Performed by: Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) Ireland, Temasek Polytechnic
Choreographer: Monika Bieniek Leader: Ger Clancy Presented by: Saint Patrick's Festival
Supported by: Embassy of Ireland
IADT’s item, in association with the theme of “Myths and Legends”, is based on the old Irish Celtic Legend of Balor, a giant Cyclops who could kill people with one glance of his huge eye. Balor was King of the Formians, a race of giants, and lived his life feared by all. Prophecies foretold that he would die at the hands of his grandson Lugh. To try to prevent this, he locked his only daughter up in a cage where he hoped to stop her from becoming pregnant……..
Costumes worn by the performers are constructed from zote foam and fabric, where performers come alive and take on the personality of the costumes. The Celtic style of the costumes is inspired from illustrations from the famous Book of Kells and other similar ancient, world-renowned Irish manuscripts.
Group
The IADT has participated in the St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Ireland for the last 4 years. The participating students are from the model-making course, which is part of the National Film School of Ireland in the IADT. IADT is the only 3rd level institution in Ireland which offers studies in the field of costume design, fabrication and performance for street theatre and parade, and their students tend to feed directly into the professional industry in Ireland and abroad. Experience gained from travelling to Singapore for the Chingay Parade is a “Once in a life time” opportunity for the students and is completely invaluable in broadening the creativity scope of what they create and perform in Ireland.
The group will be holding creative workshops and working with 25 students from Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore to create colourful props and put together an
enchanting item for the parade.
Post-parade Experiences
For IADT student Erin Cullen Petrovic, it was a chance to share a part of Irish culture with Singaporeans and learn more about the cultures from around the world. “It was wonderful participating in the Chingay Parade because it gave me a taste of how festivals and celebrations are done here. In Ireland the festivals are based on our own culture but Chingay is a fusion of a lot of different cultures and I got to learn about all of them.”
Chen Xiao Jun from TP jumped at the chance to participate in this item because she was interested to interact with an overseas performance group. Sharing about her first-time Chingay performing experience, Xiao Jun said, “We had one week to learn the moves of the performance from the Irish students and how to manoeuvre the costumes’ movable parts. It was refreshing to learn about the Irish legend and we all had a good time exchanging stories about our different cultures.”
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