Irish Arts Center Announces 2011 Fall Season

Olivier-nominated Irish step dancer Colin Dunne, Grammy Award winning composer Bill Whelan, Grammy nominated sean-nós singer IARLA Ó LIONÁIRD and a musical tribute to Irish-American Broadway legend NED HARRIGAN are among the many visionary Irish artists and programming featured at the Irish Arts Center this fall.

From September 7th - December 20th, the jam-packed 15-week fall season at the Center's 51st Street home includes the U.S. Premiere of new Irish theatre, live music and dance, and continues to showcase Irish film, comedy and literary events and reflect the exciting and changing landscape of Irish arts and culture here in the U.S. and across the Atlantic.

As well as featuring the best of traditional and contemporary Irish arts, many favourite events are back, including the third annual celebration of contemporary Irish poetry, PoetryFest 2011, the Irish Arts Center film series, comedy nights and a fun and educational children's series.

Highlights of Fall Season 2011, which reaches across the city in collaborations with the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Symphony Space, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, 1st Irish Theatre Festival, and more, include:

DANCE: Out of Time by Colin Dunne. In a first-time collaboration with New York's Baryshnikov Arts Center, the New York premiere of internationally-acclaimed step-dancer Colin Dunne's (former lead dancer of ‘Riverdance') intimate and playful work brings together sound, image and movement. From October 19th to 22nd at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. (Previously announced)

THEATRE: Bogboy | As part of 1st Irish 2011, New York's annual festival of Irish theatre, the IAC is proud to present this riveting production in association with Ireland's Tall Tales Theatre Company and the Solstice Arts Centre, from award-winning playwright Deirdre Kinahan (whose play ‘Hue & Cry' premiered at the Irish Repertory Theatre in 2010) directed by the boundary-pushing Jo Mangan. Running from September 7th to 25th (opening night is Sunday September 11), this is a moving, intriguing and comedic new play about friendship, new beginnings and secrets.

MUSIC: Iarla Ó Lionáird meets Ivan Goff in the sixth instalment of the acclaimed Masters in Collaboration series. With two live concert performances on October 1st and 2nd, following a collaborative residency which also includes an evening of conversation with the artists on September 28th. Masters in Collaboration VI brings together two extraordinary artists: sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, from Ireland, and uilleann piper and flutist Ivan Goff, an Irish native living in New York for the past ten years, in what promises to be a truly extraordinary creative pairing. And in an encore presentation of one of 2010's most exciting concerts, Grammy-winning Riverdance composer Bill Whelan and world renowned fiddler Athena Tergis return for three performances with a nine-piece orchestra on October 29-31.

LITERATURE: IAC PoetryFest 2011. Held from November 4th to 6th, IAC's third annual showcase of the best of Irish poetry from around the world includes a special tribute to the distinguished and influentiAl Thomas Kinsella as well as readings, conversations and a screening. Featured poets are Nick Laird, Michael Longley, Dennis O'Driscoll, LeAnne O'Sullivan and David Wheatley. The Festival is curated by Belinda McKeon and Aengus Woods.

FILM: Three fantastic film screenings to entertain and enthral: Beautiful People, on October 6th, captures the spirit, passion and commitment that embodied ten members of the longest running traditional Irish music session in New York City; Build Something Modern tells the story of a hidden canon of Irish architecture from the 1950s-70s, on November 15th; and on December 13th, Cup Cake brings to the screen the story of a 23-year-old man, who lives in a world of robots, gadgets and bad cakes, as he discovers the importance of keeping a promise to his family and following his heart.

VISUAL ART: From the Crucible: An Exhibition of Bronze Sculpture by Colm Brennan and Leo Higgins | Personal and celebratory, From the Crucible features 24 new bronze sculptures from masters Colm Brennan and Leo Higgins. Side by side, continuities and differences begin to emerge between these two artists: Brennan's sculptures take a figurative approach, directly linking to his childhood in County Mayo, whereas Higgins' explore abstract themes evoking nature and a sense of place.

TOURING EXHIBITIONS: To Love Two Countries: Ireland's Greatest Generation in America | The second installment of John Minihan's black and white photographic portraits of the Irish men and women who emigrated to the New England area in the first half of the 20th century continues to tour with openings in Connecticut this August and Springfield, MA from September 29th-October 28th.

Work being presented at the Irish Arts Center this fall is made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership by the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, a public agency, and by Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland's year of Irish arts in America in 2011.

For more information on the Irish Arts Center and for detailed programme information and booking tickets (from Thursday July 28, 2011), please visit www.irishartscenter.org

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