An tAthrú: The Journeys That Bring Us Here

An tAthrú (The Changeover) is inspired by the ancient Irish Immrama this year's Kinsale Arts Weekend theme; stories of voyages, journeys and transformation. But as I have developed this work, I have realised that the deepest journeys within this piece are not only the ones we imagine through performance. They are the personal journeys of the people who have come together to create it.

For me, every production is part of my own life journey. Each piece of work becomes at least a punctuation mark in a sentence of my story; sometimes a short paragraph, sometimes a whole chapter. The people I meet, the artists I collaborate with, the communities I work alongside, all become part of that unfolding narrative. An tAthrú has brought together so many threads from different moments of my own creative life, and I find that incredibly moving.

One beautiful example of this is Aoife Byrne. I first worked with Aoife in 2009 when I directed her in my tour of four productions of The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, with organiser Gráinne O’Driscoll. During the public workshops for An tAthrú, Aoife came along and told me that she had not done anything like this since then. And yet, here we are, 17 years later, with that connection returning. After studying the script for a few days, Aoife spoke about how people come together intensely on such projects, and then circumstances change, and life takes people away from each other. Likening it to how it appears in my script; We may stand on the sidelines for a while, watching other journeys unfold. But when a connection is real, it remains. It waits. And sometimes, when the moment is right, people find their way back to each other. That idea feels deeply connected to An tAthrú. The spoken word element of the performance begins: "I stood at the edge of your journey long before you arrived. Between water and land, between leaving and return… I waited." The figure, now played by Aoife, in the piece represents that place of waiting, watching and listening, the space between where we have been and where we are going. The writing also comes from my recurring Heron motif; "I watch. I listen. I know when to move."

Shoe the Donkey is an Irish adaptation of the mazurka, a dance form originating in Poland in the 16th–17th centuries and spreading across Europe by the 18th and 19th. Carried by dance masters and reshaped by Irish musicians and dancers into something distinctly local, it holds a travelling rhythm, altered in each place it lands: a Polish rhythm crossing Europe, settling in Ireland, renamed with a wink, and now stepping up Main Street, Kinsale, into our heron’s path.

Participants are led forward in a loose promenade by the community dancers, guided by accordion and fiddle. Drawing on our renamed ‘Shoe the Heron’ (mazurka time), they move in a gentle three-step pulse (step, gather, step) with a slight hesitation or lift on the second beat. The progression is unhurried and gliding rather than turning, as would be more usual at a céilí, the group travelling together along to the park, within this soft, off-centre rhythm that suggests the watchfulness, balance, and quiet migration of the heron. This is the nature of journeys. We are not always aware that we are changing while we are changing. Sometimes it is only when we arrive somewhere new that we realise we are no longer who we were when we began. "Not all who wander are lost… but all are changed."

The workshops became a beautiful example of this in real time. They were created as invitations, spaces where people could bring their own voices, languages, stories and movement. Children arrived and played. Visitors to Kinsale joined in and experienced a little Irish dancing, even if they would not be there for the final performance. People who simply came through the door became part of this story. And through those workshops, we discovered members of our final ensemble. Aoife joined us through spoken word, and Iona Pegler joined with contemporary dance. Iona’s journey holds another special connection for me because she is a graduate of Inclusive Dance Cork’s accredited course. As one of the founders of Inclusive Dance Cork it is incredibly meaningful to see those pathways continue to cross. Inclusive Dance Cork is led by Artistic Director Rhona Coughlan and Project Coordinator Louisa Sloan, and seeing graduates like Iona continue to develop as artists and facilitators is a reminder that creative work of this organisation creates ripples that continue long after a project ends.

And then there is Linda Jordan. Linda and I have been friends since college, that’s 30 years of friendship, creativity and shared journeys. When we realised there was no traditional costume budget for An tAthrú, we approached the challenge creatively. Instead of creating full costumes, we curated through the performers own wardrobes, and then created special individual pieces, wristbands, sashes, and sculptural waist pieces, for each performer. Linda transformed those ideas into beautiful wearable artworks. These pieces are not simply accessories; they are part of the identity of the performers and part of the visual story of the journey. That is yet another thing I love about making art. It is not always about having everything available. Sometimes limitations create the opportunity for something more personal, more meaningful and more connected. An tAthrú is a journey through Kinsale, but it is also a journey through memory, friendship, community and connection. It brings together dancers, musicians, spoken word artists, workshop participants, audiences, old friends and new collaborators. It asks us all the same question: What happens when we allow ourselves to be changed?

"You arrive now… not where you began, but where you may begin again.

Look...

the circle is not closed…

It widens.”

