Join us for a gentle and grounding morning movement class led by dance artist Vivian Brodie Hayes, easing us into the day through somatic exercises, mobility and stretching work, and simple release and walking movement sequences.

This class is free of charge & open to everyone, regardless of experience, advance registration requested. Please bring your own mat - we will have a limited amount of spares.

After class, we invite you to stay for a cup of coffee or tea and an informal conversation with Vivian Brodie Hayes, Southeast Dance Deputy of Luail and SpringMoves Dance Festival Artistic Director and Niamh Mongey, Luail’s Public Engagement Manager. This session – part of Luail’s ‘Touch Points’ conversation series – is a space for open conversation. The aim of the session is to get to know dance communities around the country, hear your thoughts on how dance is currently being presented and perceived and to imagine together what else might be possible for dance in Ireland.

It’s a chance to connect, to hear more about the company, and share ideas.

Date: Tuesday April 22, 2025

Location: VISUAL, Carlow

Schedule:

9:30 – 10:30am: Movement Class
10:30 – 12pm: Touch Points – tea, coffee + conversation

To register: Email Learning Curator Arlene Caffrey on learning@visualcarlow.ie. Places are limited.

Vivian Brodie Hayes is a contemporary dance choreographer whose multidisciplinary work bridges performance, film, arts and health, curation, and education. Originally from California and New York, she has made County Wexford her home for over 20 years. Her work has received support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Dance Ireland, Wexford County Council Arts Department, Artlinks, Culture Ireland, and other funding bodies. Her live and filmed work has been shown indoors, outdoors, in both unusual and traditional performance spaces such as; Smock Alley Theatre, Dance House, Firkin Crane, the National Opera House, Wexford Arts Centre and others.

Vivian founded and became the Artistic Director of SpringMoves Dance Festival in 2019, an international dance festival running annually for the past 6 years in Wexford Town and surrounds, in partnership with the National Opera House, ISACS Network, Wexford Arts Centre, Blackbird Culture Lab, and the Wexford Library, with events in Wexford Town and County on April 26, May 10, May 16 & 17 springmoves.ie

From 2020 to September 2024, Vivian managed the Dance Hub Movement Studio in Wexford Town, a space subsidised by the Wexford Arts Department, dedicated to fostering and supporting dance and movement practices. As the County Wexford Dance Artist in Residence in the National Opera House, funded by the Arts Council and Wexford Arts Department, Vivian developed a programme of dance that ran over two years, in which she made films, devised original performances, launched a contemporary dance program for young dancers, and curated a satellite project for SpringMoves Dance Festival.

Vivian is currently working on a Creative Ireland commission to premiere in 2025, looking at human connection, inspired by traditional Irish dance and music. She is the South East Dance Deputy for Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company, further contributing to the development of dance in the region.