Irish News: Space-age ballet takes Belfast audiences on a journey of self-discovery

Description

Music, dance and video collide in this space-age dance journey of reflection and resilience in Six Dance Collective’s latest work The View From Mars.

The one-act dance piece follows a lone space traveller cast adrift from earth navigating a void of memories, regrets, and nostalgia.

In a highly physical and demanding performance, dancer Dominic Harrison (Ballet Ireland, Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet) performs new choreography by Six Dance Collective artistic director Ruaidhrí Maguire.

The immersive performance is also brought to life by space-age visuals by artist Conan McIvor and live music by composer Amelia Clarkson.

Donaghadee-born Clarkson primarily creates music for concert hall and dance and describes her music as “a juxtaposition of folk influences with contemporary sounds”.

It was whilst studying music at Cardiff University she fell in love with composing. “I obviously grew up knowing there are living composers in the film world, but the idea of having a career composing music for dance and stage never came to me until university,” says the 29-year-old.

A Masters of Music in Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance followed. Her notable works include Ephemera for the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company which had a 2023 national tour of the Netherlands.

Last month she had new work premiere with Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra and recorded a new commission with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for BBC Sounds.

 

It was after working with Maguire in 2019 on Dear Frances, her one act ballet for chamber orchestra which explored issues of mental health, abuse and consent, that she particularly fell in love with composing for ballet.

“It wasn’t really what I was expecting when I started writing music, but it’s become my niche and is definitely the most rewarding.

 

“The fluidity of movement takes a very different approach to compose for. Even thinking about a dancer’s breath and the physicality required to move across the space, impacts the shape and the structure of the music.

“Compared to concert music, the visual element of dance translates the music into an encompassing performing and I like contributing to that singular experience,” she explains.

In 2023 Clarkson and Moneymore-born Maguire co-founded Six Dance Collective, with their inaugural show, White Doves, bringing 28 young dancers together for Belfast’s first newly created ballet.