Junk Ensemble Explained

Junk Ensemble
Formed:	2004
Genre:	Dance theatre
Location:	Dublin, Ireland
Members:	Jessica Kennedy Megan Kennedy

Junk Ensemble (styled junk ensemble) is an Irish dance theatre company working in a genre related to Tanztheater. The company was established in 2004 by identical twin sisters Jessica and Megan Kennedy.^[1] It is based in Dublin and tours throughout Europe and North America. Its productions focus on unique and original visuals and production methods.^[2]

Awards

Junk Ensemble won the Culture Ireland Touring Award in 2008.^[3] In 2011, they won the Dublin Fringe Festival Best Production Award for their production Bird with Boy,^{[4] [5]} and Drinking Dust was listed as an Irish Times Highlight the same year.

Press

The Sunday Times has written that "junk ensemble has created some of the most impressive contemporary dance in Ireland of recent years" ^[6] and Irish Theatre Magazine wrote that Junk Ensemble "do not disappoint in artistic experiment with bold visual staging and musical adventuring."^[7]

Productions

Productions are listed with the year and venue of their debut.^[8]

• The Rain Party (2007)
• Drinking Dust (2008)
• Pygmalian Revisited (2010) - Aix-en Provence Festival
• Five Ways to Drown (2010) - Dublin Dance Festival
  • Sometimes We Break (2012) - Tate Britain Bird with Boy (2011) - Dublin Fringe Festival
• The Falling Song (2012) - Dublin Dance Festival
• Blind Runner (2013) - Dance Ireland, short film
  • Dusk Ahead (2013) - Kilkenny Arts Festival It Folds (2015) - Abbey Theatre, joint production with Brokentalkers
• Walking Pale (2016) - Dublin Dance Festival
• Soldier Still (2017) - Dublin Fringe Festival
• Dolores (2018) - Dublin Dance Festival^[9]

Notes and References

1. Book: Choreography and Corporeality: Relay in Motion. DeFrantz. Thomas F.. Rothfield. Philipa. 14 September 2016. Springer. 9781137546531. 197. en.
2. Book: Dance Matters in Ireland: Contemporary Dance Performance and Practice. McGrath. Aoife. Meehan. Emma. 29 November 2017. Springer. 9783319667393. 108. en.
3. Web site: Irishtheatre.ie Company Listing.
4. Web site: Winners of Dublin Fringe Festival.
5. Web site: Irish Times interview with junk ensemble.
6. Web site: The Falling Song press . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150115022347/http://thefallingsong.co.uk/press/ . 15 January 2015 .
7. Web site: Irish Theatre Magazine review of Falling Song . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150115011653/http://www.irishtheatremagazine.ie/Reviews/Current/The-Falling-Song . 15 January 2015 .
8. Web site: Junk Ensemble - About Us. www.junkensemble.com. en-us. 21 May 2018.
9. News: Freeing Lolita from Nabokov's narrative clutches. The Irish Times. 21 May 2018. en-US.