
RT , Screen Ireland, South Wind Blows and Harvest Films Present: The Dance
Network Premiere Thursday 2nd February on RT One 10:15pm
Next Thursday, a network premiere of The Dance will air on RT One. The Dance is an observational feature documentary by director Pat Collins and follows the staging of acclaimed choreographer and theatre maker, Michael Keegan-Dolan's M M from the first day of rehearsal to the opening night performance at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2019.
Following the success of his acclaimed re-imagining of the world-famous ballet, Swan Lake/Loch na hEala (2016), Michael Keegan-Dolan and Tea Da sa have created another mythic yet timely production that acknowledges how life's polarities can on occasion come together and find resolution.
Acclaimed director Pat Collins' (Song of Granite, Silence) documentary The Dance, gives viewers a unique insight into Michael Keegan-Dolan's creative process.
The documentary was filmed in 2019 and features the virtuoso concertina player Cormac Begley, who has since won Best Folk Instrumentalist 2022 at the RT Folk Awards and Irish Times Album of the Year 2022, with his second solo album B'. The documentary also features the European musical collective s t a r g a z e' and twelve international dancers who travelled to the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland.
It's an immersive and meditative film, fully observational and always in full flow. There is an emphasis on unity and open communication shown in the film, everyone involved in M M was seen as equally important to the process of creating it and was given the space to express themselves both creatively and emotionally.
As Keegan-Dolan says each rehearsal is about discovery, revelation and connection - and these moments of discovery are a revelation to everyone present.
Michael Keegan-Dolan is considered one of the most innovative modern dance choreographers and theatre makers working today. His ground-breaking productions have won numerous international awards. He rose to acclaim as the artistic director of Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre (1997-2015), creating three Olivier Award-nominated productions: Giselle (2003), The Bull (2005) and The Rite of Spring (2009). The Bull received a UK Critic's Circle Award in 2008 and his show Rian, won a Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award) in 2013 for Best Production. His last production with his new company Teac Damsa, Swan Lake / Loch na hEala, won the UK Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Best Production 2018. Premiered at the 2016 Dublin Theatre Festival, Swan Lake toured the world including to Sadler's Wells London, Stuttgart, Wellington, Sydney, Seoul, Toronto and Moscow.
Pat Collins is a film maker from West Cork in Ireland who has made 30 films over the last 25 years. In 2012, the Irish Film Institute curated a mid-career retrospective of his work to date. His latest feature documentary Henry Glassie Fieldwork-premiered at TIFF in 2019 and was released in New Wave films in the UK. He has directed the feature films Song of Granite and Silence and made films on the writer John McGahern, the poets Michael Hartnett and Nuala N Dhomhnaill, the Connemara based writer and cartographer Tim Robinson, the Iranian film maker Abbas Kiarostami (co-directed with Fergus Daly), and two political feature essay films What We Leave in Our Wake' (2009) and Living in a Coded Land'(2014). He also makes short experimental films including Pilgrim', What Remains', Twilight' and the forthcoming All There is, is light'.
M M went on to be reviewed rapturously in The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Observer and The Irish Times. As well as Dublin it has been performed in theatres in London, Australia and New Zealand.
The Dance airs Thursday, 2nd February on RT One at 10.15pm
More from RTE
12/05/2025
What is success? How is it achieved? And what does it really cost? These are the...
09/05/2025
Further to the comments from RT Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst on Wednesday 7th May included below in which he asked the EBU for a discussion on Israel...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
The Liveline is now open , said Joe Duffy earlier today, as he previewed this af...
08/05/2025
RT , in association with the BBC, Screen Ireland and Cineflix Rights has reveale...
07/05/2025
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of RT journalist, Fergal O'Brien, as its new Business Correspondent.
In his new role, Fergal will be repor...
06/05/2025
Live from Studio 1 at 7pm, Tuesday May 6
Iconic trad-fusion group K LA will be ...
06/05/2025
First episode airs this Friday at 8pm on RT One and RT Player with Doireann N Ghlac in presenting
Guests include Barry Murphy, Brooke Scullion, Bryan Dobso...
02/05/2025
Well-known faces pushed to their limits in Uncharted with Ray Goggins...
01/05/2025
Munster and Connacht Football Finals onThe Sunday Game Live
Final two days of t...
01/05/2025
Stream all episodes ofLook Who's Hangry from April 29
An RT Player Original in partnership with Heinz...
01/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
T naiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and T...
