Diving Bell, originally uploaded by Aiden Kenny
How I wish every wednesday could be a disco-nnect wednesday. Am just back in Sligo after a dublin trip to catch You’re Only Massive’s performance; Disco-nnect as part of Docklands/Project festival We are Here 3.0. I’m not entirely convinced by the contemporary nature of the 3.0 tag on the end of the festival name (makes it a bit web 2.0 for me) but the concept of a city based festival of contemporary and accessible performance is a great one, and the events programmed are as diverse a selection of “peformance” as you are likly to find on the streets of Dublin, quite literally in the case of the Massive crew.
The Sligo train is Connelly bound which brought me right into the heart of the IFSC and mercifully close to the Docklands and the meeting point on Wednesday evening. A bit laden with laptops and overnight bags I took a wander through the very european (but very empty) CHQ shopping centre in search of a bit of shelter from the pouring rain and a short sharp caffeine intake. Imagine my delight, mentally preparing for walking tour in the pouring rain-waterproofs in hand, when every step I took toward Sir John Rogerson’s quay the larger the patch of blue sky grew and the more the rain clouds blew out of sight.
Spotting a few likely audience members looking as lost as i was prompted a call to the project box office to double confirm the meeting point. Somehow I had misconstrued the Liffey Ferry Meeting point to be the FerryMan pub (can only take directions when referenced via a pub clearly) but was put straight (well straighter) after the phone call. Being told it was Sir John Rogersons Quay wasn’t immensely helpful (it’s a whole quay after all) but off I meandered to find my friend and the diving bell which I was assured was hard to miss. They were right. Any doubts see the pic above.
While the 20 of us gathered our thoughts (and our prayers with regard to the rain) we were handed the most magnificent umbrellas that seemed to the precise colour of the diving bell, and came adorned with little ears.(I very nearly stole mine at the end.)
I’m loathe to go into any great detail on the content of the walking tour that Maedbh and Megan took us on lest I ruin the surprise for anyone who’s not yet done it, but the format was essentially an hour of a walking tour around a specific area of the docklands, and then a 30minute gig in an apartment.
The tour part (sadly I had to miss the gig part due to an unforeseen emergency but I will rectify that just as soon as I can catch the massive girls live in action) was a little slice of magic. Truly experiential it was gentle, fun, clever and an eye-opener. Our little group were taught dances and songs and chants and how to work up a sweat; all while carrying orange umbrellas without a hint of rain (I think the brolly’s did it)
Daunting as this may sound it was delivered in such a charming, trusting way that not a single embarrassed objector opted out. Some lovely methods were employed to get us trusting our guides and ourselves. We all went on our own little journey which for me was as much a visual one as anything else. The contrast between the old and the new; history and tradition versus progression and development, was exposed through the route, bringing us to parts of dublin that were like an undiscovered film set. Giant letters that I’ve never seen, little caravans in incongruous places filled with baby toys that we passed in silence, Libeskind’s Grand Canal Square with its unexpected childhood oasis in the centre, graffiti the same sky blue as the mark on our foreheads, and a U2 pilgrimage as unlikley as one of our group bumping into a friend who was out to dinner and bemused at his dancing antics.
I can only imagine what fun awaited in the aparment with Megan and Maebh, but I’ll have to save that up for another time. If you’re in Dublin I urge you to get to this show (ends July 5th), and if you miss it I urge you to go for a ramble, grab a camera or position your fingers as a viewfinder; frame what’s around you and find a way to connect.
Disco-nnect as part of We are Here 3.0. and runs until Sat July 5th 2008.
Tags: you're only massive, disconnect, we are here, docklands, sir john rogersons quay, diving bell, project, festival, perforamance
