Orla Mc Carthy was born and raised in Co. Longford in Ireland and began her dance training there in the Shawbrook School of Dance at an early age. She pursued a BA in contemporary dance in Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. In 2015, Orla began working as a freelance dance artist based between Germany and the Netherlands. During this time she worked with choreographers including: Iván Pérez, Jianhui Wang, Mor Shani, Connor Schumacher, Gal Fefferman, Adam Weinert and Luke Murphy. She also performed in interdisciplinary works by theatre directors Michiel de Regt, Grzegorz Bral (Song of the Goat Theatre) and Liliane Brakema. In 2018 Orla co-created the multidisciplinary dance project “PERSON A”, with Max Makowski. They presented their work in Dock11, Berlin and VonHotz SommerBox, Luzern. Since September of 2018, Orla worked with Dance Theatre Heidelberg in Germany under the direction of Iván Pérez. During her four years with the company Orla took part in the creation of more than 10 pieces amounting to more than 100 performances. She also worked with guest choreographers Astrid Boons, Yi-wei Lo and Renan Martins. Along with performing in the ensemble, she continued to create her own work including “performing me” a solo for Axier Iriate and two dance films “MIND[e]SCAPE” and “Orla & Sam” created in collaboration with Blitzkickers. Most recently Orla has worked with Meg Stuart in Berlin and Luke Murphy in Ireland. During a residency in Backstage Theatre she created the film “that's my sister.” with her sister and collaborator SISTIR. Orla toured Ireland in 'A Call to You' with Catherine Young Dance in Spring 2023. Her latest film 'Dream Baby Dream, made with the support of the Arts Council Ireland, Culture Ireland, Shawbrook Residential and the Nest, Sligo is currently in edit. Orla is currently working with Arno Schuitemaker on his latest production 'After After'.
Photo by Leon Poulton
Performance Experience:
2024 'After After', Arno Schuitemaker, premiering in 'Juliedans' this July.
2023 ‘A Call to You’, Catherine Young Dance, Backstage Theatre, Longford & a National Tour of Ireland.
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:
2023 Creative Dance Workshops for children at Backstage Theatre, Longford as part of Cruinníu na nÓG.
2022 Creative Dance Workshops during Ren Xue Europe's Qigong retreat in Sweden and Ren Xue's Dutch/German retreat in the Netherlands.
2018 - 2021 Company class and workshops for the public at Dance Theatre Heidelberg. Workshops on behalf of the company at the University for Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), Frankfurt, Germany.
2017 Assistant in the rehearsals of ‘Young Men’, Iván Pérez at the University for Music and Performing Arts, Frankfurt, Germany.
2011 - 2012 Dance teacher and assistant dance teacher at Victoria Walker Dance, Ireland.
Other Experience
2024 recently 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