01/05/2025
Exclusive interviews and un-seen footage feature in new two-part series...
01/05/2025
RT Investigates reveals details of Christian Brothers who were senior leaders a...
01/05/2025
RT Statement
The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project is one of the projects that was funded from the proceeds of RT 's land sale in 2017, the init...
01/05/2025
Watch our promo: RT Supporting the Arts | What's on
This May, RT is delighted to support Bealtaine Festival, Fastnet Film Festival, and Dublin Dance Fest...
30/04/2025
You've seen the headlines, now it's time to go Behind the Story
RT News has today (Wednesday) launched a brand-new news podcast, Behind the Story, h...
30/04/2025
Nine major RT dramas will be shot in 2025
142 hoursof high-quality, homegrow...
25/04/2025
All next week RT Nationwide features Dublin Port, the largest freight and passe...
24/04/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Sinn F in leader, Mary Lou McDonald will joi...
24/04/2025
Episode one airs Sunday April 27th, 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player
Watch: Ke...
23/04/2025
RT will air live coverage on television, radio and online of the funeral of Pop...
23/04/2025
In an email to RT staff today, RT Director-General, Kevin Backhurst confirmed that RT 's Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP) 2025 is open from today, Wednesday...
23/04/2025
RT will air live coverage on television, radio and online of the funeral of Pope Francis which takes place this Saturday, 26 April 2025.
Beginning at 8.30am o...
17/04/2025
Festival programme promises a feast of drama, an action-packed fringe festival a...
17/04/2025
RT 's Ireland's Wild Islands wins Best Series at the 2025 International ...
16/04/2025
Dragon Hearts, an inspiring and emotional documentary following members of Irela...
16/04/2025
RT is pleased to announce the appointment of Tara Campbell as Head of RT Radio 1 following a public competition.
In this strategically important role Tara wi...
14/04/2025
Baz Ashmawy Returns For A New Series of The Money List
Baz And The Team Want You To Take Part, You Could Win Up To 30,000 Per Episode
RT Television is looki...
10/04/2025
Champions Cup Rugby, Women's Six Nations, Camogie League Finals, GAA Championship live...
10/04/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Ten years after being fully acquitted of the...
08/04/2025
The speculation and secrets can cease for the moment as RT today reveals Slane Castle as The Traitors Ireland dramatic setting, coming to RT One and RT Playe...
07/04/2025
Treasure Entertainment to produce six-part series
Series stars Tom Vaughan-La...
04/04/2025
May and June see RT Concert Orchestra performances in Dublin, Offaly, Carlow an...
04/04/2025
The Late Late Show will pay special tribute to the life and sporting career of M...
04/04/2025
UNMISSABLE GAA CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION FREE TO AIR ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS
The Sunday ...
03/04/2025
RT Supporting the Arts | April 2025
This April, RT is delighted to support C irt International Festival of Literature, Incognito Art Sale for Jack and Jill ...
03/04/2025
RT has today launched Clarity, a new strand of coverage in which its journalism will work to counter the deliberate manipulation of facts and challenge false a...
02/04/2025
Stephen Rea: The Fire in Me Now, Thursday 10 April, 10:15pm, RT One and RT Player
Over an acting career spanning decades, Stephen Rea has shown himself to be...
01/04/2025
Tonight, Irish vascular trauma surgeon Dr. Morgan McMonagle will share his firsthand experiences from the front lines in Gaza which he documented through a vide...
28/03/2025
Congratulations to all our nominees and winners at the Gradaim RTS Ireland 2025 which were held at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin last night, to honour achieve...
27/03/2025
Starring real-life best friends Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley
Today, RT , IFC and AMC announced the renewal of dark comedy SisterS, created by, written and...
27/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Ahead of their biggest arena headline tour ...
27/03/2025
In an email to RT staff this evening, RT Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst confirmed as follows:
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to confirm that we have been i...
24/03/2025
TELL US YOUR (SHORT) STORIES
The 2025 RT Short Story Competition is now open for entries
Recognising and rewarding the best new Irish fiction writing for r...
18/03/2025
RT Sport announces live Free-to-Air GAA Championship fixtures
Live free-to-air coverage across the Football and Hurling Championships, Camogie Championship, ...
17/03/2025
After 11 spectacular shows filled with glitz and glamour, highs and lows and captivating dances along the way, Rhys McClenaghan and his pro partner Laura Nolan ...
14/03/2025
2FM's fresh weekend lineup goes live this Saturday as a host of new presente...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...