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Once again, oft dormant spaces across the city li
ke Meeting House Square, the Wood Quay Amphitheatre and Central Plaza will be brought to ecstatic life deep into the wee hours. As ever, the programme would be far too exhaustive to list in full here. It is the happy circumstance that we simply don’t have the word count to cover everything that excites us this year. So here are just a few selections, but we here would urge readers to parse the full programme online, lest there might be something in particular you’d like to see. Dancing With Strangers: From Palestine to Ireland A dancer stands on the streets of Dublin with outstretched arms and a t-shirt that says “Dance With Me”. Will you accept their invitation?” Dancing With Strangers: From Palestine to Ireland is a guerrilla-style, durational, oneon-one participatory work. During performances, dancers invite audiences to dance with them as they ‘stand in for’ four Palestinian dancers who are unable to be present. This important work is the collaboration between Agour, Just, Khaled and Maryam, Palestinian artists who have been working remotely with Artistic Director, Rita Marcalo [Instant Dissidence], to create dance duets that they would like to perform with the people of Ireland, in a choreographic act of resistance. As they are unable to be present at the performance, they are represented by members of the Irish dance community, acting as ‘body avatars’ for each Palestinian dancer’s role in their respective duets. Through their Irish counterparts, Agour, Just, Khaled and Maryam are asking for their voices to be heard and their bodies to be felt. Meeting House Square Bang Bike Belfast Meeting House Square will play host to an eclectic mix of dance and music performance, from a Queer Set Dancing, live hiphop, DJs and much more. Alexa Moore has been running her Belfastbased Queer Set Dancing class for the past two and a half years, and is bringing it to Dublin for Culture Night 2024, offering a drop-in taster session that is open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Elsewhere on the Meeting House Square programme is the incredible is JyellowL, one of Ireland’s most distinguished independent hip-hop performers, with a sound rooted in rap but fused with afrobeat, dancehall, RnB and soul. Coinciding with the City Sounds event, a Culture Night Late initiative that celebrates Ireland’s growing soundsystem culture. From 9pm until midnight, experience Dublin’s streets in a brand new light with three immersive dancefloors curated by some of the island’s most innovative soundsystem collectives. Each location will offer its own distinct vibe and rhythm, showcasing the rich diversity of Ireland’s electronic music scene. At Central Plaza, witness the raw power of Cork’s Rise Up Soundsystem, an act with a reputation for pushing the boundaries of sound, transforming the plaza into a highenergy haven that is true to the roots of soundsystem culture. Turn the corner to Essex Street, where you will feel the rhythm of Belfast’s Bang Bike, bringing their unique, mobile soundsystem to life, promising a fusion of old-school classics and high octane live performance. Across the bridge, on Capel Street, Dublin’s Interruption will be presenting a line up of skilled Dublin natives that champion a classic techno sound. Meeting House Square will also be reimagined as an open-air dancefloor from nine till midnight, with Culchie Goth (very much the Ronseal of the evenings performers), seamlessly blending their fiddle’s rich, melodic tones with pulsating electronic beats. Local legend Roo Honey Child will then present her new project, DANCE MUSCLE, which promises to be “an energetic tour” through her work. Closing out the evening, BPM Energy Ltd. (a.k.a. “B*tches Play Music”) will take the helm for a two-hour set, featuring DJs Pixieteeth b2b polyp, DJ Egg and Viva Dean for an electronic music event celebrating community and the spirit of playfulness. Wood Quay Amphitheatre Áimee An uncommonly eccentric lineup will celebrate the myriad cultures that make Ireland the beautiful place it has become. With Mariachi San Patricio kicking off the Wood Quay Amphitheatre’s amazing evening of music with the infectious energy of Jalisco. This “moveable fiesta of music, colour and joy” will also be peforming at Meeting House Square later in the evening. A personal highlight for this writer will be the Irland Ornoor Social Club, a Dublin-based Mongolian Ethnic Khuur Band. Pairing the unique timbres of traditional Mongolian instruments, including the Morin Khuur, or Horse-HeadFiddle), Asian harp, with drums and double bass, the band also features Xoomei (traditional Mongolian throat singing), and will be accompainied by a Mongolian National Dancer for an aweinspiring performance. Seisiún Palaistíneach will follow. An event especially comissioned for Culture Night 2024 blending the mournful strains of Irish traditional music with the rich, evocative sounds of Palestinian melodies. Faró members Fergus Cahillane, Róisín Ward Morrow, Ben Strong and Richard Breen, will be joined by Abdullah Al Bayyari, Leen Maarouf and Latif Midoume, and perform a poignant exploration of joy, resilience, and shared human experience that promises not only to entertain, but also to foster understanding and connection between diverse traditions. After having your hearts moved, your bodies may follow with an interactive dance workshop, led by Omar Quatamesh, wherein you will be invited to learn the Dabkeh, the traditional dance of Palestine, performed by Palestinians at a variety of special occasions, 37