For the past three editions of the Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement we have been supported by the Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DCHG) in Dublin to offer a number of bursaries to support attendance at the festival in Derry by Ireland based artists.
Each year Echo Echo artists travel throughout the whole of the island of Ireland to give workshops introducing Echo Echo’s ‘Poetic Movement‘ approach to dance and outlining the ethos of the festival to professional dance artists and experienced students of dance. Over 140 people have participated in the all-island programme to date and participants in these workshops get the chance to apply for one of the festival bursaries.
The grant from the DCHG provides support towards travel and accommodation and Echo Echo provides free access to festival events to bursary recipients. This year we have been able to offer six bursaries. Two support attendance at the whole festival and four support attendance during the busy final three days.
In previous years the bursary programme has been very effective in supporting the professional development of Ireland based dance and movement artists and in nurturing creative relationships between Echo Echo and colleagues based through the island of Ireland. The bursary programme has been an important factor in the development of the Echo Echo Artist in Residence Programme, supporting the regional and national profile of the company, and in energizing the attendance at Echo Echo events such as the Contact Improvisation Festival and professional development workshops.
This year we are very happy to be welcoming Wanting Wu (Belfast), Oran Leong (Dublin), Emily Mickus (Limerick), Maggie Breen (Dingle), Marketa Formanova (Sligo) and Selma Daniel (Kildare) to the Festival as the 2018 bursary recipients.
Thanks to the 2018 Co-operation with Northern Ireland Funding Scheme managed by the Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and to all of the Echo Echo Festival supporters.
Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company 