John Scott

John Scott has been a presence – although often unnoticed – on Ireland’s dance scene for some years now. Also often misunderstood, his rattlebag of literary and physical influences has given birth to a vocabulary and form unlike those around him. Small in scale, but large in vision, his recent creations unapologetically mix Ireland’s slickest freelance dancers with “non-dancers,” particularly a group from the Centre for Victims of Torture.

Originally performing on their own in “The White Piece,” the centre’s clients have been integrated into the company’s new repertory works, such as “Rhythmic Space,” created in a disused chapel in a small town in Ireland. Site is important to him and at last year’s International Dance Festival Ireland audiences of 25 people wandered around an art gallery in Dublin’s Temple Bar witnessing “Close Ups – I Don’t Want to Die Yet.” Whenever he does go into the theatre, chances are Scott will dismantle any conventions that are at hand. He was one of four choreographers commissioned to produce films by state broadcaster RTÉ last year, and he framed his dancers in an art gallery, rather than using other predictably unpredictable spaces, like football ...