For Ever Love: Video piece with Laura Sheeran

Yesterday was spent helping Laura Sheeran finish the edits on our video collaboration for 'For Ever Love', the single from her upcoming album, What the World Knows, due for release on good Friday, 6th April. We shot the video a few months ago in the Sugar Club, Dublin (Thanks to Oisín!) which I previous posted about here. As previously blogged: "For Ever Love was originally featured in 'Paperdolls' as my solo music for aerial silks, complementing the feminine and sexy qualities of the fabric". Featuring the glittery visuals of Susan Walsh and Jacinta Jardine and also the costume made by Jacinta Jardine for the PaperDolls production, we also incorporated footage from the live show filmed by Bob Gallagher in the Complex during our run of "Paperdolls" at ABSOLUT Fringe 2011. The result is a spectacular culmination of an ongoing cross-disciplinary collaboration, the documentation of a previously live event, the creation of something new from that initial production and a collection of really precious personal memories of a wonderful experience and time in my life. I hope you enjoy it too!

Filmed by

Murray Cummings

Conor McCague

My friend and fellow collaborator Donal Foreman

Live footage by Bob Gallagher

The single, which originally featured in PaperDolls show last September, is now available for free download:

Laura Sheeran - Forever Love (FREE download) by L A U R A S H E E R A N

For Ever Love: A collaboration.

I love working with people who fulfill their intentions and musician Laura Sheeran is one such person - an absolute creative dynamo who follows her creative inclinations through to the end. We were shooting a video for Laura's single 'For Ever Love' from her upcoming album What the World Knows. For Ever Love was originally featured in 'Paperdolls' as my solo music for aerial silks, complementing the feminine and sexy qualities of the fabric. We spent Thursday shooting elements of my aerial routine, incorporating the visuals by artists Susan Walsh and Jacinta Jardine which were created for my character in the 'Paperdolls' show. Here are some pictures of our work, with a clip of Laura's track below (Many thanks to Oisín Davis and the staff of the Sugar Club, Conor McCague, Murray Cummings, Donal Foreman, Jack and Erin who participated in different ways to the day's production!) Video coming soon:

Photos by Laura Sheeran

Forever Love /// preview by L A U R A S H E E R A N

PaperDolls Process III.

PaperDolls: A storm is fast approaching.

Paper Dolls (Taster) by
L A U R A S H E E R A N

Lighting meeting with PaperDolls, Noelle and Max!

Costume discussions with Jacinta Jardine, costumier extraordinaire!
Jacinta is also collaborating on our visuals with Susan Walsh
(see below).
You can see more of Jacinta's incredible work here.

Stormy skies brew outside the stormy activity inside the Complex!

Working away, our team of 20+ people begin constructing the maze!

And testing lights...

The bones of Nicky Teegan's wall smashing installation! Love.
http://nickyjeanteegan.wordpress.com/

Elaine moving some lights in danger of being kicked!

Nicky mapping and planning.

The Complex, populated by the 'Paperdolls'!
The Maze starting to come together...

Run through after run through, embracing the chaos...

Emily, Karen and Niamh doll working hard and building muscle!

Some scary scary visuals from awesome artists Susan Walsh and Jacinta Jardine! Drama! Panic!
Read more about some of Susan's fascinating work here and Jacinta's here.

Special thanks to our maze construction volunteers: Matty McMahon, Erin Hermoza, Stephen Jack, Jonas Wall, Declan Kelly and Tara Barden and the others who's names I didn't catch your work is MUCH appreciated!

On Sunday, PaperDolls had a brief rehearsal in the Back Loft studios - yet another venue now officially riggable! Look out for classes here in the near future :)

Niamh and Elaine run through a scene...

'Paperdolls' by PaperDolls
Music by Laura Sheeran
The Complex, Smithfield
Preview, Wednesday 14th
Opens Thursday 15th - Monday 19th
8pm - 9pm
BUY TICKETS HERE

PaperDolls are GO!

Want to know why I haven't been around here recently?

PaperDolls are GO!

ABSOLUTFringe is launching tonight and we are officially announcing our new show, the self-titled 'Paperdolls'! We are also launching our Fund It campaign! And our new website! I'm so excited! We teamed up with the young Will Eames for our Fringe photo shoot, with glorious results!

Want to know more about our new show?

Bob Gallagher helped us put together an amazing promo video:

You can be a patron of my biggest and most exciting project yet here:

There are lots of cool rewards to be had!

And check out our new website!

www.paperdollsperformance.com

Thanks to Paul for all the help setting this up.

MORE ABOUT PAPERDOLLS

IN THE BEGINNING...

