Liz Roche Company
LIZ ROCHE COMPANY presented evocative and compelling contemporary dance on Irish and International stages for over 20 years. Established in 1999 (as Rex Levitates Dance Company), Liz Roche Company became one of Ireland’s leading contemporary dance companies, known for its finely wrought and beautifully crafted choreographic style.
Based in Dublin until mid-2024 the company presented the works of choreographer Liz Roche in collaboration with artists, dancers and designers of the highest calibre, performing throughout Ireland and internationally at prestigious venues and festivals including the Baryshnikov Arts Centre New York, South Bank Centre London, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Meet in Beijing Festival and Powerhouse Brisbane. The company is in residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL, and worked in partnership with them to deliver the IntraSpaces programme.
In 2023 the Arts Council announced an open call to establish a new national and all-island dance company. After a competitive selection process, a team led by Liz Roche Company, with foundational strategic partners Maiden Voyage Dance in Belfast and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, was appointed to form the company. Luail-Ireland's National Dance Company was established in 2024 with funding from The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, whose Advancing Dance 2022-2025 Policy called for a national, all-island dance company to create stable careers for dance artists, present ambitious work, revive key repertoire, and strengthen connections across the dance community. For more information please see www.luail.ie
COMPANY WORKS by Liz Roche 1999 – present Yes and Yes Irish Arts Centre, New York and Irish tour - Cork Opera House, Spring Moves Dance Festival and National Opera House Wexford, Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo, Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Dublin Dance Festival Project Arts Centre (2023) Atlas Arts Center, Washington D.C, Topper Theatre at the Mullen Center, Philadelphia, Project Arts Centre (2022) Supported by Culture IrelandDēmos Live show at O'Reilly Theatre as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2021 Winter Edition. Dēmos - Films of separation and togetherness presented online as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2021 Summer Edition. Both works commissioned by The Abbey Theatre and Dublin Dance Festival 2021 in partnership with New Music Dublin and Crash Ensemble.Alternately Terrific and Gentle Online performances with 12 international dance artists 2020The Here Trio Commissioned and co-produced with Maiden Voyage Dance Northern Ireland. Premiere The Mac Belfast with performances at The Marketplace Armagh and The Source Thurles, 2020. Project Arts Centre and L’Arte dello Spettatore Network Internazionale Danza Puglia, Bari, Italy (2022) Supported by Culture IrelandNaher... closer, nearer, sooner Commissioned by and performed at Goethe-Institute Ireland Dublin Fringe 2018 and second run February 2019 for the opening of their newly refurbished building on Merrion Square.I/Thou Commissioned and performed at Cork Opera House 2018, in partnership with Sirius Arts Centre Cobh and supported by Arts Council Making Great Art Work. Presented at Dublin DanceFestival 2019, Lime Tree Theatre Limerick and Roscommon Arts Centre.Pilgrimage Sirius Arts Centre Cobh Cork Midsummer Festival 2018Totems The National Gallery of Ireland July 2017 to mark the opening of their newly refurbished Miltown and Dargan Wings.12 Minute Dances (revival) Cork Opera House and Civic Theatre Tallaght September 2017Wrongheaded Dancebase @ Edinburgh Fringe, Dublin Dance Festival 18, Pavillion Dun Laoghaire, Civic Tallaght, Hawk's Well, Sligo, Tiger Dublin Fringe, Tipperary Dance Platform, TanzmesseDusseldorf, Dance Limerick. Supported by Culture IrelandWrongheaded Responses Installation Tallaght Library 2018Time Over Distance Over Time Dublin Dance Festival, Dance Bites Festival Sydney, Brisbane Powerhouse, Live Collision Festival Dublin. Supported by Culture IrelandEvidence of a Piece That Happened - Time Over Distance Over Time Installation Tipperary Dance Festival 2018, Irish World Academy at UL, Live Collision Project 2016.Bastard Amber at the Abbey Theatre main stage for the 2015 Dublin Dance Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival & Festival Instances