Call to Mind
2024
Maiden Voyage present Call to Mind, a dance and live music collaboration which premiered at The Crescent Arts Centre in March 2024 as part of Belfast Children's Festival.
Call to Mind explores themes of memory, perspective and the past’s influence on the present.
Just like events and memories from our own individual and collective past, what unfolds is open to interpretation. Stories are told, secrets emerge. Who knows what is truth and what is fiction?
Performed by a trio of dancers and a trio of live musicians, Call to Mind navigates discordant times and moments in our lives, using movement and sound.
Call to Mind has been created by choreographer Sarah Golding and composer Steve Davis with dancers Gerard Headley, Clara Kerr and Michael McEvoy and musicians Gráinne Meyer and Jamie Thompson.
Call to Mind was supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
ARTIST PROFILES
Sarah Golding
Sarah is a co-founder of the SAY dance company. Work as choreographer or movement director includes Dave Okumu Choir at the Roundhouse; Say Something for NDCWales; Little Women at Park Theatre; Kalena at Pheonix Dance Theatre; The intro for Balletboyz; Blood and Belief for U.Mi-1, London Fashion week 2021; STATE for mapdance 2021; Oh What a Lovely War at Mountview; the conversations with x at Trinity Laban; Primetime at the Royal Court; SAY:AF for Dance Umbrella; Becoming Shades for Chivaree Circus; and Cruise in the West End. As a performer work includes the album for SAY; Commonwealth Games opening ceremony 2022 (as dance captain); The Deluge Lîla Dance; Us for Cathy Waller Company; Shame for bangbangbang group; Teh Internet is Serious Business at the Royal Court; Love_Dances for Adam Russell; TRIPTYCH for Quang Van; and STOMP in the West End and on international tour. Film includes The Marvels and TRANSIT-20.
Steve Davis
Belfast-based drummer Stephen (DAKIZ) Davis mainly plays jazz and improvised music. He is the drummer in Anthony Braxton group ‘The New Standard’, and active in the UK and European improvised/creative music scenes. As well as Braxton he has worked with Mark Ribot, Evan Parker, Ralph Alessi, Kris Davis, Alexander Hawkins, John Taylor, Rufus Reid, Paul Dunmall, Django Bates, Van Morrison, Matthew Bourne and many others. He is a composer and has his own projects published on Babel Label London as well as Intakt records Switzerland. Steve is an assistant lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast.
For the best part of a decade, Davis has been one third of heavyweight UK free-jazz trio, Bourne Davis Kane, alongside pianist Matthew Bourne and double-bassist Dave Kane, releasing several highly regarded CDs including collaborations with veteran British saxophonist Paul Dunmall. He also leads the quartet, Human, featuring Alexander Hawkins, Alex Bonney and Dylan Bates, which released a debut album, Being Human, on Babel in 2013.
Gerard Headley
Gerard, an actor, dancer, and physical theatre maker from Belfast, completed his BA (Hons) Degree at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2020. Since then, he has worked with a variety of companies, including RedLadder Theatre Company, mad dogs dance theatre, Instant Dissidence, and Roisin Whelan Dance. Gerard is passionate about showcasing underrepresented and often political narratives through stripped-back, physicalised storytelling. Currently, he is developing his new solo work HOMO Sapiens funded by Arts Council England. He has previously worked with Maiden Voyage on haiku 2023.
Clara Kerr
Clara is a County Down based Dance Artist who trained at The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, achieving a 1st class BA (Hons) Dance. She has a background in Irish, Ballet and Contemporary Dance and has worked professionally throughout the UK and Ireland since graduating. Recent work includes ‘Line of Life’ an interactive projection and dance piece commissioned by Maiden Voyage Dance and performed as part of the Belfast Children’s Festival, ‘Seen Not Heard’ a collaboration of dance and free verse poetry alongside Cameron Tharma and ‘The Children of Lir’, an Irish fusion piece in collaboration with Denise Catney. Clara has also performed extensively including the most recent ‘House!’ tour with Fidget Feet, a two-month national tour with ‘Fairytale of New York’, and as an ensemble member in Northern Ireland Opera’s ‘La Traviata’. Clara has most recently founded Seen Dance Company, a new energetic dance company whose interests include the modern reworking of traditional Irish tales.
She has previously worked with Maiden Voyage Dance on Match Make in 2020, SCULPT in 2021, Turnabout in 2021 and 2022 and Line of Life 2023.
Michael McEvoy
Michael is a Belfast based dance researcher and maker. Specialising in contemporary dance performance and choreology, Michael has worked across TV, Film, Cruises, Musical Theatre, Opera and most commonly dance theatre.
An Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, Michael graduated in 2019 with a First Class BA (Hons) Degree in contemporary dance and was awarded The Sylvia Bodmer Memorial Fund for exceptional research into Choreology.
Michael is the current choreographic ‘Reveal’ Artist with Prime-cut Productions. A two-year residency program, Belfast 2023-25, to mentor and aid the development of his next work. You may have caught Michaels latest piece ’Our Boys’ in the MAC Belfast as part of Young At Arts Belfast Children’s Festival 2023 or the sharing of his latest work in process “The Gate House’ at the Creative Holywood Festival March 2023. He has previously worked with Maiden Voyage on Match Make in 2020, SCULPT in 2021, Turnabout in 2021 and 2022 and Loch Aber No More 2022.
Upcoming works include VR Film project A Kiss for a Kiss & a new solo work A Dancer for Hire.
Gráinne Meyer
Gráinne is the most recent winner of the “World Music Competition” at Wales International Harp Festival 2023. Drawing from a background in both traditional Irish and concert harp, Gráinne’s music combines both approaches to create a distinctive sound.
As a performer and teacher, Gráinne leads a diverse and busy schedule across Ireland and beyond. Her involvement in the Live Music Now scheme along with her role as the director of the Elver Harp Ensemble and Mind and Music orchestra, highlight her commitment to sharing and developing music with others.
As a composer, Gráinne’s arrangements are regularly performed by both soloists and ensembles, some of which have recently been featured on prominent platforms such as BBC Radio, Classic FM and RTÉ.
Jamie Thompson
Jamie is an acclaimed composer of experimental music, whose work is regularly featured on BBC Radio 3 and The Wire Magazine. Currently working under the name Adjunct Ensemble, his latest project Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy, released on Diatribe Records, was The Guardian’s album of the month in May 2023 (“a disorientating act of resistance”). He is also one half of avant-pop duo Ex-Isles, who recently released their second album Domestic Sacraments. Jamie’s polyglottal approach to music-making has encompassed music for choirs, electroacoustics, club-based music, creative improvisation, installations, music for modern dance, and exploratory jazz-adjacent work.
CREATIVE TEAM
Choreography: Sarah Golding
Original Scores: Steve Davis
Dancers: Gerard Headley, Clara Kerr, Michael McEvoy
Musicians: Steve Davis, Gráinne Meyer, Jamie Thompson
Lighting Design: Ciaran Bagnall
Costume Design: Úna Hickey