Bealtaine Week 4

We have reached the final week of the Bealtaine festival 2010 and what a month it has been! We are already getting great feedback from last week’s events and hearing lots of interesting stories.

Marie Galvin from Finglas ARA said that the singing event organised in care homes went “very, very well”. Patients joined in and everyone really enjoyed themselves. There were also fantastic reports from the Delia Murphy concert ‘I’ll Live ‘til I Die’ in the Courthouse Arts Centre, Co. Wicklow. Carmen Cullen, niece of Delia, was there to read from her book about her famous aunt. And, Ireland being Ireland, a relative of Delia’s (and of Carmen’s) turned up in the audience. How’s that for audience participation!  A great evening of fun, singing and general joining in was had by all.

This coming week sees Bealtaine’s flagship projects come to fruition and many people around the country are gearing themselves up for one of these events.

Blow the Dust Off your Trumpet

The first event to look forward to is the ‘Blow the Dust Concert’ at the National Concert Hall this Wednesday 26 May at 8pm. ‘Blow the Dust...’ encourages older musicians to pick up their instruments again with help from experienced professional musicians and teachers. Last year’s concert was a huge success and we expect 2010’s to be even better. 

Project Brand New Generation

This Friday and Saturday 28 and 29 May at 8pm will see the performances of Project Brand New Generation at the Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar. Generation was an opportunity for theatre artists with an interest in collaboration to meet other artists to experiment and test out ideas. It is focused on partnering artists who are of different generations to work and collaborate together with an emphasis on an inter-generational exchange. All this week, the chosen artists have been taking part in a week-long residency and were invited to collaborate on one collective idea to make a piece of work for the end of the week. This is culminating in the two nights of performance at the Project Arts Centre. Tickets are €5 and can be bought online at projectartscentre.ie, over the phone on 01 881 9613 or in person by dropping into The Project Arts Centre, 39 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

The Dawn Chorus

Following an extraordinary debut event on Culdaff beach in Donegal in May 2009, Dawn Chorus is returning to waterfronts all across Ireland this Sunday 30 May. Over the past few months, The Association of Irish Choirs and Active Retirement Ireland have encouraged choirs throughout the country to open their doors to retirement groups, to develop a short concert together and to sing on a scenic waterfront across the country to mark the end of the Bealtaine festival 2010.

The Dawn Chorus will be taking place in the following locations on May 30:

• Co. Carlow - 8am - Carlow Town Park
• Co. Cork - 7am - Pier Road, Spanish Gallion; 30 May - 7am - Youghal Beach
• Co. Donegal - 7am - Harvey's Point; 30 May - 7.30am - Rathmelton Town Park
• Co. Dublin - 7am – Dollymount Strand; 30 May - 7am - Malahide Beach; 7am - Dundrum Shopping Centre
• Co. Kildare -  8.30am - Ballymore Road
• Co. Louth - 7am - Moore Hall Lodge Active Retirement Village
• Co. Waterford - 5am - Glenkahane River
• Co. Wexford - 7am - Ferrycarraig Hotel

Re-Live

There will be a ‘Re-Live theatre performance’ in the Mill Theatre on Sunday 30 May at 7.30pm. Re-Live are a welsh company touring an extraordinary piece of theatre about ordinary lives using stories, video, photography and music which re-tells significant moments from the lives of older people. Tickets are €6 for over-55s and €10 for everyone else.

Other projects to watch this week include:

The Ancient Roots

The Donegal County Council Cultural Services present the ‘Ancient Roots’ project. This is a unique intergenerational project which has the aim of producing an archive of ancient traditional herbal remedies that have been used for centuries to promote health and well-being. Children were asked to become detectives and research the remedies that have been used in their own families in a bid to preserve that knowledge. This has been collated into an easy-to-use scrapbook-style book which will be launched at the regional cultural centre, Letterkenny on Thursday 27 May. This project is co-ordinated by Niamh McGinley and Letterkenny Educate Together National School and Welshtown National School Ballybofey have participated.

CoisCeim Theatre Performance

A public performance from CoisCeim Bealtaine project will take place on Sunday 30 May in the Mansion House at 3pm. This is part of a major project involving CoisCeim Dance Theatre which brings together the Arts, Sports and Community Development sections of Dublin City Council to work together with older people in the city’s neighbourhoods through dance.

Burning Bright

This Sunday 31 May sees the opening of the Burning Bright exhibition at 2pm.
Galway’s Burning Bright is a project involving the following partners: Galway Arts Centre, University Hospitals Trust, Age Action West, Galway County Council Arts Office and Galway City Arts Office. Each year, professional visual artists run eight workshops in eleven nursing homes, day centres and hospitals, eight of which are in the county. This is a process-based project with emphasis on learning new skills, communication, social skills and confidence-building. Through art, the participants communicate stories, feelings and thoughts. The project ends with this exhibition of the participants’ work and will be officially opened by the Mayor of County Galway. There will be a tea and coffee reception followed by a Céilí.

