Oona Doherty: Hard to Be Soft — A Belfast Prayer

“One of the most exciting talents to emerge in contemporary dance”—IRISH TIMES

Oona Doherty, born in London and later raised in Belfast, has been performing dance-theatre internationally since 2010 with various companies, including TRASH (NL), Abattoir Fermé (BE), Veronika Riz (IT), Emma Martin/United Fall (ROI), Enda Walsh & Landmark Productions (ROI). Doherty’s distinctive and visceral choreography has sparked international attention. She creates intense, compelling works that appeal for societal change.

Her solo work Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus (2015) won the Dublin Fringe Festival Best Performer Award in 2016 and the Total Theatre Dance Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. Doherty was selected one of the top 10 Irish Artists in 2017 by the Irish Times. She created her first group piece, Hard to be Soft – A Belfast Prayer, in 2017, which was selected as the top UK dance show of 2019 by the Guardian. She created Lady Magma: The Birth of a Cult in 2019, and is now  working on a new piece for 12 dancers, tentatively titled NAVY BLUE, to be premiered in August 2022.

Doherty was one of the Aerowaves 2017 selected artists, a Prime Cut Productions REVEAL Artist and The MAC Theatre Belfast HATCH Artist in 2016-17, an Associate Artist at Maison de la Danse de Lyon (FR) in 2017-18, and an Associate Artist at La Briqueterie Vitry-sur-Seine (FR) in 2017-19. She is Dublin Dance Festival Artist in Residence for 2020-22, and was awarded the Venice Biennale Silver Lion in 2021.

Photo credit: Luca Truffarelli

John Scott, Dublin-born choreographer, dancer, and singer, has performed in Meredith Monk’s Quarry and for Yoshiko Chuma, Sarah Rudner, Thomas Lehmen, Adrienne Truscott, Chris Yon and Anna Sokolow. His company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, performs his work and has commissioned artists including Oona Doherty, Seán Curran, Adrienne Truscott, Kyle Abraham, Thomas Lehmen, Sara Rudner, John Jasperse, and has been performing Merce Cunningham’s work since 2014. John is one of the subjects of Sadlers Wells’ 52 Portraits for Jonathan Burrows. He founded Dancer from the Dance Festival of Irish Choreography in New York and Dublin in 2019.

Photo credit: Peggy Jarrel Kaplan

Sam Finnegan, from Bangor, Northern Ireland, is a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on illustration, painting and performing arts. He has been performing with Hard to Be Soft—A Belfast Prayer since 2018.

Mishayla Carcana is a 17-year-old tall and socially awkward human being, who found her strong passion in dance from her late mother. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, she has taken on all opportunities to strengthen her dancing and thrive. She is a Young Dancemakers Company alum, and had the honor to create a piece in the summer of 2021 titled “Breaking Boundaries,” which she has shown, in addition to performing with the company, at various locations all over the city including the La Mama theatre. She has gained experience from training at the Young Dancemakers Company as well as outside classes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. She is co-captain of University Neighborhood High School’s dance team. Aside from her dancing, Mishayla is furthering her career in makeup while also completing her senior year at University Neighborhood High School and hopes to continue her love of dance in the future.

Ava LaLani Davis is a 16-year-old high school junior at Wadleigh Performing Arts School, who works hard every day to fulfill her highest potential in dance. She is a multiethnic emerging dancer and choreographer who has studied all genres of dance since the age of three and has trained at Broadway Dance Center and Bronx Dance Theater. Recently, she performed during the summer tour of 2021 with Young Dancemakers Company (YDC) as well as choreographed her own piece, “Beyond Toned,” and is a two-year alumni at YDC (2020-2021).  She has also worked with groups such as Full Circle Dance Company, PMT Dance Company, Harlem All Stars Theatre Group, and DSD Dance Company. Currently Ava is a member of KR3T Dance Company. In addition, Ava has performed in numerous community events at venues such as The Barclay Center, Madison Square Garden, The Apollo Theatre, and United Palace Theatre. 

Although Ava struggles with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, she is highly motivated when she dances and is often told she does not move like she has physical limitations. That’s because once she hears music, she cannot help to transform her movements into a unique creative art form. Ava is truly passionate and deeply connected spiritually with dance. She aspires to become a professional dancer/choreographer who will inspire others to break boundaries!

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Nevaeh Autumn Davis has trained in a number of different dance styles ranging from modern, contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and African. Aside from being a dancer and attending Talent Unlimited High School, Nevaeh took the time to self-teach a number of acrobatic skills. She is also gifted in acting, modeling, the martial arts, and choreographing. Alongside her middle school, Nevaeh performed a Broadway production of Hairspray Jr at the Broadway Imperial Theatre. She has also performed for over 50,000 people coming into New York City at JFK Airport, making a headline in newspaper articles at age 12. Recently, at the age of 15 Nevaeh became an alumni with Young Dancemakers Company. In her time with Young Dancemakers Company, Nevaeh worked with a professional composer to create music for an original piece she choreographed. Nevaeh is now performing in the professional piece Hard To Be Soft by Oona Doherty, which got her featured in the New York Times. Already making a name for herself on TikTok with more than 3.7 million views, Nevaeh hopes to continue prospering in the entertainment industry.

