✨Other Worlds - An immersive dance and live music performance designed specifically for teenagers with additional needs.

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Get ready for this epic other-worldly adventure as we embark on a quest through curious worlds, transporting us into new dimensions. Courageous characters, intriguing instruments, spectacular sights, scents, and textures weave together to create an unforgettable sensory-rich, theatrical experience. Join us on a music and movement adventure on the way to our final destination… the Cosmic Dance Party, a celebration in our very own utopia!

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We are SO grateful to Riverbank Arts Centre, The Ark Dublin and teenagers & staff in St John of God Special School Dublin & St Marks Special School Newbridge for hosting phases 1 & 2 of development and making this unique 9month project possible.

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Family & Schools shows running 11th - 15th January 2025 at Riverbank Arts Centre. 

Our family shows are part of Riverbank’s First Fortnight 2025 programme.

OTHER WORLDS - CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Dancer: Anderson De Souza - Originally from Brazil and based in Dublin for the past 12 years, Anderson brings over 20 years of experience working with both National and International directors, choreographers, and collaborators in the dance and theatre scene. A versatile and highly skilled performer, choreographer, and movement researcher, he excels in engaging individuals of all ages and abilities, including inclusive work for those with additional and profound needs. Anderson's advanced training in Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Musical, Modern Dance and Dance Theatre makes him a well-rounded and dynamic artist in his field. Artists, venues, and dance and theatre companies Anderson has collaborated with across Ireland and the UK include: Company Philip Connaughton, Liz Roche, Dylan Quinn, Shaun Dunne & Project Arts Centre, Claire O’Reilly, Jess Rowell, Hayley Earlam, THISISPOPBABY & Phillip McMahon, Cork Midsummer 2022, Edinburgh Fringe 2023, Dublin Theatre Festival 2023, Emma Martin with United Fall, Anna Newell, Tara Brandel, Helga Deasy, DYDC, Mariam Ribon, David Bolger, RTE, Karla Holden, Fiona Quilligan, Coisceim Dance Theatre, DTI. Anderson is currently pursuing the MFA in Theatre Producing for the 2024/2025 academic year.

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Dancer: Brian McSweeney - is a dance artist with Down syndrome based in Waterford, Ireland. He has been dancing for over 18 years, initially with WYDmoves, Waterford Youth Arts and then as a founding member of Traces Dance Ensemble, Waterford under the artistic direction of Libby Seward, Jess Rowell and latterly Dee Grant. With Traces, he has featured in the 12th World Down Syndrome Congress in South Africa, performed for the President of Ireland and presented work at Youth Dance Festivals in Waterford, Dublin, Wexford and Birr. Brian went on to work with Jess Rowell during her 3yr dance residency at Draiocht, Blanchardstown (2020-2022) as a co facilitator and performer on various projects which were presented on stage, film and live on RTE News.

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Dancer: Sarah Ryan - Based in Dublin, Sarah has over 10 years of professional experience as a dance performer with a wide range of choreographers, directors and companies from different artistic backgrounds; these include Philip Connaughton, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Liz Roche, Laura Murphy, John O'Brien, Jess Rowell, Opera Theatre Company, Áine Stapleton, Jessie Keenan, Ponydance, Mary Wycherley, Cie Willie Dorner, amongst others. She has toured nationally and internationally with these works. She has also assisted in the creation of numerous new works including work for the Abbey Theatre and Cork Opera House. Sarah is passionate about all things dance! She revels in creating new perspectives for herself in the variety of work she pursues. Her continued work with Jess Rowell is especially important and invigorating work for her.

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Dancer: Mia DiChiaro - is a contemporary dancer, facilitator, and artivist whose work has been supported by the Arts Council, Dance Ireland, and Create. She creates dance projects across Ireland that encourage communities to explore imagination, empathy, and care. She serves as Dance Artist-in-residence at Richmond Barracks (2022-2025), Fatima Groups United (2021-2025), and is Tipperary Dance’s Connects Artist (2022-2025). Originally from New York, she received an interdisciplinary B.A. in 'Performance and Arts Activism’ from NYU and later received her M.A. in ‘Contemporary Dance Performance’ from University of Limerick. Since moving to Ireland in 2015, she has performed works with CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Jess Rowell Dance, InstantDissidence, Selma Daniel Dance, Philippa Donnellan, Colin Gee, and Angie Smalis.

