Dance Limerick present the premiere of Trial, a Step Up 2026 production

Dance Limerick present the premiere of Trial, a Step Up 2026 production. Photo: Maurice Gunning

Dance Limerick is delighted to present the premiere of Trial, a Step Up 2026 production by Mufutau Yusuf on Thursday 6 & Friday 7 August

After a resounding audience success last year, with four performances in Limerick and Dublin, Dance Limerick’s flagship professional development programme, Step Up Dance Project, comes back for a 16th edition this summer.

After a careful audition process, every summer, a group of early-career dancers gather in Dance Limerick and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance to experience an in-depth training period with some of the most renowned choreographers and dance artists, teachers and mentors in the country.

The aim of the programme is to help develop and showcase the work of the next generation of Irish dance talent. To date, around 90 dancers have benefited from Step Up, gaining the necessary experience and building vital networks to sustain a professional career in dance. This year’s six-week programme culminates in a series of performances for all audiences in Limerick and beyond to enjoy.

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

Choreographer Mufutau Yusuf will present his newest piece, Trial, created specifically for this group of dancers. The show will premiere at Dance Limerick on Thursday the 6th of August and will run for two days before moving to Dublin, where the cast will offer a studio performance at DanceHouse.

Yusuf and rehearsal director Lucia Kickham have been working with dancers Sarah Flavelle, Áine Kidney, Alison O’Shea, Mayara Pessanha and Jyoti Soni to create a piece that explores femininity, ceremony, community and care as intertwined ways of gathering and relating. A coven of witches gathers for a trial.

They have been summoned to defend themselves, yet no accusation is ever revealed. The crime is absent, forgotten, or perhaps it never existed at all. Still, they proceed, constructing their innocence through testimony, gesture and ritual, creating meaning in the absence of certainty. Audiences are invited into this covenant where care, solidarity and transformation can emerge through the act of coming together in itself.

Performances take place on Thursday 6 & Friday 7 August at Dance Limerick Performance Space and Saturday 8 August at DanceHouse, Dublin. Tickets can be bought at the Dance Limerick website.