Inaugural Festival of Dance and Movement

With an eclectic mix of performance, daily classes, music events and talks, the Company’s studios, at Waterloo House, on Magazine Street, have been a flurry of activity since Friday last, and activities will come to a close tomorrow, Saturday.

The festival is the icing on the cake for Echo Echo, which has enjoyed an exceptional year, the highlight of which has undoubtedly been moving to new premises on the City Walls.

The company manager, Ailbe Beirne, said the festival had been in the making for many years, adding: “We are delighted to have the support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Culture Company 2013, DCAL and Derry City Council, and the huge generosity and goodwill of many people and organisations, to make it a reality.”

Artistic Director, Steve Batts, who also features in our associated video, said: “Over the years we have been privileged to be able to work with and alongside many wonderful individual artists and companies, from nearby as well as far afield, so, when we came to programme the festival it made sense to focus on artists and companies that have a history with Echo Echo.”

The Festival boasted two music concerts, daily classes at 10am and a Dance Picnic, as well as two opportunities to get involved in in-depth dialogue with artists learning about life experiences, working methods, the challenges and pressures of being a dancer, as well as the life of a choreographer.

Artists included Emily Welther and Ddile Foehl of Tanzfuchs, Wolfgang Hoffmann and Sven Till of Fabrik Company, with Pandora 88, the Henry Girls, Daniel Weaver, Nick Bryson and Damian Punch and the Voices Dance Group, as well as the Echo Echo regulars.

A montage of movement and dance from teh festival will be posted next week.