ABOUT THE DANCE ARTIST

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Laura Sarah Dowdall is a dance artist passionate about creating performance that is accessible, experiential and permeable to audience interaction and engagement. Laura incorporates text, instant composition, immersive theatre, durational performance and cinematography into contemporary dance work that is site-specific, staged and on film.

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As a socially engaged artist, Laura's practice is rooted in an instinct: to notice what's at risk of being lost or forgotten, and giving it presence through the body. Across three interconnected strands — Access and Inclusion, Climate and Ecology, and Heritage and Culture — her work makes space for people, places and stories that might otherwise go unheard: the world beyond sight, environments under threat, and histories left out of the record.

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Access and Inclusion — Most notably the Running Blind Dance Project (2015–present), an ongoing inclusive dance project with deafblind and blind communities, and Ireland's first fully inclusive dance performance made with and for blind and visually impaired audiences (Rua Red, 2017). Laura is also a trained audio-describer and access artist. Full story on runningblind.ie →

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Climate and Ecology — Creative community projects rooted in sea, park and forest environments, engaging communities across Ireland in climate conversation through dance, movement, eco-somatic practice, and performance. Recent work includes Lios an Uisce (2025), ReRoot (2024) and SeaScores (2024). See more on →

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Heritage and Culture — Laura works as a socially engaged artist through sustained collaborative community practice, giving voice to people, past and present, through oral history and storytelling. Current work includes Outside Our Door, (2026) uncovering the hidden history of Ireland's unknown Magdalene laundry in Dún Laoghaire — one of only ten to remain after Ireland became a Free State, and the only one left unknown — and Luisne, a screendance film capturing a Victorian house and its historical and architectural story at risk of being lost, premiered at the Irish Film Institute as part of Irish Modern Dance Theatre's festival, 2026.

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PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
Laura has performed in theatres, galleries, outdoor spaces, Victorian houses and festivals.

She has worked with international choreographers, ensembles and performance artists across dance and performance since 2012.  Notably, she was mentored by renowned artist Ulay, longtime artistic collaborator of Marina Abramović, at the Ricean School of Dance in Greece (2015).

 

INTERNATIONAL WORK

An international teacher and speaker bridging arts, science, wellbeing, access and inclusion, Laura has presented performances, films, masterclasses,  workshops, collaborative projects, artist talks and trainings in Ireland, USA, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong. She has spoken at global arts and health conferences including: Vision 2022 Global Conference and the Retina International World Congress (2024), and was international guest artist at MOVE ME! Dance Festival, Netherlands (2023).

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PRESENTATION

Laura's work has been presented at festivals, galleries and cultural institutions in Ireland and internationally, developed through a sustained record of residencies, commissions and awards.

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2026

• Outside Our Door — DLR Heritage Week Walking Tour, Dún Laoghaire, supported by Creative Ireland and the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Heritage Grants Scheme

• Luisne — IFI (Irish Film Institute), Irish Modern Dance Theatre Festival

• Arts Council of Ireland Dance Artist Residency Scheme, with The Gate Theatre and Dublin City Council

• Uilinn Dance Studio Residency, West Cork Arts Centre (May), and Laois Arthouse Residency Award, Laois County Council (July–October)

• Create Artist in the Community Award and Arts Council of Ireland Bursary Award

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2025

• Running Blind: Dance for All — Dublin, supported by the Create Project Realisation Award

• Lios an Uisce — Bloomsday Film Festival

• Between — Impinge Festival, Singapore

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2024

• Lios an Uisce, with cellist Yseult Cooper Stockdale — Outdoor Amphitheatre, Blackrock Park, supported by a Heritage Commission

• ReRoot — Barnaslingan Woods, Dublin Mountains, supported by the Nature and Place Commission

• SeaScores — Áras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet, Mayo, and Dún Laoghaire

• Arts Participation Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland

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2023

• Ode to the Sea — Dún Laoghaire Baths, as inaugural Artist in Residence

• Dance Moves Festival, Netherlands, as International Guest Artist (MOVE ME! Festival)

• Tutor, Ireland's first Inclusive Dance Training (UCC / Dance Cork Firkin Crane)

• Create Research Award and Dance Bursary Award, Arts Council of Ireland

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2022

• Six new dance works — Irish Composers Collective Festival

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2021

• Wicklow Dance Residency

• Luisne filmed at Darraghville House, a Victorian building, during the interim stage of it being sold

 

2020

• Embodied Nature, Performance Promenade in the Park in collaboration with Kirkos Ensemble — Biosphere Festival

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2019

• PROX-IMIT — Temple Bar Gallery

• Dance Limerick, supported by the Percolate Residency Award

• Pavilion Theatre Studio Space Award

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2018

• Solo work + performer in Jennifer Walshe's installation — The Model Gallery, Sligo

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2017

• Next Generation Artist Award, Arts Council of Ireland

• Running Blind — Rua Red Performance Space, as Dancer in Residence

• Residency Collaboration & Performance, Venasque, France

• ELAN — Wicklow ScreenDance Festival

• South Dublin County Council Artist Bursary Award

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2016

• KEEP — Submerge Dance Festival, Germany

• Dancer in Residence & performance, Improv Xchange Festival, Berlin

• Opening solo performance, NACHMO (National Choreography Month Boston)

• Residential training with Nancy Stark Smyth, EarthDance, Massachusetts, USA

• Dance Ireland Mentored Residency Award (with Tom Pritchard) and Tyrone Guthrie Centre Residency Award

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2015

• Running Blind — Smock Alley Theatre, Scene + Heard Festival

• The Passing — Amanda Coogan Retrospective, RHA Gallery

• Urban Reflects, Dance Theatre Company, Frankfurt

• Echo Echo Dance Festival, Derry NI

• Impro Xchange Festival, Germany

• Training, Ricean School of Dance, Greece

• Dance Theatre of Ireland's Creating Space Dance Residency

• Create Artist in the Community Award, for the Anne Sullivan Centre for the Deafblind

• Emerging Artist Selection, Stand With Us, Live Collision Festival

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2012–2014

• Performance and collaborations, Berlin