Caimin Walsh and Christopher Steenson
Rural Socials
24 April 2025
Rural Socials are a new monthly event at The Dock inviting artists and curators based or working in rural contexts to meet, connect and share their work.
Our next Rural Social will take place on Friday 30 May at 7.30pm. Join Edwina Guckian to hear about her work as an artist and Dance Deputy with Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company. Edwina will talk about her new commission, Sclimpíní, marking the festival of Bealtaine, with mischief, storytelling and dance in collaboration with Mikel Murfi, Ultan O’Brien, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Laoise Kelly, Stephanie Keane, and Becky Ní Éallaithe. This is also an opportunity for local artists and communities to connect and learn more about dance in the region. And we might learn a few steps along the way!
This is a free and relaxed event.
Edwina Guckian hails from outside the village of Drumsna in Co. Leitrim. Coming from a family steeped in the tradition of music and dance, her style is greatly influenced by the style of local music she grew up with across Leitrim and Roscommon. Edwina is the artistic director of Leitrim Dance Project, annually hosting events in the county such as Leitrim Dance Festival and the Effrinagh Crossroads Dance.
In April 2022, Edwina was awarded the Gradam Comaoine TG4 for her outstanding contribution to culture. In 2023, she was selected for the Markievicz Award by the Arts Council and Department of An Taoiseach, and in February 2024, Edwina launched her first book for children called Sparks from the Flagstones – a treasury of Irish Folk Traditions and Calendar Customs.
Luail is Ireland’s National Dance Company, established in 2024 with funding from the Arts Council, with a remit to embody, embed and empower dance across the island of Ireland, and to lead into a future that transforms how we make, know and experience it. The company’s vision is for dance to be known and celebrated by everybody across the island of Ireland.
