Past Performance
Baryshnikov Arts Center and Irish Arts Center Co-Present

Colin Dunne

Concert (U.S. Premiere)

November 14-16, 2019

"Warm, funny, respectful and irreverent." —The Irish Times

Celebrated Irish dance artist Colin Dunne confronts the music of virtuoso Irish fiddle player Tommie Potts (1912—1988), whose iconic 1972 album The Liffey Banks—heralded for its melancholy and irregular rhythms—is widely considered unfit for dance. Collaborating with director Sinéad Rushe and composer/sound designer Mel Mercier, Dunne delivers a masterful solo performance and embodies the singular, complex recordings with an innovative style as evocative and idiosyncratic as Potts’s own.


Lead support of dance programming at BAC is provided by the Rudolf Nureyev Endowment.

Major support for dance programming and activities provided by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Leadership support for music programming provided by the Thompson Family Foundation.


Concert is presented with support from Culture Ireland—Promoting Irish Arts Worldwide. 



‘Riverdance’ Was Years Ago. Colin Dunne Makes Quiet Music Now.

Winter Dance Preview

Colin Dunne Can Dance to That

Stepping out: Colin Dunne's "Concert" at BAC


Colin Dunne
Artist Bio

Colin Dunne

Colin Dunne is a leading figure in the world of traditional Irish dance. Perhaps best known internationally for his performances and choreography in Riverdance and Dancing on Dangerous Ground, he has been working as an independent performer, maker and teacher since 2001.

Dunne’s unique approach to Irish step-dance first came to the attention of contemporary dance audiences after his first solo show, Out of Time, premiered in Ireland in 2008. Out of Time toured internationally until 2016 including performances at Biennale de Lyon, Barbican, London and Baryshnikov Arts Centre, New York. The New York Times called it “an unprecedented achievement; an Irish Dance performance of emotional and intellectual complexity”. His most recent solo show CONCERT, based on the music of Irish fiddle player Tommie Potts, premiered in Paris in 2017. Made with director Sinéad Rushe and sound designer Mel Mercier, CONCERT was awarded the 2018 TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award for Music Collaboration in 2018. Dunne’s most recent collaboration is with Flemish – Moroccan dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Session received its World Premiere in Rennes, France in February 2019 and its Irish Premiere at The Abbey Theatre in May 2019 as part of Dublin Dance Festival. Session will tour internationally throughout 2019/20/21. Other notable collaborations/performances include: The Bull (Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre/Michael Keegan Dolan 2005), Rocio Molina (35 pas à la seconde, Antigel Festival, Geneva 2012), The Turn (Irish Chamber Orchestra/Linda Buckley 2013), Boris Charmatz/Musée de la danse (20 Dancers for the xx century, Tate Modern Museum, London 2015), eRikm (What is Ours, Centre National de la Danse, Paris 2016), Edges of Light (with David Power, Maeve Gilchrist and Tola Custy, commissioned by Music Network Ireland 2016), and Whitby with Joan Sheehy (Bram Stoker Festival 2017). His work as movement director includes; Christ Deliver Us! (Abbey Theatre 2010, directed by Wayne Jordan), and The Risen People (Abbey Theatre 2013, directed by Jimmy Fay). Dunne is based in Limerick Ireland. He was Artist in Residence at The Irish World Academy, University of Limerick in 2001 and 2011, and was Traditional Artist in Residence at UCC School of Music in Cork, Ireland for the year 2017/18. Awards/Nominations: UK Critics’ Circle Award (nomination), Best Male Dancer (Spotlight Award) 2008 for The Bull; UK Critics’ Circle Award (nomination), Best Male Dancer 2010 for Out of Time; Laurence Olivier Award (nomination), Outstanding Achievement in Dance 2010 for Out of Time; TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award (Ireland) for best Collaboration for Concert.

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Maurice Gunning