THIS BEATS DANCING WITH STARS
Striptease, a cheeky show featuring an on-screen appearance by Demi Moore; Ireland’s biggest Nelken Line; Moveable Feast, a family-friendly open-air celebration of dance; a combination dance/opera about UFOs; and The Ferryman, a film in which a character (half-deer, half-hunter) explores the roots of rituals and dance. These are part of the 40 events lined up for the Dublin Dance Festival that began on Thursday and will run in various venues until May 28 – although aspects of the festival will continue into July and September. There’s a line-up of more than 50 dancers and artists from 11 countries, including Ireland. The aim is to engage people not normally interested in dance, as well as those who are already fans. Artistic director Benjamin Perchet is bluntly specific: ‘We value artists’ freedom of expression, conscience, blasphemy, criticism … in these ever more obscene contemporary times.’ Moveable Feast, a free event, is scheduled for this afternoon in Merrion Square Park. Plenty of dance activities for all ages including a Bubble Baby Boogie and Bollyrobics workshops, an intergenerational tea dance and other attractions that should involve lots of participation. The highlight of Moveable Feast is at 2pm today when it’s hoped to stage the biggest Nelken-line in Ireland. And if you don’t know what the Nelken line is, it’s simplicity itself: a few simple arm gestures that describe the alternation of the four seasons by the performers – novices, amateurs, professionals walking in a long line to the accompaniment of the 1928 Louis Armstrong recording of West End Blues. See dublindancefestival.ie