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Musician: Alessandro Zangrando - is an Italy-based musician known for blending acoustic, tribal, and Celtic influences. Over the years, he has developed a unique musical style that combines fingerstyle guitar, laptapping, percussive techniques, and harmonics. In 2024, he worked with visual artist Kristian Mantalvanos on a creative project for his album Éire. The collaboration involved filming immersive content across Ireland and Italy, capturing the raw energy of the album in breathtaking natural landscapes. Alessandro’s collaborations extend to Jess Rowell, a talented dance artist, with whom he worked on Other Worlds, still ongoing, an immersive live music and dance performance for teenagers with additional needs. He has also released six singles and Three EPs (Awake, Aware and Sounds of Mind) as a solo artist plus multiple international collaborations. In 2019, Alessandro embarked on his first European tour with Headtrip Acoustic Project, performing in Germany, Portugal, and Italy. He has also performed at prestigious events like the Issoudun Guitar Festival and collaborated with other artists such as Gustavo Odorico, music producer, which helped him shape his musical expression.

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES ​

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Director: Jess Rowell - is an inclusive dance artist, movement facilitator, and creator of multi-sensory dance theatre with over 14 years of experience across professional and community settings. She is passionate about making dance accessible to diverse audiences, including young people, adults, and artists with intellectual disabilities. From 2020 to 2022, Jess served as Dance Artist in Residence at Draíocht, Blanchardstown, where her work reached audiences on stage, film, and live on RTE News. Her immersive dance show Making Waves toured nationally in 2023 and 2024 with support of the Arts Council touring award, and her upcoming production Other Worlds, a dance & live music show for teenagers with additional needs is supported by the Arts Council YPCE Project Award. Jess has also received a Cruinniú na nÓg commission from Creative Ireland and an Arts Council YPCE Bursary to deepen her inclusive practice. Highlights include presenting at Baboró International Children’s Festival and Young at Art Belfast Children’s Festival, co-creating Voices—an international dance collaboration—and her dance film Between Us There Is…, celebrating a 13-year connection with dancer Brian McSweeney. Her projects emphasise inclusivity, individuality, and creativity, often uniting diverse groups of dancers. Jess has performed with companies such as Anna Newell Theatre Adventures, Dance Theatre of Ireland, and Phoenix Children's Theatre in Berlin.

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Choreography: Jess Rowell in collaboration with the performers

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Producer: Caoimhe Whelan - is a freelance theatre and dance producer, based in Dublin, Ireland. She is an Associate Producer with Field:Arts and producer with both MALAPROP Theatre and Jess Rowell Dance. Most recently, Caoimhe produced a run of HOTHOUSE by Malaprop Theatre at the Irish Arts Centre in New York City, where the production was awarded New York Times Critic's Pick. Other selected Producing credits include amelia by Dee Roycroft (Dublin Theatre Festival 2024), Malaprop Theatre’s HOTHOUSE (Dublin Fringe 2023) and Jess Rowell’s Making Waves (National Tour 2024). Upcoming credits include the world premiere of Other Worlds by Jess Rowell (January 2024) and national tours of Emmet Kirwan and Eoin French’s Accents (Jan - Feb 2025) and Malaprop’s HOTHOUSE (April – June 2025). In 2023 Caoimhe participated in Branar's Meitheal initiative as Emerging Producer in Residence at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge. Previous to this, she lived and worked in Toronto, Canada (2018-2022) where she most recently held the position of People & Operations Manager with Luminato Festival.  Before moving to Canada, Caoimhe worked primarily as a freelance stage manager with theatres and companies in Dublin such as The Gate Theatre, Smock Alley Theatre and Fishamble. She is a graduate of Drama and Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

 

