Sitting in between the two worlds of traditional and contemporary, IN LiMBO takes a journey where few have gone within Irish step dancing, but who is the performer behind the dance
Originally from Connecticut, Kristyn Fontanella currently resides in Galway and has spent years ahead of the curve bringing her Irish dance training to bear on her current more contemporary work. She spent years dancing in professional shows, going on to achieve an MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from University of Limerick and becoming an in demand tutor and choreographer whose reputation is quickly growing.
IN LiMBO showcases four live musicians and an ensemble of six dancers who have taken the basics of what makes the tradition so attractive and translated it into a new but still recognizable language of music and dance.
The creative life of an Irish dancer is relatively undeveloped beyond competition and show dancing – Kristyn Fontanella believes that many Irish dancers shy away from questioning the established norms of their dance form. The questions the company has asked and the ideas they explore through this piece are vital to the ongoing life and development of traditional Irish dance.
Touring seven Irish venues in 2020, this production, where all dancers and musicians are graduates from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL, introduces the audience to another possibility within a dance form that they thought they already knew.
Kristyn’s dance training in multiple disciplines and background in theatre have served her well on her journey to enrich and inform and inspire.
Having established herself as a leading choreographer in the development of Irish step dance, Kristyn continues to evolve an instantly recognizable style which focuses on exploring her vast knowledge of Irish Step dancing within a contemporary context.
Her mission is to show another side of the complex world of Irish Step dancing to future generations of Irish step dancers.
This is a specialised niche genre in which few artists are working currently and Kristyn wants her work to be a new way of thinking about Irish Step dancing and for the audience to find the familiar of the old within the new.
Some of Kristyn’s credits include her being the recipient of Dance Ireland’s Mentored Residency in Traditional Dance with Colin Dunne in 2014 and she was the 2015 Traditional Bursary recipient from the Arts Council for her current piece IN LiMBO
IN LiMBO has received support from the Irish Arts Council through multiple awards (Bursary Award, Project Award and Touring Award). Further support from Dance Limerick, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at University of Limerick, Galway Dance Project, Backstage Theatre, Roscommon Arts Centre and Galway County Council.
- Andrew Carey