Colmcille

Colmcille, the hour-long dance piece which resulted from the choreographer's participation in the "Righting Dance" research and development programme run by the Institute of Choreography and Dance at Cork's Firkin Crane, was performed on Monday at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght.

Adrienne Brown's best work to date, it portrays the life of the eponymous sixth-century Irish saint through his memories as an old man. Along the way, it evokes his childhood, his religious life and his exile to Scotland for giving way to violence when condemned for infringing the copyright of one of his beloved books.

Now lyrical, now dramatic, the images overlap and merge, beautifully realised by all seven dancers, especially Ella Clarke in her duets with Karl Sullivan as Colmcille.

The mimed disputations across the refectory table reminded me of those around Kurt Joos's Green Table, though elsewhere there was no shortage of leaps, spins and lifts. Patrick Murray's sets are charming, with clever touches such as the perspex refectory chairs.

His unisex costumes are less successful, the see-through skirts being unflattering to the women. Paul Denby's lighting is most effective, especially the suggestion of the sea during Colmcille's flight from Ireland.

Oddly, the programme does not attribute the music, which contributed greatly to the piece, as did the natural sounds of birdsong and waves.

Direction was by Kim Brandstrup, who was Brown's mentor at the development stage. A fine piece.

The performance will be repeated tomorrow at the Backstage Theatre, Longford, and on Sunday at the BT Studio, Waterfront Hall, Belfast.