MAM has been created by Michael Keegan-Dolan in collaboration with his company, Teaċ Daṁsa.

In the work, layers are revealed surprisingly, like waves on the shore of the far flung Dingle Peninsula, where it was created.

First the brilliant Cormac Begley in an ominous goat head mask, conjuring breath and notes from his faithful concertina. He is the musical shaman in charge of the proceedings. [More]
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This is a much awaited and much heralded new work by Michael Keegan-Dolan – and his mesmerising Teaċ Daṁsa Company.  Based in Ireland, these magic-makers spent six weeks here in Wellington in early 2018  workshopping ideas for a new work in a residency for the Festival. Mám is coproduced by Teaċ Daṁsa, Dublin Theatre Festival, Sadlers Wells London and The New Zealand Festival of the Arts. Here we are a year later, and Mám is the result. There have been performances in Dublin, London and Perth and now this company comes ‘home’ to Wellington.

We enter the dark and muffled space  and onstage is a solitary mythical Ram figure and  a sacrificial child dressed in white lying on a table.   Haze hovers above this symbolic and provocative image and forms a smokey cross above their heads. Random voices call, contorted sounds – the  child sits up and the  crackle of her crisp bag wrapper breaks the darkness.  The mask is lifted to reveal Cormac Begley and his accordion, the sound of traditional Ireland. A curtain unceremoniously pulls back to reveal a judgement line of dark, masked figures sitting on chairs. This is the stuff of challenge and history – of a people- all people. Throughout the evening MAM peels layers of emotion, relationship, energy, aesthetic and literally the stage, as our preconceptions and personal baggage get dismissed and new responses are demanded of and elicited from us.

Masks are removed, body percussion is immediate, the child becomes a central focus conjuring memory, myth and hope. There are challenges on this journey we will share – challenges of culture, relationship, the forbidden, the yearned for, of all families but ultimately Mám  is a work of universal truths. We are Irrevocably drawn into the rhythm, the relationships, the lust, love and rejections of life by an amazing cast of formally clad dancers. The perfection of potential is contained in the child (beautifully manifested by Ellie Poitier-Dolan) who dominates throughout and is ever present. Her relationship evolves with the dancers, her family, and we are reminded constantly that it is mankind that holds the magic to make the world wonderful but also the power to mess it up. Solos, duets, trios and combinations of social interaction cross the space.

The word Mám means a gully between mountains and there are the summits and troughs of all growing to witness. Black and white staging is strong but life is never black and white and there are tensions aplenty as well as consummate  joy. Those magical moments of absolute bliss are captured both in intimate phrases and couplings and in generous unison sequences danced with effortless clarity and precision but totally by individuals travelling together on the great journey of life.

The structure is episodic, underpinned by the heartbeat of Irish melody and then fleshed out by s t a r g a z e, an eclectic virtuoso orchestra collective who are revealed and become immersed into this family that we watch grow round one small girl. The space is framed and held by changing chairs and people. In an evening of sublime dancing by a very special group of dancers there are many standout phrases. Clear in my mind as I write hours later are the limbless fluidity of James O’Hara in the opening solo as he is constantly caught and struggles to find his feet and thus our direction on this amazing journey with Mám; a constantly spinning duet and solo reminiscent of Laura Dean, totally speaking to a world out of control and to those times when we lose ourselves in the turmoil of our lives; the poignant dance and kiss that connects James Southward as he forgives or loves or befriends or?…we are  given time to find our own  answers as his dancing both earths our emotions and sets us free. There is sexuality and romance, rough and tumble and turmoil, an edgy moment when the girls laugh and party. Humour in a Tower of Babel tower and in a series of conversations snatched in a hurry. There is constantly the sound and pulse of Ireland, of a culture and a passionate people who struggle, fight, fall, celebrate, and above all are in this together.          

Mám resonates as a statement on our world and of mankind living on this space – our planet. We are all on that stage and all implicated and as the full house rose applauding and exhausted to its feet and the final peeling of self and space took place – there were smiles and cheers but also tears. This is a powerful work. It is perfect dance. It makes us rejoice and doubt. It provokes. It inspires. We hold our breath and want all to be perfect. Life is not like that. It is what we make it and Mám is what an amazing company have made together.

Thank you to Michael Keegan-Dolin and this incredible family – there are lessons to be learned. As a metaphor for life – this is it. Go.

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