About this Event
Filmmaker, Author, and Dance Historian Deirdre Mulrooney will introduce the audience to the extraordinary achievements of overlooked artist Lucia Anna Joyce (1907 - 1982), at the heart of avant-garde 1920s Paris through the prism of her award-winning short dance/ poetry films, starring Irish actor Evanna Lynch (best known as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter) as Lucia. Sit back and listen as the great Olwen Fouéré channels the voice of Lucia Joyce's eternal soul - in her own rare words - ahead of the 46th anniversary of Lucia's December 12th death in St. Andrew's Mental Hospital, Northampton. Inviting reconsideration of James Joyce's only daughter as a significant artist in the Irish cultural canon, Deirdre will expand on Lucia's cancelled artistry, as outlined in her 2024 book "Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity" (originally published in Joyce Studies Annual). In keeping with Joyce family tradition, we will light a candle for this misunderstood artist, whose name symbolises light at the darkest time of year, and raise a toast in advance of Saint Lucia's Day (December 13th) which coincided with the winter solstice in the Julian calendar.
Full Capacity
🕑: 07:30 PM
"Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity" short dance film
Info: Imagine misunderstood artist Lucia Joyce at Full Capacity!
Inspired by research on Lucia Joyce's overlooked dance career at the heart of avant-garde 1920s Paris, (especially photographs by Berenice Abbott, George Antheil's music, and the work of WB Yeats and Ninette de Valois in their 1927 - 1933 Abbey Theatre Ballet), Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity imagines Lucia Joyce's dance at the First International Festival of Dance at Paris's Bal Bullier in 1929.
Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter), emulates Lucia's magical dance as captured by photographer Berenice Abbott in her iconic 1928 image of the promising young dancer posing in her transformative silver fish costume, inspired by a little-known link with WB Yeats.
Choreography by Megan Kennedy; Costume by Claire Garvey; original score after George Antheil by Conor Linehan; Camera by Brian O’Leary; Stills photography by Mella Travers; Edited by Aoife Carey. Produced & directed by Deirdre Mulrooney (c) Out There Productions
The Clouds...
🕑: 08:00 PM
"The Clouds are not Inaccessible" Award Winning Aerial Dance/ Poetry Film
Info: An unknown 1932 text by avant-garde artist Lucia Joyce plunges us into a phantasmagoric world of surreal creativity. Evanna Lynch as Lucia Joyce leads a delightful and sometimes frightening odyssey from Lucia’s own exquisite hand-crafted “lettrines”, to a shamanic dance which launches her soul into a magical dimension where she demonstrates to her detractors exactly how to reach the clouds...
Lucia Joyce: Evanna Lynch;
Mathilde, & Yeats Masks: Darina Gallagher;
Voice of Lucia’s soul: Olwen Fouéré;
Director of Photography: Luca Truffarelli;
Choreography: Megan Kennedy;
Composer: Ailbhe McDonagh;
Costume: Claire Garvey;
Aerial Consultant: Jessica Leong;
Colour Grade: Seamus Connolly;
Additional Music: Poems Ago;
Editor: Aoife Carey;
Producer: Tommy Creagh, Deirdre Mulrooney;
Executive Producer: Andrew Irving;
Director/ Writer: Deirdre Mulrooney; Supported by James Joyce Centre, TS Eliot Foundation, & Abhann Productions - Riverdance. (c) Out There Productions, 2026
The Clouds are not Inaccessible
Host: Deirdre Mulrooney
Info: Dr Deirdre Mulrooney is an Irish author, filmmaker, theatre director, broadcaster and scholar, who is re-inscribing the body into Irish cultural history. Her books include "Irish Moves, an illustrated history of dance & physical theatre in Ireland", and "Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity". Her groundbreaking feature radio documentaries include "Dancing with Lucia" on RTE Lyric FM. As well as her award winning short poetry films about Lucia Joyce (Winner, Ó Bhéal Poetry FIlm Award, 2026), her films include "Dance Emergency" (TG4), and "1943 - A Dance Odyssey" (RTE) about Irish-German Modern Dance Pioneer Erina Brady. In addition to a number of books, dance films and other works, she has contributed about her own family’s unique adventures to Photo Album of the Irish: Canada, and is currently making a documentary entitled Turtle Island Family Album drawing on her family archive. She serves on the advisory board of Northern Attitudes Dance Company and of the Yeats International Summer School.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Harrison Chambers of Distinction, 45 Malone Road, Belfast, United Kingdom
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