Freelance Dance Artist Orla Mc Carthy, began her training in Shawbrook, Ireland, before earning a BA in contemporary dance from Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Working across Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands, she has gained extensive performance experience working in freelance settings with renowned choreographers such as Meg Stuart, Connor Schumacher, Luke Murphy and Catherine Young and she spent four years with Dance Theatre Heidelberg under the direction of Iván Pérez. She is currently touring in ‘After After’ the work of Arno Schuitemaker. Her own work is multidisciplinary in nature, centered around the healing power of dance. She creates immersive experiences where both performers and audiences can explore the physical and spiritual benefits of poetic movement. Some professional highlights have been presenting her work in festivals such as CINEDANS and live work in theatres such as Dock11 Berlin and Theater Zwinger in Heidelberg. Her latest stage work 'I am the machine' was made in collaboration with Nina Hynes and premiered in Dock11 as part of the 'ZEITGEIST IRLAND' program with the support of Culture Ireland. Orla’s work has received recognition with funding from the Arts Council Ireland, Creative Ireland, and internationally renowned residencies from institutions such as O Espaço do Tempo, Portugal, Shawbrook Residential Ireland, Backstage Theatre Ireland and Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. Beyond dancing,Orla has a deep passion for teaching and facilitating. She loves guiding people in connecting with themselves, their bodies, their creative expression, and others. She is also a dedicated practitioner and teacher of Qigong and Yin Yoga, which informs her dance practice, bringing a sense of flow, presence, and energetic awareness into her movement work.

Performance Experience: 

2022 ‘Sliced Horizon’, Meg Stuart, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin. 

2018-2022 Dancer/Performer at the Dance Theatre Heidelberg, Germany. Performed in several works of director Iván Pérez as well as guest choreographers Astrid Boons and Renan Martins.

2018 ‘Transitioning Performance’, Connor Schumacher, Dansateliers, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

2018 ‘ExCaelo’, Luke Murphy, Attic Projects, Cork Midsummer Festival, Ireland.

2018´Fosse/Someone is going to come´, Lilianne Brakema, Stichting Firma Ducks, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

2017 ‘Becoming’, INNE / Iván Pérez, the Netherlands. 

2016-2017 ‘Island/Wyspa’ an interdisciplinary collaboration between: INNE / Iván Pérez and Teatr Pieśń Kozła / Song of the Goat Theatre. Wroclaw, Poland. 

2016 ‘Jerusalem’, Mor Shani, Dansateliers, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

2015-2016 ‘Wachten op de barbaren’ Dance/Theatre piece. Choreographer: Iván Pérez, Director: Michiel de Regt. Korzo Theatre, The Hague and Toneelschuur, Haarlem, the Netherlands.

2015 ‘Seeking Still’, Jianhui Wang, Korzo Theatre, The Hague, the Netherlands.

2014 ‘_going into contact – aspiralinstallation’ a contact improvisation performance, Dieter Heitkamp, Tanzhaus nrw, Dusseldorf and Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany. 

Own Work: 

2024 'Dream Baby Dream', supported by the Arts Countil Ireland, Culture Ireland, Shawbrook Residential and the Nest, Sligo.

2022 ‘that’s my sister.’ a short dance film created with SISTIR and James Lock at Backstage Theatre, Longford. Selected for Wicklow Screendance Laboratory 2023

2022 ‘Orla & Sam’, a short dance film created with film director Anna Bogomolova, BLITZKICKERS. Selected for CINEDANS, Amsterdam 2023. 

2021 ‘MIND[e]SCAPE’, a short dance film created for the ‘Dancer of the Dance Festival of Irish Choreography 2021’ organised by the Irish Modern Dance Theatre.

2019 ‘Performing me’, a solo for the ‘dancers create’ program ‘FREIRAUM’ at Dance Theatre Heidelberg.  

2018 ‘PERSON A’, a multidisciplinary dance project created in collaboration with Max Makowski.  Presented in Dock11, Berlin and VonHotz, SommerBox, Luzern.

Teaching Experience: 

2024 Workshop on behalf of Iván Pérez for the Dance Bachelor Students at Fonty’s Academy, Tilburg, the Netherlands

Other Experience

2025 Certified Deep Tissue and Sports Massage Therapist, at ITM Hand Massage School Amsterdam

2024 qualified  the first level of Ren Xue Qigong Teacher Training.

2022 Speaker and moderator of the talk ‘The Dancer and the Artwork - A Multilayered Relationship’ at the Tanzkongress 2022 in Mainz, Germany.

2021 Search Inside Yourself, Leadership Institute program with Fernando Balsera Pita and Nacor Ibanez. A two day intensive program for building emotional intelligence, mindfulness and leadership skills.

2018 Bachelor’s Thesis: ‘FEEDBACK ON FEEDBACK; a discussion of feedback processes with respect to two models applied to higher level dance education’, HfMDK, Frankfurt, Germany. 

Educational Details: 

University Education: Bachelor for Contemporary and Classical Dance 2012 – 2017 Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (HfMDK),  Frankfurt, Germany. 

2004 - 2012, pre-proffesional training at the Shawbrook School of Dance