Chalon-Sur Saone, France, Irish Tour. Supported by Culture Ireland. Restaged at La Salle College in Singapore in 2017.Neither Either Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queens 2014, Project Arts Centre Dublin and 6 venue cross border tour. Co-production with Maiden Voyage Dance Northern Ireland.Interloper Samuel Beckett Theatre and 6 venue tour of Ireland 2014.Body and Forgetting The Abbey Theatre on the Peacock Stage, DanceXchange Birmingham, Dublin Dance Festival opening performance. Samuel Beckett Theatre Dublin 2012. Supported by Culture IrelandFast Portraits, Solo Portrait, These Two People Edinburgh Fringe Festival at DanceBase, LEAP Liverpool, nrw internationale tanzmesse Dusseldorf, Millenium Forum Derry, Project Arts Centre & National Tour. Supported by Culture IrelandSecondary Sources Baryshnikov Arts Centre New York, Dublin Dance Festival 2010 commission. Supported by Culture IrelandI Must Lie Down Where All The Ladders Start II Festival Internacional de Danza Mexico, XV Maracaibo International Festival, Venezuela, Cuirt Literature Festival,Town Hall Theatre Galway. Supported by Culture Ireland
12 Minute Dances Dublin Fringe Festival SS Michael and John’s Smock Alley. Le Centre Culturel Irlandais (2009) Quintet – Culture Ireland Showcase Baryshnikov Centre NY 2010. Supported by Culture Ireland. Revival 2017 Civic Theatre Tallaght.Movement Research New York residency/ Performance at Judson Memorial Church & APAP showcase Centre for Performance Research Brooklyn, NY. Supported by Culture IrelandShared Material on Dying Dublin Dance Festival 08, DancEUnion South Bank Centre, London, Capital NightsFestival Liverpool, Centre for Performance Research New York APAP, MassachusettsInternational Festival of Art, Holyoke 09, DanceXchange Birmingham. Supported by Culture IrelandUnsung collaboration with Micheal O Suilleabhain Edinburgh Fringe Festival 09 at DanceBase, Kilkenny Arts Festival 09, Townhall Theatre, Haymarket Carlow Eigse Carlow Arts Festival 08. Supported by Culture Ireland.
I Can’t Make It Alone - Project Arts Theatre 2007. National tour February 2008.Cross Purposes & The Same Jane - Dublin Fringe Festival & National Tour (2007)The All Weather Project - Dublin Docklands Festival 2006 & Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris 2007. Supported by Culture IrelandSweet Apollo – Project Cube & National Tour (2006)Catalyst – Meet in Beijing Festival/The China Ireland Cultural Exchange. Commissioned by The National Ballet of China (2004)
Resuscitate - Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College/ International Dance Festival Ireland. (2004)Bread & Circus - Project Arts Centre 2003, TNT Nine Theatres Chaoyang, Beijing 2006.
Their Thoughts Are Thinking Them -The National Gallery of Ireland. Dublin Fringe Festival 02 Larnaca Cyprus 05, Vibrate Festival 05, Meet in Beijing Festival 2004, Harlech, Wales 2003, Mermaid Arts Centre Bray 04.Senses – co - production (2002) with Maiden Voyage Northern Ireland. 6 venue tour - Armagh, Belfast, Downpatrick, Dublin, Roscrea.Trip Down - Festival De La Nouvelle Danse Uzes, France 2001.Over The Rainbow- Diversions Festival, Temple Bar 2001 & St. Patrick’s Festival, 2004.
Blush - Dublin Fringe Festival 2000 commission at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin.The Salt Cycle - Diversions Festival 2000, Temple Bar, Dublin.Interrupted Light - Aerowaves International Platform, Dublin 1999Peeling Venus - Diversions Festival 1999, Temple Bar, Dublin. Cork Midsummer Festival 2000Also commissioned and produced by Liz Roche Company:
Impasse (2023) by Mufutau Yusuf for Dublin Dance Festival Originate Programme and Modes of Capture Symposium 2023.
Middle End Beginning (2021) and Soft Focus (2021) by Lucia Kickham for Modes of Capture Symposium 2021.
Bias 2016 by Katherine O'Malley Dublin Dance Festival, TDP, Dance LimerickSuedehead by Jodi Melnick Irish Museum of Modern Art 2008Six Frames; Memories of Two Women by Rosemary Butcher Project Arts Centre 2005
Film work includes:
Wrongheaded Dir; Mary Wycherley & Liz Roche. Produced with Invisible Thread Films Dur: 9 mins
Dēmos - Films of Separation and Togetherness Dir: José Miguel Jiménez & Liz Roche. Dur: 42 mins
Näher Dir; Alan Gilsenan Produced with Invisible Thread Films. Dur: 12 mins
A Book, A Bible and A Beach Dir: José Miguel Jiménez & Liz Roche. Produced by Liz Roche Company. Supported by Dublin City Council. Dur: 21 mins