Reviews

Somewhere in the Body - (2022)

“movements often seemed haunted by memories… set to beautifully filmed depictions of light, whether flickering candles or crepuscular landscapes.” The Irish Times

“The abstractions of modern dance are linked to the abstractions of modernist literature… conveying this elusive woman from history in a language she herself might recognise.” Irish Independent

Irish Times Feature ‘Shining a light on the real Lucia Joyce’ - https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/somewhere-in-the-body-shining-a-light-on-the-real-lucia-joyce-1.4871364

3sat TV Germany feature (June 2022) -  https://youtu.be/Yp-0cPES3VE

Feature in RTE Culture - https://www.rte.ie/culture/2022/0427/1294679-dublin-dance-festival-aine-stapleton-on-somewhere-in-the-body/

Horrible Creature - (2020)

“As poetic as it is beguiling” Tages Anzeiger

Full article in Tages Anzeiger - https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/grosses-kino-fuer-die-vergessene-tochter-753277836953

“A stunning visual experience” Film Ireland

Read the full review here - http://filmireland.net/2020/01/15/irish-film-review-horrible-creature/

“Visceral, sensory, vicarious, confusing, disturbing ... See it!” James Joyce Gazette

Medicated Milk – (2016).

“...fuses dazzling dance sequences, radiant underwater cinematography and graphic scenes of nudity and animal butchery to create a distinctive, yet unflinching interpretation on the loss, trauma and marginalization suffered by both Lucia and the director herself…A must see” Film Ireland

“ ..a provocative experimental film...strange and startling” The Irish Examiner

“A choreographic touch makes spare use of speech...The film’s strategy is to summon Lucia through rare first-hand accounts while the camera tracks gestures of scorched skylines and the sea ...Perceptively, Stapleton observes that dancing granted Lucia freedom, and represents her institutionalisation as a tragic shutdown of the body “ Exeunt Magazine

“Áine Stapleton has pushed the boundaries of dance more than once” Murmur Magazine

“A must see” Film Ireland

Recent interview with Danas Magazine in Serbia - https://www.danas.rs/tag/onja-stejplton/

Interview in RTS Magazine in Serbia - http://www.rts.rs/page/magazine/sr/story/411/film-i-tv/3076644/onja-stejplton-zene-su-i-dalje-u-senci-muskaraca.html

Past collaborations:

Fist Pump – multi-media production by RAK (2016).

“Stapleton combines vulnerability and strength – a naked figure adorned only by a sharp glitter.. – for a stark portrayal of an abusive relationship... reflective of women’s experiences navigating a reality so confounding in its unfairness it could be hallucinatory.” Exeunt Magazine

“They aren’t only baring their bodies, they’re baring their scars. Fist Pump is brave, ballsy and unique.” Meg.ie

Lurky! Lurky!- A live edited dance film, film created by Fitzgerald & Stapleton, filmed by Brian Rogers of Chocolate Factory Theatre New York and Chutney films Dublin (2014).

“LURKY! LURKY! is a stark, feral roar. Fitzgerald and Stapleton know what their quarry is and they go straight for the jugular..they’re fearless, set on their course and winning.

Full review: http://totallydublin.ie/theatre/fringe-review-lurky-lurky/

“Naked performers, graphic imagery, a distorted soundtrack. This sometimes disturbing...performance leaves you thinking about the objectified use of women’s bodies far more than any documentary on pornography could do." festivalandgigguide.ie

“..a seance....a surreal scramble of prostrations, incantations, record scratchings, gongs, and much genitalia..F & S become oracles of sorts in the ritualistic chaos created by Djackulate’s soundscape and the lurid tapestries of Ian Cudmore’s live video editing...Their movement is near holy, yet somehow holds a wild humor within it.. recklessly sacrificing themselves to the altar of images constantly projected behind them. The imagery is rips with austere, grotesque beauty, of bodies on floors, and sunlit hair and flesh. " Meg.ie

“their sheer chutzpah stands out, resulting in a show by turns provocative, subversively funny and undeniably memorable." The Irish Times

“from the very second you walk into the theatre, you're thrown off balance, and you should prepare to remain in that state throughout the sixty minute run-time..stylistically is about as cutting edge as modern theatre can get." Entertainment.ie

“militant feminist wing of Irish contemporary dance" Vulgo.ie.

