German Folk Ensemble Ihna welcomed Scoil Uí Ruairc and a group of musicians from Ceol na Coille to Erlangen in July to take part in a youth project, Youth Cross Culture. The group visited and performed in Erlangen, Munich and Nuremberg, as well as facilitating a number of workshops in music, song and dance and taking part in numerous other workshops, among them, acrobatics, modern dance, graffiti, Hip-hop and Russian Folk Dance.

A well as their hosts Ihna, the group was joined in Erlangen by a Russian Folk Dance group Vladimirez and a troupe of hip-hop dancers from Rennes, France. The week’s activities culminated in members of all four groups coming together to perform one dance piece choreographed by Dr Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain of Scoil Uí Ruairc and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, their common language, DANCE.

We had a fantastic week of music, song and craic at this, our first Cultural Exchange with the Feis Spé Cairngorms Ceilidh Trail. The week consisted of workshops in music, song and language, creating and highlighting an awareness in the close cultural connections between the Highlands of Scotland and Northeast Donegal. With performances both formal and informal and workshops in “stage craft” helping the young musicians gain the tools in delivering their performances in their native tongues,  this was an extremely beneficial and yet enjoyable week bringing three groups of musicians together in an fun and encouraging project that will further create links between the communities and groups involved. From the photos below, I think everyone  can see that there was a great amount of “Craic” had during the week.

Looking forward to the return visit!