Trans-disciplinary practice towards connection, empowerment and diversity.
Undercurrent, formed by Wilson in 2016, is distinctive because of the diversity of backgrounds of the ensemble and the themes explored. The company evolved from Wilson’s ongoing study of the potential for trained movement from disciplines other than dance, in the development of contemporary dance. With long term international and Ireland based collaborators Undercurrent creates site specific performance and theatre performances. Undercurrent is also committed to long term engagements with community groups and is involved in ongoing trans-disciplinary research. Projects are widely supported by Arts Council Ireland, festivals and local funding bodies, and performances, out reach and research continues to challenge boundaries and expectations in both dance practice and inclusiveness in the arts.
Artistic Director & Founder
Kate Wilson has a background is in visual art and dance. Her practice, based in the north west of Ireland, is trans-disciplinary and collaborative. She is a graduate of the Slade School of Art (BA Hons) and has an MA (Distinction) in Creative Practice for Professional Dance Practitioners from Independent Dance & Trinity Laban, London.
Current research includes the use of online platforms and 360 camera technology with a focus on implications for performers with restricted mobility and embodied approaches to movement and image creation within improvised duet and portrait forms. Wilson’s work as a painter is represented in both civic and private collections in Ireland, UK & Germany. She is also a recipient of a number of awards and major commissions including RHA award of distinction, and commissioned portrait of the writer John McGahern.Her performance works with Undercurrent include, Unearth, Under the Surface, Blackbird and Winter Ground, and recent intergenerational project Magnetise, was shortlisted for LAMA awards. Her ongoing Dance Share initiative at Sligo centre for direct provision continues to receive local and national support.
Co-founder
Isolde Ó'Brolcháin Carmody met Wilson in 2015 at a trans-disciplinary workshop. This meeting and invitation to dance reignited a passion for performance that had been dormant since becoming a wheelchair user some years earlier. Undercurrent company was founded a year later with Isolde as a core member collaborating in many of its performance projects to date.
A theatre and philosophy (MA) graduate Carmody brought to the company many years experience in wide spectrum of movement and text based practices. She is a recipient of national arts awards including Arts and Disability Awards Ireland and local awards for solo work and ensemble works including one woman show Mamó; A Story of Geraldine Plunkett Dillon, directed by Donal O’Kelly.
Carmody is co-founder of Women Independently Living in Leitrim, (WILL) a sub-group of LAPWD for women with and without disabilities in Leitrim and surrounding areas. She is also co-founder of Full Spectrum Disabled LGBTI+ Peer Network, a grass-roots community organisation to support and empower disabled people on the island of Ireland who identify as LGBTI+. She also designs and delivers Web-Spinning, an online writers’ group for disabled adults in the North-West of Ireland supported by Independent Living Movement Ireland.
Assistant Directors & Associate Artists
Gaelin Little is founder of Eleven Farrer House and Compass Dance both of which are based in the UK. She works in the UK and internationally in the fields of dance, choreography, therapy and education and is a practicing dance therapist. Somatic bodywork practices underlie her relationship to performing, making and community facilitation. Her work is influenced by contact improvisation, site-specific instillation, film and creative writing, positioning itself within trans-disciplinary and expanded artistic practice.
Gaelin became a core member of Undercurrent's Magnetise Project in 2019 and has brought invaluable experience and depth of knowledge to the project. Gaelin is assistant director for Undercurrent projects such as Unearth as well as a core performer for the company.
Svenja Buehl works internationally within choreographic and community-based contexts, primarily within movement, film making, and performance. She has an MFA in Creative Practice, having studied at Independent Dance and Trinity Laban. Buehl's work is fueled by an interdisciplinary outlook on practice and collaboration, whilst striving to empower underrepresented and minority groups in the arts. In her work, she explores dialogic processes between the human body and nonhuman matters, which feeds into her facilitative work within schools, care homes and youth groups throughout Ireland and the UK. Svenja has been working with Undercurrent since 2019 both with the Magnetise and Unearth projects and research project Curves of Time.
Charlie Wilson is 13 years old. Charlie loves dance, youth theatre and gymnastics. She has taken part in the Gymnastic Nationals in Dublin for a number of years specialising in acro balance and floor work. In 2019 Charlie was selected as the new young performer for London based aerial company Okham’s Razor for their new tour of This Time. Charlie is in her first year at secondary school and is part of the school GAA football and basketball teams. She also plays the alto saxophone and loves participating in the Sligo Jazz festival summer school. Charlie joined Undercurrent in 2019 as part of the Magnetise Project.
Amélie Frazer is 12 years old and is in 6th class. She has taken part in workshops and camps with Undercurrent and since 2019 as part of the Magnetise Project.
She plays saxophone, guitar and tin whistle. She also enjoys singing and has performed in King house and the Roscommon Art Center. She was part of the video for Brian Farell single « Lola ».
Amélie has a big interest in photography, nature and animals. She also plays Camogie and Basketball.
Grace Murphy is 13 years old.
She has been part of the Magnetise project since 2019, including the nesting programme in 2020. Grace has trained to grade 3 ballet and has participated in many contemporary dance workshops with local creative dance teacher and artist Kate Wilson. She is also part of the local football and basketball team, and in her spare time she loves horse riding.