In collaboration
Ruaidhrí and Amelia have been collaborating on new dance and music since 2018. Their first work together was their one-act ballet, Dear Frances (2019) which premiered at Blackheath Halls, London. Works include Dear Frances (one-act ballet, 2019); Corners (dance film, 2023, commissioned by the London Sinfonietta) and White Doves (two-act ballet, 2023).
They place subordinate collaboration at the centre of their process, breaking the conventional choreographer-composer model. This means that they work in a way which is neither dance nor music led, but as equal as possible. They are interested in exploring this collaborative model in which the structure, impetus and core of their work belongs niether to the choreographer of the composer, blurring the lines between roles.
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Their collaborative approach as been described as 'astounding', and their joint projects have been supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Hinrichsen Foundation, PRS Foundation and Vaughan Williams Foundation.
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Ruaidhrí Maguire
and Amelia Clarkson
Joint Process
Previous Projects
Ruaidhrí Maguire
Ruaidhrí is an Irish ballet dancer and choreographer from Moneymore. After graduating from Central School of Ballet, London, he danced with Milwaukee Ballet, USA and with Ballet Victoria, BC, Canada. Ruaidhrí is currently the youngest male principal dancer at the Baltic Opera Ballet, Gdansk, Poland, performing principal roles in both classical works including Giselle, The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Don Quixote; and contemporary works by choreographers including Peter Quanz, Michael Pink, Septime Webre and Mauricio Wainrot.
As a choreographer, his work has been performed across the UK, Ireland, Poland and Japan. Recent works include ‘Beating Streets in City Hearts’ at the Baltic Opera in Gdansk and ‘After/Before’ at Dancer From the Dance Festival, Dublin. His practice has received support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and he has been a resident artist with Dance Ireland and Galway Dance Project and will be in residency again with both organisations, working on new projects.
Ruaidhrí founded Six Dance Collective to further develop ballet as an adventurous artform across the island through collaboration and to create opportunities for our next generation of dancers.
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Amelia Clarkson
Amelia is a composer from Donaghadee, Co. Down. She creates politically motivated work for stage and concert hall, juxtaposing classical training and folk influences in her approach. She began composing during her undergraduate at Cardiff University before completing her Masters at Trinity Laban in 2019. Whilst there, she received the 2018 Worshipful Company of Musicians medal. As the current Mendelssohn Scholar, Amelia is a PhD candidate at the Royal Northern College of Music, supervised by composers Laura Bowler and Gary Carpenter.
Recent performances include those by Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, Crash Ensemble, Central Band of the Royal Air Force, Alison Langer and Lana Bode and at venues including Opera Holland Park, Wigmore Hall and the South Bank Centre. She is currently completing a commission from the Dutch National Ballet for the Junior Company's 10th Anniversary Tour across the Netherlands, in a new collaboration with choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma. Amelia is Composer in Residence for Six Dance Collective.
Amelia is represented as an Associate Composer by CMC Ireland. In 2021, she won the National Concert Hall and Sounding the Feminists Emerging Commissioning Award. Her practice has received support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, PRS Foundation, Vaughan Williams Foundation and Hinrichsen Foundation.