“when Fitzgerald and Stapleton take to the stage their presence and skill reminds us that these are two outstanding artists" Examiner.com

WAGE – Live performance by Fitzgerald & Stapleton (2012).

Time Out New York Critics’ Pick

“Fitzgerald and Stapleton are a dance duo who consistently produce dynamic work" Eithne Shortall, The Sunday Times, 01/09/13

“Presenting themselves as feral creatures, accomplished performers Emma Fitzgerald and Aine Stapleton amble about Project Cube stark naked, sometimes executing synchronised movement, sometimes just hanging out. Far from sensational erotica, the vibe here is somewhere between a life-drawing class and a zoo – you are cordially invited to peer in on the female of the homo sapiens variety. […]this extraordinary meditation on the plight of the female of the homo sapiens…[…] Bravo to Justine, Aine, and Emma – for carving out this vulnerable and immensely powerful new performance territory, restoring the female body to its original value." Vulgo, Deirdre Mulrooney

“Wage’s smooth blend of video, text and movement is at once angry, hilarious, and at times poignant…" M. Seaver, The Irish Times

“With its two mesmerising, central performances, Wage is disarmingly humorous, deeply poignant and definitely not to be missed" Examiner

WAGE is absurd and without narrative, presenting a series of moments that career from the serious and investigative, to the playful, to the unnerving. It generates a sense of discomfort that occasionally resolves itself into humour before ricocheting abruptly into unease again. This is a difficult balance to achieve, yet Fitzgerald and Stapleton manage it, with fierce and single-minded conviction." Irish Theatre Magazine

“a stream of irrational activity that touches deeper, stranger chords than the social commentary" The New Yorker

“This enigmatic duo from Ireland has pleased and perplexed its audiences on recent visits to New York” The New York Times

“A modern dance piece out of this world and into my heart" Gayletter NY

The Smell of Want – Live performance by Fitzgerald & Stapleton (2011). 

Time Out NY Critics’ Pick

“there is a beguiling fluidity and a fascinating tension between memories and experience and the immediacy of the movement” Michael Seaver, The Irish Times, 2011

“Cutting-edge theatre that challenges audiences” The Sunday Times Culture Magazine – Top 30 artists under 30 article

“These smart, sophisticated movers are adept at a fluid physical navigation in which the body can be task-oriented or sexually objectified or whatever is behind Door No. 3.” Claudia LaRocca, New York Times, 2011

“Smell changes the terms once again, with flesh that is neither proud nor wounded but—like a sleeper sensing the lover or cat lying beside her—blurrily conscious of being unconscious. The Smell of Want is eerily, achingly homey. It seems to arise from a slumbering body, with that breath and heat, and light out for the mind.” Apollinaire Scherr, The Village Voice, 2011

“This follow-up to last year’s The Work The Work, shown at the Chocolate Factory, is a darkly comic exploration of the cycle of life and death, time travel, dreams, songs, consumerism and more.” Gia Kourlas, Time Out New York, 2011

“The audience didn’t move for several minutes after the performers had gone; we were getting over that shock – the utter exposure of being offered nakedness through and through" Martha Sherman danceviewtimes NY 2011

“It was a very abstract and intimate experience.Trust me, it sounds crazy, but you'll love it" Gayletter NY, 2011

“Their physical, and psychological exploration of the female psyche is a beautiful thing to watch, stirring up notions of solitude, desperation, and desire. Their speech fragments are honest, intimate, and marvelously peculiar” Christine Hou, The Brooklyn Rail, 2011

The Work The Work - Live performance by Fitzgerald & Stapleton (2010). 

Time Out New York’s critics’ pick

“Bright spots in the experimental performance scene” Gia Kourlas Time Out New York

“a strange and strong enough experience to suggest that the power of art is in its capacity to puzzle rather than to please.” Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 2010

Full review: “an intense, humorous and enigmatic exploration of the female form.” Claudia LaRocca, New York Times, 2011

“The Work, The Work, a sometimes confounding, sometimes brutal dissection of the role of women in contemporary society, that bounded from topics as diverse as economic distress to body hatred.” Culturebot, 2011

“Cutting Edge theatre that Challenges Audiences” – The Sunday Times