Personal Information
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Given name: Nada









Surname: Ní Chuirrín









Email: n.nichuirrin@gmail.com









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Your contribution
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Title: Gaeltacht Epistemologies: Exploring the Knowing of Dance at the Intersection of Embodiment and Endangered Language Practice









Format: Project presentation (2)









Main language: English









Abstract:
This paper centres on the performing body as an interpretative tool, utilising traditional dance 
and music performance to explore the intricate symbiosis between embodiment and 
musicality. Responding to Downey’s theorisation of listening as a whole-body act, in which 
movement is considered a crucial element of hearing music (2002: 498-499), and drawing on
a range of interdisciplinary works across Artistic Research, Oral Theory, Ethnochoreology, 
and Choreomusicology, this performance-based theorisation will problematise the perceived
dichotomy between music and dance, purposefully blurring conceptual boundaries between 
the two, and allowing instead a renewed engagement in the multifaceted meanings inherent in 
the Irish-language concept of 'ceol' for Gaeltacht communities of practice. In combining
ethnographic and Artistic Research methods, this reflective performance will combine
theoretical analysis with a focus on performance practices and socio-cultural discourse
(through the medium of Irish) that surround traditional sean-nós dance in the Connemara 
Gaeltacht region. Sean-nós dance practice is further conceptualised as 'composition in 
performance' (Lord 1960) that draws on embodied formulaic structures in response to live 
music performance, and which recombine and regenerate to create a distinctive sense of style, 
either individual or regional, or a blend of both. Through a combination of theory and 
practice, this paper will therefore provide an insight into the dancer’s embodied 
understanding of music and composition, from within the aesthetic conceptual world of 
Connemara sean-nós dance.  












Link to the Exposition :  (https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/4208148/4208149)









Image: https://test.sar2026.ie/system/files/webform/submit_contribution/214/IMG_8427.jpg









Short biographies of the presenter(s):
- Nada Ní Chuirrín is an interdisciplinary PhD researcher and arts practitioner working at the 
  intersection of vernacular dance, Irish traditional music, and Irish-language studies. She 
  completed her undergraduate and MRes degrees at the Department of Music at University 
  College Cork, where she was recipient of the Staf Gebruers Postgraduate Award, CACSSS 
  Postgraduate Excellence Scholarship and the prestigious Quercus Creative and 
  Performing Arts scholarship. She is currently recipient of Maynooth University’s John and 
  Pat Hume doctoral scholarship, where she is pursuing a PhD in Irish-language 
  Artistic Research. She is also a visiting PhD student at the School of English, Media, and 
  Creative Arts at the University of Galway. 










Previous presentations or iterations of the research:
Ní Chuirrín, N., 2025. Blurring Boundaries: A Performance-based Exploration of Embodiment and 
Musicality in Sean-nós dance. Performance paper, inaugural Danijela Kulezic-Wilson Memorial Postgraduate Symposium, Department of Music, UCC. 

Ní Shíocháin, T. and Ní Chuirrín, N.,2025. Dance Dreaming and Musical Techniques of Self: a collaborative exploration of embodiment, musicality, and selfhood in Irish traditional music, song and dance. Research seminar, Drama and Theatre Studies, UG. 














Requirements
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Additional information:
This presentation will comprise a paper presentation with live sean-nós dance performance intertwined throughout.This paper will be carried out bilingually, through the medium of Gaeilge (Irish) and English. 

Note: My proposed submission will take the form of a project presentation, however this work can be adapted to a live performance format should the conference committee deem such a format to be more suitable.   










Spatial and technical requirements :
Equipment:
-Dance space/dance floor
-Access to monitor and projector  
- Chair for potential accompanying musician (to be confirmed). 










Potential risks or ethical concerns:
 Every effort has been made to ensure that this research is carried out to the highest ethical standards. The findings I intend to share as part of this project presentation have stemmed from my current doctoral research at Maynooth University, for which I have received ethical approval from Maynooth University Social Research Ethics committee. Consent has been obtained by all research participants and permission has been sought to share any fieldwork excerpts.  










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