Set & Prop Design: Eugenia Genunchi - is a Stage Designer as well as Model maker based in Dublin.  Her recent work as Stage Design include Amelia by Dee Roycroft The Good Father by Christian O’Reilly directed by Mark Fitzgerald, Eastland by The Collective directed by Anne Bogart and written by Jocelyn Clarke, Making Waves by Jess Rowell, Kitchensinkdrama and Lobsters by the Collective, After by Liv O’Donoghue, Mr.Papini by Felicity and Gays Against the free state by Oisin McKenna. Eugenia has worked closely with Dead Center on their shows as To Be A Machine (Version 2.0) - Props & Set Dressing, To Be a Machine (Version 1.0) - Make-up Effects, Becket’s Room - Puppeteer and Puppetry Creation, Hamnet - Assistant Stage Manager, Chekhov's First Play - Set Technician also touring nationally and internationally with the company. She’s also part of the ARTFX Studio team working as an associate designer. Eugenia works in a variety of artistic ways, tasks involve sculpting, props creation, scenic art and set construction. Similarly she has worked on films such as Foundation, Disenchanted and The Man Who Invented Christmas as a Model Maker. Eugenia is a graduate of Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology with a first class honours degree in Model making, Design and Special Effects.

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Lighting Design: Zia Bergin-Holly - designs lighting and sets for theatre, dance, opera and live music events. She is an award-winning designer who works internationally. To see other examples of Zia's work please check out her website <www.ziaholly.com>.Other Lighting Design work includes: Grace (Graffiti Theatre and Once Off Productions); GAMMY (Laura Sheeran); Prickly (DLR Mill Theatre); The Loved Ones (Gate Theatre and Rough Magic); Freefalling, Solar Bones, Tonic, Cleft, Melt, Northern Star (Rough Magic); What is Not Ours to Carry (Ali Clarke Dance); The Teddy Bears’ Picnic, They Called Her Vivaldi (Theatre Lovett); Accents (Project Arts Centre and Kate Ferris); The Border Game (Prime Cut & Lyric Theater Belfast); Skin Hunger, User Not Found (Dante Or Die); Two (Hull Truck); Meat (Theatre503); Flights (One Duck Theatre); Promises Promises (Centrál Színház, Budapest); Top Hat (Silver Blue Entertainment); Bread Not Profits (Guna Nua); Apologia, The Lion in Winter (English Theatre Frankfurt); Vespertilio (Fight and Hope); The Bystander (Junk Ensemble); Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune (Northern Stage); Annie (Cork Opera House); Romeo and Juliet (Ballet Ireland); The Ladykillers (Lyric Theatre Belfast); The Nest (Lyric Theatre Belfast & Young Vic Theatre) and On The Wire (Wildebeest Theatre).

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Sound Design & Composition: Tom Lane - Tom is a Dublin-based composer. He works frequently to create new music for dance, theatre and opera productions as well as new scores for instrumental and vocal ensembles. Previous dance collaborators include Marc Brew, Hannes Langolf, John Scott, Morgan Runacre-Temple, Luke Murphy, Emma Martin, Junk Ensemble, Jessie Keenan, Liv O’Donoghue, and Ludovic Ondiviela. In 2023 his new piece Nocturne was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted by Gavin Maloney. Tom has previously been commissioned to write new scores for the Picorlino Ensemble, the Banbha Quartet, Cantairí Óga Átha Cliath, Cork Opera House, John Scott Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Northern Ireland Opera, Cantairí Avondale, The Abbey Theatre, Branar Theatre, Kirkos Ensemble, Pipeworks Organ Festival, The Globe Theatre, The Almeida Theatre, and The Ark Theatre.​

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Live musical arrangements & Performance: Alessandro Zangrando - See cast biographies

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Costume Design: Ciara Fleming - Ciara is a director and costume designer, and in 2023 was the first Resident Assistant Director at the Gate Theatre Dublin. Ciara was a 2021 recipient of the Arts Council Next Generation award, to advance her work on the intersections between directing and design. Ciara has participated in the Dublin Theatre Festival programme Next Stage, and in the Fast Forward festival for young European stage directors, collaborating with emerging directors from across Europe, furthering her investigation of design-led theatre practice. Her writing on Music in Irish Theatre is published in the Palgrave Handbook for Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance. Ciara has also taught youth drama, and at Trinity College Dublin, modules on design in performance. Some recent credits include: A Lady of Paris (Water Feature Films), After Life (Lir Academy short courses) Grey Matter, Polar Bear and Penguin (Paul Curley and Draiocht Theatre), Peter Pan, Fun Home, The Price, New Electric Ballroom (Gate Theatre) From a Low and Quiet Sea (GIAF), Christian and Cosmo (CoisCeim and Wildfire Films), The Lieutenant of Innismore (Gaiety Productions), West Side Story, In Concert (Bord Gais Energy Theatre), Theatre For One (and a little one) (Landmark Productions), Thirst and other bits of Flann (Peacock Theatre) The Sleepwalkers (Pan Pan and DYT), Eliza’s Adven-tures in the Uncanny Valley (Pan Pan), and Unwoman Part III (Dublin Fringe Festival)​

