Dance grad Q&A with Clara Kerr: ‘LIPA is a really nurturing environment’

Since graduating Clara Kerr has created work for the Arts Council, performed in the West End, set up a dance company and become a company member of Ireland’s national dance company, Luail. 

We caught up with Clara, who graduated in 2019, after Luail finished touring its latest production, Chora to discuss life after LIPA.  

First of all tell us about Luail and Chora? 

Luail is Ireland's first national dance company and is also its first ever fulltime dance company and I’m one of the eight dancers. Chora was a triple bill that toured around Ireland, including the country's largest indoor theatre, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin, which was an unbelievable night!  

The three peices were very different. Invocation, choreographed by Mufutau Yusuf included themes of ritual and ancestory and it was super physical and high energy. Constellations by Liz Roach was gentle, beautiful and almost meditative. Then finally I Contain Multitudes by Guy Nader and Maria Campos which was really physically challenging, involving a lot of throwing and catching and was a very emotional piece to watch. Performing Chora was an amazing experience. 

On the tour you performed with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Did that present new challenges? 

Working with them brought a special life and energy to the pieces and spaces we were performing in. It is a challenge but a fun one. We were lucky to have a few days with them before the tour working on speed, timings, cues for them and cues for us. And the music live always sounds a bit different to the recordings we were working from. Those were the challenges, but to be surrounded by live music and an orchestra was great. A real treat. 

Caillte at the Bombed Out Church, Liverpool, 2019, choreographed by Clara 

Since leaving you've done quite a bit of choreography. Is that a skill you were able to develop at LIPA? 

LIPA is a really nurturing environment for people to try new things and it is where I took my first steps in the choreography competition in my first year. It was a great opportunity to try things out with dancers, and by the time I got to my third year, I made my first ever full-length show with 16 dancers, which is unheard of in the professional world because of limits on money and time. I really do owe my interest in choreography to LIPA, and I’m very grateful for those opportunities.  

Can you tell us about your own company, Seen Dance and its work? 

Once I discovered I had a choreographic voice at LIPA, when I returned home to Northern Ireland I worked on some of my own pieces that were commissioned by the Arts Council and others. This exploration encouraged me to set up Seen Dance Company in 2023. The aim is to captivate audiences through movement with a focus on Irish stories, old and new - looking at identity, Irishness and all it involves. So, myths and legends through to current issues for young people in Belfast and beyond. I’m also blending styles, including traditional Irish and contemporary dance, to create a new, fresh, technically demanding repertoire. 

At your graduation you were awarded the Broadway Dance Center scholarship - what was the most important thing you learnt there? 

I absolutely loved my time at the Broadway Dance Center (BDC). New York is such a class city! The most important things I learnt were adaptability and staying calm under pressure. Every class you do is full to the brim with Broadway dancers, with Rockettes, with people who are touring, so you’re thrown into a professional environment and you have to pick things up quickly. I got to learn from so many different teachers and lean into the versatility LIPA gave me. BDC really nurtured my joy in dance and performance. 

What was the most useful thing you learnt at LIPA? 

I think being versatile, self-sufficient and being able to adapt to your environment. Now I’m part of Luail, every year we’re working with upto seven choreographers who all want different things that place diferent demands on your body and brain. LIPA really taught me to do that not just through the different classes we did but also through the extra curricular activities. Even the writing and studying of context we did has helped me to understand what being an all round performer is.  

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