It all started when four young ladies gathered to discuss a mutual problem: they wanted to fly but had nowhere to do it in their city. Their driving passion was aerial – performing with airborne circus equipment like trapeze, hoop, rope and silks. After years of ad-hoc aerial training they had run out of patience and so began a search for a space to develop their aerial craft. As fate would have it, they soon found their performance home - the Complex, a city-center venue that was the answer to their prayers. From vastly diverse backgrounds, the Dolls found the creative chemistry between them urgently needed an outlet. They had met each other for a reason, to realise their childhood imaginings of wild adventures, mystifying spectacles and immensely invigorating happenings.

IN THE NOW...

The PaperDolls know the talent that exists in the city of Dublin and have immersed themselves in the hidden creative secrets that a city like this cultivates. Borrowing from their past lives as visual artists, musicians, circus kids, cabaret performers, yogis, carpenters and writers, PaperDolls incorporate a host of youthful Irish talent in their creative conquests. With the success of their inaugural show at Body and Soul festival agitating the embers, PaperDolls are currently developing a most ambitious project for ABSOLUT Fringe 2011 and are extremely excited about it.

The Dolls are working with musician Laura Sheeran to develop an original and integrative score, Ambisonics technician Michael Kearns to create a multi-directional, immersive audio experience and artist Susan Walsh on visual and lighting design. We have a large team of set designers and installation artists designing and constructing a labyrinthine stage set inside the Complex, with members of Lace and Wine creating the sights and sounds waiting to be discovered in the passages of the paper maze.

IN THE FUTURE...

We are determined that Dublin will become a place where artists and performers can train in aerial and go on to stage high quality theatrical productions. We aspire to contribute to the small network of aerial practitioners in Ireland, to make aerial an accessible activity for both professional and public participants. We want to help make Dublin a place that cultivates artists and performers, to help create an environment which supports the development of new work in the city and see our work flourish here.

PaperDolls are Emily Aoibheann, Elaine McCague, Karen Anderson and Niamh Creely.

A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED US GET THIS FAR, in particular for your recent help: Jon, Bob, Paul, Alex, Kat, Laura, Mick, Mam.

Lust of Pig and the Fresh Blood

Late night blog trawling when I discover this picture I took of Laura (Sheeran) trying on the Ghetto-bling vestment mentioned here. See her distracting tumblr here and awesome horror blog here. Laura is launching her debut album Lust of Pig and the Fresh Blood on April Fools, the first day of the month. She is such a brilliant, complex musician, an industrious, artistic dynamo. Can't wait to see the record in the flesh!

Music for the Deep Woods: A Collaboration.

This is Laura Sheeran's debut EP Music for the Deep Woods which can be downloaded here. Laura is a a creative powerhouse. She is a visual spectacle, an aural wonder, a photographic genius, a siren, an hallucination, a brilliant child! I love her for her openness and her attitudes of abundance and creative exchange. Her work stems from a place of absolute wonder and imagination - she is as abundant in her production as she is inspirational to those who are priviledged to be connected to her in friendship and collaboration.

And I was proud collaborator on Laura's first release, writing lyrics for two tracks, 'Lupine Rot' and 'Under Ice'. There is definitely an Angela Carter sycronicity between the imagery Laura creates around her and the sound she so tenderly and vigorously cultivates. I think I have tapped into that engery in the following poems. I am including the full transcript of the lyrics here, in their original form:

Under Ice
By Emily Aoibheann

It's hotter than you think in here!
It's hotter than you think,
under ice.
It slaps of cold and stings of heat –
"I'm burning, I'm buring under here!
I am buring! I'm on fire!"

I am strangled and I float,
Elated and bereft.
The sufocation makes me weep, seeping –
"I'm crying can't you see
I'm dead, I'm dead!"

Tears stream and freeze,
My liquid grave is made of tears –
My eyes, the water, they are one,
I can see for centuries!

My heart,
It is red red red,
My breast,
It's bursting.
My lips,
Are red red
My tongue…

Is red –
Binded in the icy tomb
Swimming in the coldest womb, my hollow mother –

Pushes me down
it pleases me
You show me you are ugly,
You are coming to kiss me!

You touch my insides, outside.
You tickle and stab.
Trickle trickle –

I sink.


Lupine Rot
By Emily Aoibheann

my friend's lover looks like a wolf
he has a black beard and green eyes
his beard curls round like a wrought iron stairs
and wraps her fingers with black rings.

She cries and tears do dot his cheeks
A smile across his lupine face
And eyes that cast a blinding spell
They bring her to her knees again

Laura posted this on her savage blog a few days ago.