On The TownSilhouettes emerged from the dark January night at Café en Seine in Dublin this week to celebrate the launch of Fête de la Danse 2005.
"I want to show the cultural diversity of dance," said Mary Brady, artistic director of the 10-day festival, which will be presented by the Institute for Choreography and Dance in Cork in February.
"Dance is the primary site of identity . . . It's not just about steps. It's about how our bodies and our whole beings interact in a non-verbal but in a very real way," said Brady. Many, she said, "have lost sight of dance as a powerful life form".
Christian Rizzo, one of the celebrated French choreographers who will take part, said his work is about "presenting a laboratory of the imagination". He will work with double-bass player Bruno Chevillon.
"Today, so many things such as communications, politics, try to steal the imagination from the people. But in the theatre, perhaps it's the last place where we don't have anything to sell. We have to find a time together between the audience and the performers," Rizzo added.
"The body is something that is everybody's instrument," said ballet dancer Liadain Herriott, who is currently working as an apprentice with CoisCéim.
Colm Ó Briain, director of the National College of Art and Design, who launched the festival's programme, said "dance is part of the cultural dialogue we have about our sense of ourselves and how we represent ourselves to others . . . Dance has come of age in Ireland".
Among those who came to collect a programme of the festival were Bea Kelleher, of Dublin Fringe Festival; the dancer and assistant director of the College of Dance in Monkstown, Ester Ó Brolcháin; and dance critic Don Smith, who is looking forward to seeing Mathilde Monnier, who, as well as performing, will work with 10 Irish dancers in a residency during the festival.
Fête de la Danse takes place at venues around Cork from Tuesday, February 15th to Friday, February 25th