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Stage Manager: Méabh Crowe - is a graduate of the Bachelor of Stage Management and Technical Theatre degree from the LIR Academy, where she specialised in Stage Management and Prop-Making. She has worked as the Stage Manager on various productions such as Landmark/Octopus Theatrical's Theatre For One: This Ireland, Livin’ Dred’s Danti-Dan and The Whispering Chair, with Jess Rowell Dance for Making Waves and Other Worlds , and with Paul Curley for Polar Bear & Penguin; as Assistant Stage Manager on productions such as Livin’ Dred’s Tarry Flynn, Druid Theatre Company’s National Tours of The Cavalcaders, The Last Return and The House, Gate Theatre's run of The Price by Arthur Miller, and Everything Falls by Brokentalkers and Shaun Dunne.

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Assistant Stage Manager: Dragana Stevanic - is a graduate of Stage Management and Technical Theatre at The Lir Academy, and she holds a BA in Applied Photography and Design. Her recent work includes The Borrowers (Gate theatre), Hothouse (Malaprop) and Amelia (Dee Roycroft, Dublin Theatre Festival). Her upcoming projects are with Irish National Opera and Once Off Productions.

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Production Manager: Olivia Drennan - is a Dublin based Production Manager. She studied at the Lir Academy, graduating with a First Class Honours Bachelor's Degree in Stage Management and Technical Theatre in 2019. As well as ‘Other Worlds’, she has worked with a variety of companies in multiple roles in the sector, with previous credits in Production Management including FoldableTheatre’s ‘Made from Paper’ (Mermaid Arts Centre), David Horan’s ‘Sandpaper on Sunburn’ (Smock Alley, The Civic), Jose miguel Jimenez’s Exhibition and documentary ‘AMANDA’ (The Complex), Richard Walsh’s ‘Drainage Scheme’ (The Peacock; Abbey Theatre), Chaos Factory’s ‘Hotel Happiness’ (The Cube; Projects Arts Centre), as well as Production Manager and PM Tutor in the Lir Academy for their 2024 shows  ‘Arcadia’ and ‘My Sister in This House’, and Production Manager for the First Fortnight Festival. She has also worked extensively as a Stage Manager, both nationally and internationally with productions including ‘Good Sex’, ‘Beckett’s Room’, ‘Chekhov's First Play’ and ‘To Be a Machine 2.0’ (Dead Centre), ‘WAKE’, ‘Conversations After Sex’ and ‘Haunted’ (THISISPOPBABY), ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ (Collapsing horse/Dan Colley Productions), ‘Making a Mark’ (Run Of the Mill/Talking Shop) and ‘Privilege the Musical’ (Louise White) as well as Jess Rowell’s 2023 development show ‘Spark’.​

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Chief LX: Suzie Cummins

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Mentor and Artist Support: Libby Seward - Libby is a movement director, Feldenkrais practitioner, dance artist, choreographer, collaborator, mentor and the movement tutor at the Gaiety School of Acting. She offers masterclasses rooted in a somatic approach to movement for performers and artists from all disciplines. As a mentor and creative consultant her depth of knowledge is valued by both established and emerging artists. As the Arts Council appointed Dance Artist in Residence in Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford (2010 to 2015) she created a significant body of original dance theatre productions promoting dance as unique, vital and accessible.  She has extensive movement directing credits for Opera and Theatre and delights in collaborative exchanges with artists from a broad spectrum of disciplines. Her enthusiasm, sensitivity and skill as a facilitator motivate both professionals and non-professionals. She has a wealth of experience in working with a broad range of organisations including children, older people and people with disabilities. As a community arts practitioner she has delivered many inspiring and thought provoking projects. Her expertise in working with people with Down syndrome led to the establishment of the nationally recognised TRACES Dance Ensemble. Libby is delighted to work with Jess Rowell and to support her pioneering and essential approach to making sensory theatre.

 

​Poster & programme design: Sarah Moloney Design​

This project is supported by @artscouncilireland YPCE project award with additional support provided by @riverbankartscentreie and @thearkdublin