COISCEIM DANCE THEATRE PRESENTS
swimming with my mother
A stage duet embodying the relationship between a mother and son and their mutual love for swimming and dancing. In this intimate dance, shared pasts intertwine and build gently like a rising tide. Life stories are told with humour to the sultry tones of Nat King Cole.
SWIMMING WITH MY MOTHER was presented in Dublin, Paris and Edinburgh and was Winner of Best Production Award at the Limerick Unfringed 2011 and received an Argus Angel Award at Brighton Festival 2012..
video links
Performed by Madge Bolger and David Bolger
Concept and Choreography David Bolger
Lighting Design Eamon Fox
Sound Ivan Birthistle & Vincent Doherty
Projection Artist Jym Daly
Stage Manager Clive Welsh
Production administration Sarah Latty
Producer Jenny Traynor
"...gently disarms you, warms you with its affectionate humour and beguiles you with the mood of shared reverie." ***** Herald Scotland
PREVIOUS Performances
11 & 12 August at The Watergate Theatre. The performances were followed by screenings of DEEP END DANCE:
The Guthrie Theatre Minneapolis - North American premiere
11-22 July 2012 | part of the Guthrie Theatre WorldStage Series.
Made possible with support from Culture Ireland
- Read Lavender Magazine review: "Sublime Swimming Show Touches On The Ethereal and Sacred"
- Read Star Tribune review: "a delightful meditation on a relationship that thrives in and out of the water."
- Read Star Tribune interview with David and Madge
BRIGHTON FESTIVAL - **Winner, Argus Angel Award
16-19 May 2012 | Brighton Dome, Pavilion Theatre
Made possible with support from Culture Ireland
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
5-21 August 2011 | Dance Base - National Centre for Dance | home.dancebase.co.uk
Made possible with support from Culture Ireland
Here's a flavour of what the critics had to say...
The programme of Irish work at Dance Base is particularly strong this year. SWIMMING WITH MY MOTHER could be icky and sentimental but the combination of David Bolger, director of one of my favorite Irish companies, and his 77-year-old mother Madge (in her stage debut) is so lovely and genuine, it brought tears to my eyes. Chitra Ramaswamy, Scotland on Sunday
***** Swimming With My Mother very gently disarms you, warms you with its affectionate humour and beguiles you with the mood of shared reverie and remembering that laps around the family partnership of David Bolger and his mother Madge. If this was simply a piece about their relationship – she taught him to swim, – it would still be a pleasure to witness their loving kinship, and the sheer panache of 77-year-old Madge as she sashays elegantly into the dance.
But this production by Dublin’s Coisceim Dance Theatre, where David Bolger is artistic director, evokes more than (an admittedly entertaining) family history: it conjures up a sense of childhood wonderment at the physical thrill of a midnight sea, of feeling scared yet safe because a reassuring presence – in Bolger’s case, his mother. The voice-overs, music and monochrome back projections are a nicely judged framework for the movement – but what really shines out is a deeply affecting bond of love, revealed in a tenderly whimsical, unmawkish way. Mary Brennan, The Herald
***** ...this already highly successful and award winning show is, as the Nat King Cole song in the show says, Unforgettable. Irene Brown, The Edinburgh Guide
**** ...the most popular works are Irish imports. Sensitive without resorting to sentimentality and staged with ingenious simplicity, David Bolger's SWIMMING WITH MY MOTHER is a lovely depiction of a parent-child bond that was forged in the water. Bolger is a beautiful fluid mover and his septuagenarian mum, Madge, a wonderful watchful, anchoring presence. Donald Hutera, The Times
**** SWIMMING WITH MY MOTHER is a gorgeous duet that induces both tears and laughter.......A swimming teacher her whole life, Madge also loves dancing and Bolger's choreography perfectly brings the two together. Kelly Apter, The Scotsman
**** The dynamics of the mother-son relationship are not just an end in themselves but open up a meditation on what it means to pass on a skill you love, or a joy in movement. A gentle, joyful, intergenerational gem. Lizzie Steward, The Shimmy Skinny
The companionship of mother and son seeped onto the stage in David Bolger’s wonderfully gentle, perfectly formed duet..... Seona MacRéamoinn Irish Theatre Magazine
Double bill: Swimming with my mother and Deep End Dance (short dance film) - Made possible with the support of the Arts Council’s Touring and Dissemination of Work Scheme:
Draíocht, Blanchardstown Centre, Dublin 15
Wed 4 May | Booking Tel 01-885 2622 | www.draiocht.ie
Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise
Fri 6 May |Booking Tel 057-8663355 | www.dunamaise.ie
Roscommon Arts Centre
Tue 10 May |Booking Tel 090-6625 824 | www.roscommonartscentre.ie
Backstage Theatre, Longford
Thurs 12 May |Booking Tel 043-3347888 | www.backstage.ie
Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire
Sat 14 May | Booking Tel 01-2312929 | www.paviliontheatre.ie
Limerick | Unfringed Festival, Winner, Best Production
Belltable Arts Centre | 28th January & 29th January 2011
Booking: 061 319 866 | boxoffice@belltable.ie | Tickets: €10
Paris | Centre Culturel Irlandais
3rd February 2011
Made possible with support from Culture Ireland
Nottingham | NOTTDANCE Festival
Lakeside Arts Centre | 1st March (8pm) 2011
Booking: +0115 846 777 | www.lakesidearts.org.uk | Tickets £12/9/6
Made possible with support from Culture Ireland
"The companionship of mother and son seeped onto the stage in David Bolger’s wonderfully gentle, perfectly formed duet, Swimming With My Mother at Project Cube. The tone was nostalgic but not sentimental and created a perfectly managed exchange of roles. Is she teaching the choreographer to swim or is he teaching his mother to dance? The bonding and the different physical capacities were adroitly harnessed and it was good to see Bolger in performance again, always engaging, never too self-aware. Madge Bolger was consummately at ease, as the duo tripped through some clever intimations of synchronized swimming strokes. These moves were then counter-pointed by some waltz and cha-cha moves, evoking the swaying ballroom dances of old. A sequence of distressed moves, of arching back, grappling arms and flailing limbs, as nightmares raged and then were calmed, also bore the mark of interdependence. In this light and humane dance work you could almost smell the sea and feel the grainy sand between your toes as mother and son sat companionably on the bare bench, swinging legs."
Seona Mac Réamoinn, Irish Theatre Magazine
Read Brendan Daly's article for the Clare Champion.
Read David's diary on the rehearsal process.
Read Róisín Ingle's article on Swimming with my Mother in The Irish Times Magazine.
In this light and humane dance work you could almost smell the sea and feel the grainy sand between your toes
Seona Mac RÉamoinn, Irish Theatre Magazine