IMMA tea and tour programme

This Thursday 27 May, at 2.30pm, as part of their Tea and Tour Programme for the Bealtaine festival, the Irish Museum of Modern Art will be showcasing Vertical Thoughts: Morton Feldman and the Visual Arts. Come and enjoy complimentary tea or coffee while an IMMA mediator discusses the featured exhibitions in the museum followed by a free guided tour of the show.

Bealtaine Film Tour Update

'Dean Spanley' is showing in the following locations this week:

• 25 May - Mermaid Arts Centre, Wicklow
• 26 May - Glor Irish Music Centre, Clare
• 27 May - Newry Film Club, Down; Clones Film Club, Monaghan; Excel Arts and Cultural Centre, Tipperary
• 30 May - Ramor Theatre, Cavan
• 31 May - Axis Ballymun, Dublin

The Bealtaine Film Tour is an access>CINEMA / IFI initiative, supported by Seven Seas.

The IFI, in Dublin’s city centre, have taken the theme ‘Have dreams and speak them without fear’ and are basing their programme for Bealtaine 2010 on films about dreams. They will be screening ‘Field of Dreams’, the ultimate film about dreams on the 26 and 28 of May at 11am.

This week is also your last chance to watch ‘Seeing the Hidden’, five short films that have been commissioned by Sligo Arts Service for Bealtaine Sligo 2010. The short films explore the cultural wealth of the areas of Kilavil, Skreen, Ballinafad, Gleniff Horseshoe Area (Ballintrillick) and Sligo Harbour. The films are showing in the following locations this week:

• 26 May, 1.30pm – Ceili Hall, Killavil, Ballymote, Co. Sligo
• 27 May, 3.30pm – Skreen Day Centre, Skreen, Co. Sligo

A pick and mix from Week 4 of Bealtaine

• Cootehill Library and Art Centre’s Hidden Talents Coffee Morning is back by popular demand and will be held for one hour on Wednesday May 26 in the Library. All are welcome.
• Clients of Cairdeas Day Care and the residents of Bru Chaoimhin are hosting an arts and crafts exhibition on Wednesday 26 May from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the G.A.U. in the Iveagh Grounds, Crumlin Road. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.
• Clare County Arts Office is hosting a visual arts exhibition at the county museum in Ennis from Tuesday May 25 to Saturday 5 June.
• Bealtaine’s own Ambassador Eamon Morrissey stars in ‘The Brother’ - a performance based on the writings of Myles na Gopaleen at 8.30pm Thursday 27 May in The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon.
• Raheen Daycare Centre in Scarriff, Co. Clare is running an intergenerational project with artist Sarah Fuller and children from Tuamgraney national school. They are creating a shadow puppet play and hand made books. These will be exhibited from Sunday 30 May to Monday 7 June in the Aistear Centre in Mount Shannon and will be open to the public.
• RADE (Recovery through Art, Drama, & Education) has recently launched an exhibition in Walkinstown Library entitled ‘Coming of Age’ – a perspective on growing older. This will be open until Friday 11 June.
• The Macroom Senior Citizens Club, Cork is hosting a Gramophone Circle on Wednesday 26 May at 11am. This will be followed by a Tea Dance at 3pm.
• World-renowned Donegal traditional Irish music group Altan are participating in a unique concert alongside many older traditional musicians and singers who influenced the band. The performance takes place on Tuesday 24 May at 7pm at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny. To book call 074 9129186.
• In Co. Down, the Armagh Harpers present ‘Radiance and Light’, a show about the healing quality of the harp. The show will take place on Friday May 28 in the Canal Court Hotel. Tickets €10.
• Ballyfermot/ Chapelizod Partnership will host a Tea Dance with The Brian McCarthy Big Band Sound. The performance will take place on 25 May from 2.30pm to 4.00pm in the Ballyfermot United Sports and Social Club.
• The Bealtaine writers group will be reading poems in response to the exhibition ‘The Collection Revealed: the perceptive eye’ as part of their ongoing residency at The Hugh Lane. There will be an interactive tour and reading on Sunday 30 May at 1.20pm.
• Julie Duane, storyteller and drama tutor will be visiting the Ballinakill Community Hall, Laois on 26 May at 2pm. Her project ‘Celebrating Bealtaine’ involves poems which people love and remember. Julie invites anyone to come along to the event with their favourite poem.
• St. Josephs Day Care Centre, Longford will host a Tea Party on Sunday 31 May. All are welcome.
• Tullamore Library is hosting ‘Books and Biscuits’, a get-together to discuss your favourite books/authors with a cup or tea or coffee on Wednesday 26 May at 3pm.
• Edenderry Library is running a photographic exhibition ‘Through a Swedish Lens’ an exhibition presented by the National Folklore Collection, UCD. This will run until the 5 June.
• Co. Wexford Age Equality Network present ‘The right to dream and hope’ on Tuesday 25 May. The seminar will include workshops and will be open to the public.
• The Silver Tones Choir will be having a concert in St. Aidan’s Cathedral on Thursday 27 May at 8pm. Over forty people will be participating.
• St. John’s Enniscorthy Community Co. Ltd present ‘Living the Dream without Fear’ which will be held from Monday 24 May to Thursday 28 May. All are welcome.