Cork Midsummer review: Ritual shows the power of collaboration
Ritual at Marina Market for Cork Midsummer Festival. Picture: Luca Truffarelli
★★★★☆
The lights gradually lift in parts of the dark warehouse to reveal two banks of percussion instruments and three female dancers. With the music of Cork composer Irene Buckley filling the space, the black-clad protagonists perform at several locations as the audience shuffle around. The muggy evening heat in the venue adds to the swampiness of it all.
Ritual at Cork Midsummer Festival emerged from a group of well-established artists. They include dance company Junk Ensemble’s twin siblings Jessica and Megan Kennedy, visual artists Jesse Jones and Aideen Barry, and percussionist Caitríona Frost.
The dancers ignite and discard matches, adding a whiff of sulphur to the air. In another sequence, they hold threads of wool as they move, gradually creating a complex web.
There’s no obvious narrative here. Are we watching a piece extolling the power of female collaboration, a take on humanity’s primeval evolution, or a commentary on the tricky trajectory faced by the Cork hurling team when Patrick Horgan finally retires? No overthinking required. Just feel it. With the subtle sets also coming into play, this is all about the senses.
By about two-thirds of the way through the 60-minute piece, Buckley’s impressive soundtrack has gone from ethereal and atmospheric to solid electronic dance beats, and the movements of dancers Salma Ataya, Lucia Kickham, and Julie Koenig take on a new strength.
Finally, a giant thurible – the vessel priests use to spread incense smoke during funerals – drops from the roof, matches are struck again to ignite the incense inside, and our final, ultimate ritual is evoked.
Abstract, strange, and murky, the various strands of Ritual have been brought together into something that works brilliantly as an artistic whole. And at a time when the future of the Marina Market is under question, we also see the complex’s potential as unique venue in the city. Overall, a fine first outing for Midsummer Festival.