Gianette Dominguez is a 17-year-old proud daughter of two Dominican parents, who found her passion in dance from a young age. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, she has taken every opportunity to strengthen her dancing and thrive. She is a Young Dancemakers Company alum, and had the honor to create a piece in the summer of 2021 titled “Behind the Mind.” Gianette has shown her piece, as well as performed with the company, at various locations all over the city, including the La Mama theatre in NYC. She has trained at the Millennium Dance Company in the Bronx, and had the opportunity to train and dance in the Paul Taylor Dance Company Teen Training Program. Apart from her dancing, Gianette is completing her senior year at Repertory Company Highschool for Theatre Arts and hopes to continue her love of dance in college.

Kiana King is a 22-year-old multifaceted artist, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and has been dancing since the age of three. Her dance training stems from a competitive dance background at Eileen’s Dance studio and formal training at Elite Dance Conservatory, and she received further formal training at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. In high school she trained with Young Dancemakers Company to cultivate her choreographic and improv skills in 2016 and trained with Luam Keflezgy in 2019 for commercial dance. She went on to modeling, stage managing, acting and voiceover work after graduating from high school in 2018. Kiana’s credits include but are not limited to H.E.R, Selah Marley, Red Shoes by Mathew Bourne, The Hard Nut by David Parker, Metropolitan Opera, Tyler Gilstrap, Cheri Walsh, Tula, Apple and Google. She plans on taking over the world with the dancing, choreography, modeling and creative skills she’s gained over the years. Her favorite quote is, “I have nothing to prove, only to share.”

Harlyn Lopera, born in Bogotá, Colombia, raised in New York, started performing in 2007 in a dance group called Tambores Latino where she danced Colombian folk. She attends Repertory Company High School of Theatre Arts, class of 2023. Harlyn is an alumni of Young Dancemakers Company 2021, where she had the opportunity to choreograph her own piece and collaborate with a professional composer. In YDC she also had the opportunity to perform in the Ballet Hispánico piece Ritmo y Ruido in the summer of 2021, where she got to work with Natalia Alonso.

A native of Queens, New York, Zarina is a student of the Queensborough Community College dance program. Her dance focus is all genres of dance such as ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, African, hip hop, and so much more. Zarina is in her first year in the dance program and is entering with high hopes of graduating with her associates and bachelors degree; she wants to become a dance educator, choreographer, and go into all the fields of dance. Zarina has been an alumni of Young Dancemakers company since 2019. One of the places that Zarina has performed is at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre. In YDC, the pieces Zarina choreographed were The Loudest Silence, We Are One, and NO MORE LOCKDOWNS.

Annia Nelson is a high-school student living in Queens, New York. She has experience in multiple forms of dance including contemporary, ballet, modern, jazz, African, and hip-hop. She has performed a Hairspray Jr. Broadway production and performed a musical number from Harispray Jr. at the Broadway Imperial Theatre. She has performed at John F. Kennedy airport as a Creative Dance member, greeting over 50k travelers into NYC. She is a Young Dancemakers Alumni of the year 2021, now performing at the Irish Arts Center as a performer for Oona Doherty's Hard to Be Soft - A Belfast Prayer. 

Annia enjoys all things of the arts, including singing, dancing, playing guitar, piano, and writing music. She is very ambitious and determined, and wants to be open in her career in the entertainment industry, aspiring to be a model, dancer, actor, choreographer, and music producer. 

"You should fear my ability to believe that I'm capable of anything."

Genesis Perdomo Santos is a Dominican-American Bronx-bred artist who moves in the intersection between healing modalities and Afro-Latin contemporary dance forms. She began her training with Alice Teirstein in Young Dancemakers Company. She received her BA in Dance at Hunter College, while also training and performing with Beverly Lopez in REDi Dance Company, Kim Elliott in Kim Elliott Dance, as well as Kim D. Holmes. Her dance credits include works by Razvan Stoian, Chase Brock, Sonya Tayeh, and Lorin Latarro.

She has performed in several Public Works shows at the renowned Delacorte Theater as a featured dancer and most recently served as community dance captain in the Public Works production of Hercules. She served as rehearsal director and dancer for Manuela Agudelo's dance film Mar y Tierra and evening-length work Legado Dorado. Last fall she completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Sweet Water Dance and Yoga. Genesis considers herself a lifelong student of somatic and artistic healing modalities, constantly learning ways to live a vibrant life while coping with mental health disorders.

Mireya Rojas is a passionate and enthusiastic dancer born in Queens, New York. She is 18 years old and has been dancing for three years. She attended University Neighborhood High School and currently attends Baruch College. She was first introduced to dance with Young Dancemakers Company in 2019 and has since danced with groups such as 92Y Harkness Center, Mark Morris, and NYU Tisch Future Dancers and Dancemakers.

Afsana Jim is a 16-year-old Bengali dancer/choreographer who goes to University Neighborhood High School in Manhattan. She grew up in Bangladesh and started her dance journey learning Bollywood style, which piqued an interest to try street style, mainly waacking, after she came to New York with her parents for more opportunities. Recently she was part of the program Young Dancemakers Company, which allowed her to perform all over NYC during the summer. In YDC she also choreographed her own dance piece about mental health and collaborated with professional composers. One of her biggest accomplishments in her dance career was being able to learn from Ballet Hispánico and dance in one of their dance pieces. Currently, Afsana is looking to gain more knowledge about dance and finding ways to improve for the future.

Siobhán is a freelance stage and production manager currently based in Belfast with experience in site-specific work, devised work, large-scale outdoor performance events, and regional and international touring.