About the Project

The project began with an open call for children aged 7-12 years, and their grown ups, to take part in an exciting new project with dancer and gymnast Karen Aguiar. Ten children were choosen to take part: Alice, Anastasia, Cormac, Éabha, Eric, Gaia, Giorgia, Leon, Natalia, Siún.

They attended a series of workshops led by Karen. Each week the children learned basic gymnastics moves and developed their skills. They made their own rhythmic gymnastics ribbons, an important piece of equipment in the sport.

The short film, Rhythm & Ribbons, the Art of Movement & Rhythmic Gymnastics, was created with filmmaker Simon Fitzpatrick of KILIG Productions and musician Ryan McCann.

Rhythm & Ribbons is part of our Creative Residency in Art and Sport, a Creative Residency made by Dublin City Council Culture Company in partnership with the Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership. The Creative Residency programme creates partnerships to try out ideas, test new approaches and add to the cultural story of the city, encouraging makers and experts to pilot new partnerships with organisations.

Five artists were selected in 2021 to take part in this project and work with sports clubs, with its members and the wider club community. The selected artists are Chinedum Muotto who works in poetry, visual, performance and theatre; visual artist, facilitator and theatre maker Áine O’Hara; visual artist Sharon Kelly; actor, writer and theatre-maker Timmy Creed; and Karen Aguiar who works through dance and movement.

About the Artist

Karen Aguiar is a mixed-race migrant woman, journalist and socially engaged artist. Her practice is rooted in the concept of intersectionality. Growing up in Brazil, she was always inspired to create and work towards a better reality for herself and those around her. She gained a sports club scholarship at 9 years old when in primary school. Through hard work representing her home city around the country as a rhythmic gymnast, she developed confidence, leadership, teamwork and creativity. It also helped her to adapt, communicate and connect in many different environments and people. Being a native of Brazil and soon to be a citizen of Ireland, it has cemented her belief in the importance of celebrating migration, individual and collective cultures.

Body movement has always been Karen's passion as she sees dance and music as common points where different cultures can meet; powerful ways of getting people together to create connections and embody collective knowledge-making practices. Initially, she found it very difficult to find places to dance certain styles in Ireland outside of the nightlife scene, and when she found some, the sessions were scarce and poorly attended. The variety of classes being taught was limited, and there was little connection between the different communities. Inspired by this, in 2018, Karen founded ‘Go Dance for Change’, a transcultural platform of dancers that provides community participation opportunities to engage people with different cultures, connect and enjoy inclusive, healthier and multiform spaces in Ireland.

She is currently exploring the connections and balance between people, art and the environment through permaculture and agriculture systems based on nature patterns at Wicklow.Farm. Karen is also a production manager at Top8StreetDanceBattle founded by artist Tobi Omoteso, performer artist at art pieces by new media artist Elaine Hoey and at Breaking Cover collective, lead by artist Paola Catizone.