Paola Catizone

In 2007, Catizone was working at Arklink, an arts project for children run by The Ark at Fatima Mansions, in Dublin. Her close friend, Maeve Halpin, was at the time the director of Care Local, an organisation caring for elderly people living alone in Dublin.

Paola spoke to dancer friends, both hers and her children, and to one of Maeve’s friends, an elderly man who attended dance classes in Rathmines church. She planned and organised a number of local venues and invited a number of people to participate in the making of this video. She then invited videographer Jimmy Reynolds to film the encounters.

The video was shot in a variety of locations, including the old Fatima Mansions, The Oblates in Inchicore, and Maeve’s house in Rathmines. Reynolds contributed the breakdancing section, filmed in a community centre in South Dublin.

The video was shown at an exhibition in the then Juice restaurant, and the proceeds of sales went to Care Local. It was later also shown at Mudra, Catizone’s solo exhibition at the Italian Cultural institute in Dublin in 2008.

The aim of this work is to convey the healing and connecting power of movement and dance, one of humanity’s earliest forms of celebration, communication and expression. Dance can be embraced at any age, and dancing  doesn’t require special skills or virtuosity, just a sense of being alive, in the body in the present moment. To dance is to be human.