DANCE Artist Rob Heaslip, is reviving the old cultural tradition of The Strawboys and will take them to Clare, Kerry, and Galway this summer.

Strawboys which is an energetic outdoor performance blurs the lines between traditional and contemporary dance and music and pays homage to the traditions and costumes of the Wren Boys who once paraded through the streets, towns and fields of Ireland.

From July 21 to July 24, pop up performances of Strawboys will take place all over Clare in town centres and rural settings such as village squares, carparks and forests.

Unsuspecting audiences will see a Strawboy enter a location, before being joined by the rest of the cast to perform a highly percussive and visual work where lively Balkan musical vibes match their colour popping costumes.

Strawboys features professional dancers Sophie Hutchinson who is based in Feakle in Clare, Favour Odusola, Aneta Dortová and Salma Ataya. Composers Zoe Katsilerou and Eilon Morris infuse lively Balkan vibes to match the colour popping costumes and woven masks of Scottish Costume Designer Alison Brown.

Rob Heaslip works internationally as a dance artist, choreographer, dancer, movement director and dance teacher. Strawboys is the second work in Rob Heaslip’s trilogy, exploring rituals of death, life and birth amongst the Gaels, the people on the north-western edge of Europe.

Strawboys will be performed in over 50 different community sites and venues in Clare, Kerry and Galway in July and August. Each performance lasts 25 minutes.

Supported by the Arts Council and in partnership with Town Hall Theatre Galway, Galway City Council, Galway County Council, Siamsa Tíre – The National Folk Theatre of Ireland, Kerry County Council, Glór Ennis and Clare County Council.