter, Rig the Jig, Dervish, Kangding Ray
Stage: Jürgen Kirner
Costumes: Thomas Lempertz
Light: Mariella von Vequel-Westernach
Dancers: Francesca Berruto, Hitomi Kuhara, Bridgett Zehr, Sara Zinna, Paul Calderone, Carlos Contreras, Valentin Juteau, Louis Rodrigues, José Urrutia
“Umjubelter Abend purer Ballett-Ästhetik // Das Beste zum Schluss: Die irische Choreografin Marguerite Donlon reiste mit ihrer neckischen, bildintensiven Arbeit ‘To the moon and back’, einmal zum Mond und wieder zurück. Sie inszenierte eine starke Tour zwischen Traum und Wirklichkeit, zwischen archaischer Natur und steriler Künstlichkeit. Zu Irish-Folk-Klängen schälen sich die Tänzerinnen aus flauschigen Woll-Knäulen heraus, die sie später als Afro-Perücken auf dem Kopf tragen. Die feingliedrigen Frauen staksen wie Barbiepuppen-Karikaturen scheinbar auf Highheels über die Bühne, während die Tänzer mit nackten Oberkörpern und schwarzen Lendenschurzen den kraftvollen, rauen Gegenpart bilden.” (E. Höving, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung)
JACOPS PILLOW DANCE
10–16.05.2017, Becket, MA, USA
Guest Choreographers/Artists: Robert Battle, Marguerite Donlon, Cayetano Soto
BROOK DANCE
07.–12. 08.2017, Shawbrook, Ireland
Brook Dance is an intensive training and development programme for vocational students and professional dancers early on in their career. Each year, the programme is overseen by a mentor who will work with the group.
Marguerite Donlon mentor 7-12 Aug 2017