Maiden Voyage Dance to unveil new work at Belfast Children's Festival

Maiden Voyage Dance, which is this year celebrating 21 years of commissioning and creating dance for theatre, public spaces and young and family audiences is set to

return to the Belfast Children’s Festival in March this year with two brand new pieces of work. The artist-led dance company has announced haiku, a new work for public

spaces, from acclaimed choreographer Erik Kaiel, and Line of Life, a digital dance installation piece from local artist Clara Kerr.

Erik Kaiel creator of Festival favourites, Tetris and No Man is An Island has returned to Belfast to create haiku a new piece for public spaces.

The piece is an ode to friendship. Each one of us is trying to find our tribe where we can grow and be seen and accepted for who we are. Friendship unlocks a way of

seeing and being in the world so we are more free to be ourselves. haiku celebrates small poetic moments as more powerful than grand gestures.

For the piece Erik will work with existing Maiden Voyage dancers, and welcome new dancer Gerard who has joined the company having recently graduated from

Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Commenting on the new works, Erik said of haiku: “The most interesting part of the creative process as a choreographer is when your ideas and who the performers are meet. I hadn’t met Maeve, Gerard and Rosie before and we began and the piece we have created together is rooted in their sense of self rather than them doing steps I ask them to do. There is a strong sense of the performers ownership of the piece.”

Maiden Voyage Dance also commissioned local artist Clara Kerr to create solo piece ‘Line of Life’. Working with young people and adults, it has taken the stimulus of physical, emotional and life journeys woven together and reflected on the unexpected pandemic interruption in all our lives it through a dance, music, digital and live interaction.

haiku will be performed for free at the Ulster Museum on March 4-5 and then at the MAC’s Upper Galllery on March 11. Line of Life will be shown at the Factory at the MAC, March 4-5. Visit www.youngatart.co.uk.