No journey is made alone, and I am fortunate to always be surrounded by artists whose generosity and talent have accompanied and inspired my work for many years. The beautiful image that opens this blog and another that features us in the KAW programme was captured by John Allen, whose photographs have documented so many creative milestones along the way. Tomorrow's ambitious journey through the streets of Kinsale will be filmed by one of my dearest friends, Maurice Supple. As he keeps reminding me with a smile, it's "an ambitious project" for one videographer to capture! Yet if anyone can weave together the movement, music, atmosphere and heart of An tAthrú, it's Maurice. I know the film will become another chapter in the story, preserving not just what happened, but the connections, moments and memories we all create together.

Another beautiful thread in this journey has been working with Tides of Tradition. My connection with Liam O’Keeffe and Aisling Sage goes back many years, to when I created an arts radio programme for Irish Radio International, founded by my dear friend Maura O’Brien. Liam and Aisling once sat around my kitchen table as part of that programme, sharing their music and stories. Years later, they are here again, bringing their incredible musicianship to An tAthrú and helping guide this voyage through Kinsale with rhythm, melody and energy. It has also been wonderful to work with the team from Cork School of Dance. This connection brings another circle back around, as Cork School of Dance is part of the Dance Cork Firkin Crane family, with the school using Dance Cork Firkin Crane as its home venue. So many strands of my artistic life are meeting within this one piece.

Ireland is a country of dancers, and dance has always been an important part of my own life. From learning Irish dancing as a child, and set dancing as an adult, to attending céilís first with my parents and to this day with fabulous friends- Including last year dancing in the Solstice Céilí at Cork Midsummer Festival (2025) with the inspirational Martin O’Donoghue, and again when we invited him to Kinsale Halloween Festival- to dancing through the night at raves and festivals around the world, I have always experienced dance as a place of freedom, joy, expression and connection. Dance allows us to communicate without words; it creates moments of belonging and trust between people who may never speak a single sentence to one another. I have always wanted to share that joy with others. Over the past decade, as Chairperson of Dance Cork Firkin Crane, I have witnessed the transformative power of movement and participation. Even before that, one of my most treasured creative experiences was We All Mourn (2013), a contemporary dance piece created with my dear friend Martin A. David, who travelled from the US to choreograph the work and encouraged me to step into the performance myself through voice and movement. For An tAthrú, the invitation from Liz Bond of Kinsale Arts Weekend was to create an experience where people could encounter the joy of dance without needing to buy a ticket or enter a theatre. That simple idea became the inspiration for this street performance; a celebration of movement, music and community. And, of course, I hope to join the céilí myself, dancing alongside everyone, and perhaps encouraging people to raise their voices with me for Óró, Sé do Bheatha ’Bhaile.

The performance begins with the image of a presence waiting between worlds. An tAthrú reminds us that communities are constantly changing, growing and being reshaped by the people who enter them. Every voice matters. Every movement matters. The dance ensemble- Abby O’Neill, Aoife Newe, Emma Cronin, Emma Murphy, Gaia Lopopolo, Iona Pegler and Leah Davis- have each brought their own creative voice to the work, responding to the score and shaping movement within the world of the piece, with choreographic support from Paul McCabe. They bring us on yet another journey from ballet through contemporary dance culminating in Irish traditional dances and a finale Céilí moment. The musical journey carried by Aisling Sage on fiddle, Liam O’Keeffe on accordion, is elevated to another level by ethno drummers Levi Magyar and Jerome Bourlet. Every artist brings something unique that transforms the whole. In my spoken word piece, soon to be brought to life through Aoife Byrne’s voice and performance, the invitation is clear: “Step forward. The tide turns. The rhythm calls. Come home… Tar abhaile.”

And together, we continue the journey.

Postscript: A Note of Thanks

I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported An tAthrú, through your thoughts, encouragement, messages, acts of kindness and good wishes, and to those who will come along on the day and share this experience with us.

I am also hugely grateful to the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance for generously supporting our Cork dancers with rehearsal space, and to the Lucy French School of Dance for providing space for our final rehearsals. These acts of generosity have made a real difference in bringing this work to life.

My sincere thanks also go to Anna Mulcahy, Chairperson of Kinsale Arts Weekend, Lisa O’Brien, Festival Curator, and the entire Kinsale Arts Weekend team and volunteers for welcoming An tAthrú into this year’s festival and for all the care, creativity and commitment that goes into making this wonderful event happen.

On behalf of the dancers, musicians, creative team and everyone involved in An tAthrú, thank you for believing in this project and for helping us bring this celebration of movement, music, song and community to the streets of Kinsale. We are so excited to share it with you.

— Yvonne Coughlan