testing ground projects are Dance Artists in Residence for Galway City 2026/2027🌱
•
What does this mean ?? Lots of ways for everyone to get involved
🪷monthly open training starting in August
🌼open studio time during our 6 weeks in residence
🌹FRESH DARLINGS evening of works-in-progress in November
🌻continuing our collaboration with our friends & union members at @catugalway
💐a new dance festival in Galway, March 2027
•
DAR is funded by @artscouncilireland our application was supported by @artsofficegalwaycity@galwaydance@themicklallytheatre@thtgalway
Coming back 🌠
This was filmed back in June 2023 by @hannah.una with @hennanmarja while on residency at @dancelimerick ( along with @aindriu_db and @risteard__ as the team) for the first research of - for the world we're after -
The idea started with the question - if we're wired for empathy - but while trying to make sense of where the world is heading and sensing into what I was feeling was coming, the questions changed.
.
Determined to keep imagining, creating and building -
-to be ready to rise as all falls
.
Next year, I will be creating invitations for more stubborn, hopeful and ambitious collective imaginings and to decompost this place we're in 🌱
A free online offering to widen and nourish our collective imagination 💙
planting questions as seeds to carry with us through the winter season and beyond-
.
a creative writing workshop led by emily fitzell & organised by roberta ceginskaite in conjuction with testing ground projects.
.
as we approach the deepest point in the dark half of the year, this workshop posits winter dormancy as a space for collective dreaming.
through a slow-moving selection of text, image & movement-based prompts, we will play with writing as a tool for holding & nurturing the kernels of our world-in-the-making, shaped by questions we can carry forward through this season and beyond as talismans - as seeds.
.
register through link in bio of @testingground.projects
.
this is part of continuation of the work that I've start as a dance piece with the title - for the world we're after - first researched at @dancelimerick , then performed at @faki_festival_zagreb ,research of a workshop at @divadlostudiotanca & delivered with @kemdoesitagain , with a video work that followed (still to be to released).
working with wonderful group of people at every stage 💜
.
for years, i've been oscillating between deep despair and stubborn hope. only recently, i have gathered confidence- supported by inspiring people around me- to participate more directly in the creation of the world we live in. inspired by abolition& emergent strategies, grassroots organising, mutual aid - i see expanding our imagination as an important tool that becomes an empowering step towards building a world we want to live in. more such collective imagining spaces will be organised in the new year🌟
.
dreams -> actions
.
Looking back at the zine making workshop in October 🍂 hosted by brilliant @straycatspress & @robe.ceg . Thank you to all who attended !
.
We focused on imagining the newspapers/ magazines of the future and what they will be announcing/ talking about when liberation from oppression- exploitation has been reached.
.
mark 11th December ❄ - for another offering to widen imagination & open questions
.
Poster desgin by @bymotcollins
🍂CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRAINING 🍂
.
In partnership with Galway Dance artist in residence, Magdalena Hylak- we are delighted to bring back a series of 3 training sessions this NOVEMBER!
.
Join us in exploring movement ideas with local and national dance artists. Open level, all are welcome !
.
🌱 November 9th, 16th & 30th
⏰ 11am - 1pm
📍 Genevieve Ryan Dance Academy, Headford Road
* €10 (+booking fee) per session.
.
Link in bio for tickets!
.
Thank you to Genevieve Ryan Dance Academy for the space !
.
The workshop on the 16th November is supported by Galway City Council Creative Practitioner Bursary.
⚘🌻🌸FRESH DARLINGS memories. 23rdMAY.
Thank you to all that performed and to those who came out in that rainy weather to see, question, move & support these developing dance works.
Performances by;
⚘ Rachel Sheil,
🌻 Roberta Čeginskaitė with Fionnuala Doyle Wade & Aindriú de Buitléir,
🌸 Aoibhinn O'Dea.
With chats after and Dabke with Omar عمر 🌼
.
💐 to 126 Gallery @126gallery.studios for being wonderful hosts & venue support- big love to @ciara__ch for light set up!
.
🌹 Thank you 126 Gallery team for photos 2, 3, 4
& Ciarán MacChoncarraige @ciaranshoots for photos 1, 5- 12.
