Originally from Kildare, contemporary dancer Rosie Stebbing honed her craft at ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in the Netherlands where a conversation with a fellow dancer encouraged her to seek inspiration wherever she could find it. Since graduating, she’s worked with several top Irish companies including the Cois Céim Dance Theatre, Attic Projects, and Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre. Now part of the team at Luail, Ireland’s new National Dance Company, they’re on a journey to make dance known and loved throughout this little island.
The last thing I saw and loved… 0800 Cupid by Emer Dineen at the Dublin Theatre Festival last September. It was so witty, moving and honest. Beautiful writing, beautiful performance, beautiful production – it’s a show I’ll be thinking about for a while.
The book I keep coming back to… To Be A Machine by Mark O’Connell. I have a borrowed copy from a friend which I dip back into periodically. The book is an exploration of transhumanism, a movement that advocates for the enhancement of humans by technological means. I really enjoy Mark O’Connell’s writing, and admittedly, I am totally fascinated by people who want their decapitated heads to be preserved so that their minds might be uploaded to a computer in the future.
I find inspiration in… other dancers! It is an honour to get to meet and work with lots of fabulous people from lots of different places. I am constantly amazed and inspired by how talented and hard-working my colleagues are.
My favourite film is… Little Miss Sunshine. The “Super Freak” dance scene is genius.
My career highlight is… joining Luail as a company dancer is definitely a major highlight! I’ve also loved getting to work on a range of projects while freelancing in Ireland over the past three years.
The song I listen to to get in the zone is… I usually listen to Irish traditional music. I find it simultaneously energising and grounding before a performance. “Toss The Feathers/The Magerabaun Reel” by Martin Hayes and The Common Ground Ensemble is a favourite.
The last book I recommended is… Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume. Beautifully written and deeply poignant.
I never leave the house without… keys, money, phone; a pre-house mantra I have learned from my similarly scatty mother.
The piece of work I still think about is… Betroffenheit, a dance theatre work by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young. I saw it at the Dublin Dance Festival in 2016 when I was 17 years old and it blew my mind. My dad picked me up from school and brought me to see it, and before it started, I was worried I was going to fall asleep during the show because I was so tired. Instead, I spent the entire performance quite literally on the edge of my seat. I was so inspired by the work and would say that it remains the epitome of what I love about dance and live performance.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten… I was on the verge of quitting during the second year of my dance training, and I spoke with an amazing dancer called Sarah Reynolds who advised me to take more workshops, go to more events and challenge myself more outside of my course if the school I was in wasn’t inspiring me. That totally turned everything around for me. It was empowering to be reminded that we can always seek out new sources of inspiration when we need them, and can take responsibility for our own growth.
The art that means the most to me is… I’m going to go with The Muppets Christmas Carol. My family watches it every Christmas Eve, so it reminds me of home and of being with them. It’s also a cinematic masterpiece.
The most challenging thing about being a dancer is… the discipline it requires, which I do not believe I have yet fully acquired. It’s an ongoing battle!
After a performance, I… have a drink (see above).
If I wasn’t a dancer, I would be… a writer, a visual artist of some kind or maybe a documentary filmmaker.
The magic of dance to me is… the beauty of human bodies in motion, and the endless potential of physical expression.
Feature image photography: Patricio Cassinoni and Ailbhe O’Donnell
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