Oona Doherty
Hard to be Soft - A Belfast Prayer

Trailblazing dancer and choreographer Oona Doherty, in collaboration with renowned DJ and composer David Holmes and designer Ciaran Bagnall, presents Hard To Be Soft – A Belfast Prayer. A reflection on their hometown, this four-part dance work is based on the experiences and realities of living in today’s Belfast.

Exploring masculinity, sectarianism, culture, class and sexuality, Doherty abstracts the memories of her youth to create a physical prayer; a celebration of all that we have and an invocation for all that we are missing. This powerful new piece features a unique cast of performers, including nine Hip- Hop dancers from Belfast’s Ajendance Youth Dance Company. A prodigious talent, Doherty has garnered international attention as one of Europe’s most gifted and promising dance artists, most recently winning the Total Theatre Award for Dance at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and receiving rave reviews for her standout performance in Enda Walsh’s Arlington.

“Powerful stuff… Hard to be Soft is a piece that needs to be seen again and again” - The Irish News

“She’s a simply phenomenal performer… a raw, switched-on, fragmented and yet meticulously detailed performance, swift and clear and full of sharp body language underpinned by a blistering, intuitive intelligence.” - *****The Times on 'Hope Hunt and the Ascension Into Lazarus'

“A powerful stage presence…there’s nothing usual about Doherty…This is dance with grit in its veins, with dirt under its fingernails and a violent secret in its heart.” - ****The Scotsman on 'Hope Hunt and the Ascension Into Lazarus'

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