Following an open call application process the Strollers Network is delighted to announce Roisin Whelan, Artistic Director of Roisin Whelan Dance Company, as the recipient of the PROPEL Programme Award 2021/22.
About Roisin:
Róisín Whelan is a dancer and choreographer based in Carlow. She holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts and Master of Performance (Distinction) from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Before setting up her own company, she performed extensively with Black Box Dance Company (Denmark), Matthew Bourne’s award-winning New Adventures (UK), and Bregenz Festspeile (Austria). Róisín continues to perform in Ireland and abroad as a dancer on stage and on screen and teaches professionally for several dance organisations. As a choreographer, Roisin is creating highly physical and technically demanding work with strong narratives that is accessible to all regardless of their age, gender, or socio-economic background. Recent choreographic work includes The Glasshouse, commissioned by Ballet Ireland; The Parting Glass commissioned by The University of Malta, and Man Down funded by The Arts Council Project Award 2022.
Róisín is the recipient of the inaugural Propel Award, a three year-long artist development and mentorship programme funded by the Strollers Network, Ireland’s largest consortium of Arts Centres and a member of the Northern Ireland Opera Open Studio as an Emerging Choreographer for the 21/22 season. A previous recipient of the Galway Dance Project Residency Award 2023, LD Dance Performance Residency 2021, Backstage Theatre Activate Residency 2020 & 2021, Dance Ireland Regional Residency Awards; Ballet Ireland Emerging Choreographer Award and Arts Council Bursary and Project Awards.