Age & Opportunity’s Bealtaine Festival recognises two innovative grass roots arts projects through the Bealtaine Hero Award.
We invited applications from individuals and / or organisations who wished to create an exciting new festival event (which may be online, blended or in-person) to be presented during the Bealtaine Festival 2022.
We are delighted to announce the two recipients of the 2022 award: ‘An té a bhíonn suilach bíonn sé scéalach’/ ‘He who walks is a storyteller’ by Gráinne O’Carroll in partnership with Sophie Kasser, Tearmann Éanna, and T57 in Co. Galway, and Musical Milestones by Suzanne Buttimer in partnership with Bramleigh Lodge Nursing Home in Co. Tipperary.
Two awards of €500 will be made to the two successful applicants.
Both events will take place in May 2022, with further details to be made available on bealtaine.ie soon.
We are delighted to recognise the potential and ambition of these two events and look forward to seeing them come to fruition this May for the 2022 Bealtaine Festival.
‘An té a bhíonn suilach bíonn sé scéalach’/ ‘He who walks is a storyteller’: Sophie Kasser and Gráinne O´Carroll will guide two two-hour meetings with members of Tearmann Éanna Community and T57 on Saturday the 7th of May in Connemara and Galway City, focusing on warming up the body’s ability to communicate, articulate and play. Rooted in the idea that movement propels the release of experiences, memories and stories, and elongates elements of youth (like strength, mobility and elasticity), participants be moving with the aim to thaw-out and story-tell.
Born in Dublin and living between Dublin and ´here and there´ Gráinne O´Carroll is a craftswoman of corporeal narration and appreciator of stand out textiles, often dealing with experimental embodiment and storytelling across artforms, from theatre to installation. She combines movement-education and community engagement with collaboration, and devises ways to link and overlap meanings and modes of communication.
Born in Geneva and based in Barcelona, Sophie Kasser is a performer and director, as well as co-founder/managing-director of Centro MOVEO (Centre Physical Theatre, Barcelona). Also a teacher at institutions of performing arts in Barcelona, Paris, London etc. Sophie has been sowing seeds of corporeal expressivity into shows and courses of dance, circus and theatre since 2005.
Musical Milestones: Suzanne Buttimer will work with participants in Bramleigh Lodge Nursing Home to create a unique playlist of songs that will carry them through the milestones in their life. Working alongside a group of musicians, the chosen songs will be performed live with participants, with vision boards of their photographs and memories providing a back drop to the event.
Suzanne Buttimer hails from Carrickfergus. Having studied at UUJ, DIT, TCD and UUC she relocated to Warsaw, Poland in 2006 due to her husband’s work commitments. There she was a Music Specialist at the British School. Suzanne also implemented the inaugural ABRSM examination session in Warsaw along with regular gigs for embassies. On return to Tipperary in 2010 Suzanne undertook her Speech and Drama teaching diploma with Miriam Daly accredited by Royal Victoria College, London. Suzanne’s main interests are Musical Theatre and Music Therapy. The latter demonstrated in her voluntary position as Lead Musical Director for ‘Something to Sing About- global choir for cancer survivors’ from 2013-2016. Suzanne has been involved in numerous shows both on stage, in the pit, conducting and directing.
Check out the full listing of in-house and national partnered events for Bealtaine Festival here.
Find out how to register your own Bealtaine event here.
