Bio

Ali Clarke is a Bray born and based choreographer and dance artist. Following her Bachelor Degree in Dance Performance from Fontys, in the Netherlands, Ali went on to develop her own company, KNOT Kollektiv. Her work is defined by its interdisciplinary aspect researching the liminal space between the dance and circus worlds with a particular focus on contemporary aerial circus and juggling. With a prolific portfolio of over 11 commissioned works and more than 150 individual performances throughout Europe and Brazil Ali has developed a unique and personal choreographic language which focuses on audience engagement at the heart of creation. Her work has been widely awarded for its innovative participative aspects with awards including the Café Theater Festival Jury Prize for Young Audiences (2018), the Chasse Theater Talent Award (2019), Dance Ireland Launchpad Award (2020), Arts Council Ireland Dance Bursary (2021) and Dance Ireland HATCH Award (2021). Alongside her choreographic work Ali works as a freelance dancer, arts producer and teacher nationally and internationally.

Project

I was selected with my colleagues in CREATION 21/22, a truly unique programme which was created for performing artists at all stages of their careers and across a range of disciplines (dance, theatre, circus, spectacle, performance art, street arts), to develop their practice, network, learn and showcase work. It will include in-person collaboration opportunities in Ireland, as well an international residency in 2022 The project offers artistic development opportunities through mentoring, coaching, residencies and ‘in-progress’ presentation opportunities as part of Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin Dance Festival, National Circus Festival and Danseur Festival. This project is an opportunity to deeply collaborate with artists from various performing art forms and areas of experience. This residency is specifically focussed on performing artists in the East and Southeast region of Ireland, as well as European partners. It will be designed hand in hand with makers from the Theatre, Dance, and Circus/Street Art/Spectacle worlds to ensure it is delivering to the participating artists what they need at this time. The project is flexible and will focuses on creating space to support artists in the ways they currently need.