Ailish Claffey

Ailish Claffey is a freelance Dance Artist based in Kildare, Ireland. Her practice is concerned with agency within an embodied sensorial practice. The interconnectedness of nature, consciousness and relationship lie at the heart of her investigative practice. Claffey creates work with a desire to bring audiences into an embodied relationship with themselves and the natural world. In a move away from creating written work, (kindly supported by The Arts Council, Dance Bursary Award 2021) Claffey’s practice centres on improvisation, nature and the use of fluid scores.

Meaningful work and collaborations include work with Joan Davis exploring improvisional and site-responsive movement practices as part of Essence23 – Garden as Gallery at Gorsehill, Greystones | creative facilitation with Berlin based Canadian Dance Artist, Shannon Cooney | fruitful artistic dialogue & collaboration with Dr Glenna Batson. Claffey continues her exploration of improvisation & live performance as part of the S.A.Y Collective, deepening methodologies for inclusive, community-driven dance practices. She is a contributing teacher on Keep On Dancing! KODA, a European initiative exchanging methodologies for teaching contemporary dance to people aged 50+, culminating in workshops at ImPulsTanz, Vienna 2024.

Claffey holds a Specialist Diploma in Choreological Studies from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, UK. She has worked with diverse groups within the community for over two decades designing, delivering and developing inclusive creative practice and specialising in Dance for Health. 

Her film The Dance Back Home made in collaboration with visual artist Deirdre Grenfield and the National Centre for Arts & Health received a Certificate of Excellence at the HSE Awards 2018 and her collaborative paper Dance Artist and Physiotherapist Collaboration in Stroke Rehabilitation was published in Age and Ageing journal 48 (Supplement_3) September 2019. Dance Bualadh Bos is a live interactive dance performance with collaborator Philippa Donnellan was created with and performed for older-age communities in Kildare. Supported by Kildare County Council’s Creative Ireland programme and an artsanshealth.ie Documentation Bursary Award 2022 funded by the HSE and The Arts Council.

Claffey is a recipient of many awards and residencies both nationally and internationally. Her work is kindly supported by Dance Ireland, The Arts Council, Ireland, Kildare Co. Council, Creative Ireland, RUA RED South Dublin Arts Centre, Riverbank Arts Centre, artsandhealth.ie, Galway Dance, South Dublin Co. Council, Dublin County Council, The Meath Foundation, The National Centre for Arts and Health, Culture Ireland, Shawbrook Dance Centre, Fishamble: The New Play Company, Ten Gates Dancing (Canada), The Candy Factory (Pennsylvania), among others.

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