LUKE Murphy left Cork aged 15 to dance intents and purposes, and now has spent almost as much of his life again overseas. “Yet my cultural identity is a huge part of my life. I am an ex-pat but I have the same story from others”, travellers from his home town whom he meets overseas.
This semi-autobiographical element has informed his new work as international class dancer/ choreographer, ‘Your Own Man/ Mad Motions’.
“A lot of it came together, the dramaturg and structure, from when I was here in Limerick.” Three connected pieces will premier at Dance Limerick in John’s Square on Thursday February 26 at 8pm, which is an appropriate return for his happy residency there during City of Culture: “Dance Limerick, the work they are doing is so important to the country”.
It’s true that Luke Murphy joins a series of international dancer/ choreographers bringing hot works at low audience prices to Dance Limerick’s space, following on Colin Gee, John Scott and Kevin Coquelard.
He describes ‘Your Own Man/ Mad Notions’ as a whole comprised of three media to what is essentially the same experience, an exploration of what it is to be the immigrant abroad and yet of the one place that is ‘home’.
Being a young winner of the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholars, the bursary led him from Britain to Pittsburgh to train professionally. “It was a big opportunity, really wonderful”. Subsequent work has placed him in New York for years and other cities. He is back and over, working with notables such as Michael Keegan-Dolan.
Murphy says his interest in dance never compartmentalised and developing performance has come organically. “I really love dancing for other people”.
Another tenet is his strong feeling “that dance is a relatable art form, in some fundamental way dance is communication”, integral to that which is human.
Our nation of emigrants/ immigrants in flux will look to his performance on Thursday 26, stage one linking to photographs by Hope Davis, on then to more dancing with the context set and finally, a six minute film of relevance at John’s Square. 8pm show.