.
This event was self-funded by testing ground projects.
.
126 Gallery and Studios are supported by @artscouncilireland .
looking forward to the last saturday of july when we’ll be joined by the wonderful @robe.ceg from @testingground.projects
join us for a walk & creative workshop on the beach with dance artist roberta ceginskaite.
following stories around the coastline through movement, we’ll explore ways to connect with the wider living environment in our day to day experiences.
roberta will share some approaches from her collaborative practice in which ‘care for each other & the spaces we inhabit are at the core of how we work & what we produce.’
please wear comfortable clothing and footwear.
free free to get in touch if you have any questions or access requirements at [email protected].
@creativeireland@kerrycoarts
———
testing ground projects was formed in early 2025 by Galway city based dance artists Fionnuala Doyle Wade & Roberta Ceginskaite. As individual dance artists, Roberta & Fionnuala have collaborated on numerous successful projects over the last number of years. TGP was formed with the intention of growing engagement with dance in Galway city/county, supporting dance artists locally, & empowering folks through movement. Alongside our creative practice, we are activists & organisers rooted in our community in Galway. Care for each other & the spaces we inhabit are at the core of how we work & what we produce. Together, we draw on each other’s strengths to produce engaging & vulnerable work. We believe art & the body are inherently political & the importance of using our voices as artists cannot be understated.
🏠 JOIN US 🏠
testing ground projects is collaborating with CATU Galway to facilitate the local branch members in creating an OUTDOOR HOUSING SPECTACLE !!
.
All are welcome to join, contribute & create 🏠🌱
.
First Brainstorming & Banner making session->
- Monday June 23rd
- 6pm- 8pm
📍Macnas, Fisheries Field - University of Galway
.
.
testing ground projects have been succcessful recipients of Create's AIC Scheme - Research and Development Award with Mentoring Support( Round One) 2025 (!!)
Rita Mercalo ( Instant Dissidence ) will be our mentor🌟
.
This work is supported by the Arts Council's Artist in the Community Scheme managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts.
🌊TITLE 💨
•
Join us this summer at Silver Strand Beach for walks & workshops led by dancers, musicians, Gaelgeoirí, & scientists. First session, 18th June 6pm - 8pm, book for free at the link in our bio 🫧
•
This initiative is the culmination of many conversations, walks, & swims. Curiosity around barriers to climate action, the possibility of art as a tool for activism, & movement as a form of empowerment have fuelled our thinking & planning💧
.
Funded by an Elevate Bursary from @galwayintarts & @galwaycultureco
•
Poster by Ellen Francis @pokeonyerwan
•Introducing🌹🌻🌼 FRESH DARLINGS 🌸🌹🌼
•
Next up is ROBERTA ČEGINSKAITĖ, with her work titled - for the world we're after-
Performed with Fionnuala Doyle Wade and Aindriú de Buitléir.
•
THE ARTIST, Roberta Čeginskaitė is a Galway based dance artist whose work focuses on collective training of resilience and endurance. She trained in Contemporary Dance ( BA Hons) at Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, in Tilburg (The Netherlands). She has recently performed at the Dublin Fringe Festival in a dance work by Abby Zbikowsky produced by Irish Modern Dance Theatre. Roberta has completed a year long community project with Dance Limerick on the topic of climate action and dance. Currently, she is an active member of Community Action and Tenants' Union ( join ! ) and Disputes Officer for PRAXIS, (The Artists Union of Ireland). In 2025, Roberta co-created testing ground projects with Fionnuala Doyle Wade for their collaborative, artistic and community work.
•
THE DARLING, - for the world we're after- is about the constant tension between the reality we’re living in and the utopia we are dreaming of.
We ask: What are the constant obstacles creating the dissonance between what is and what could be? Is the fight the main purpose and drive for our lifetime?
•
FRESH DARLINGS
➡️23 May 6:30pm - 8pm
📍 126 Gallery, Galway city.
💥 Register for free at the link in our bio (limited capacity).
•
Thank you to @126gallery.studios for hosting & supporting this event, 126 Gallery is funded by @galwaycitycouncil & @artscouncilireland .
•
1st 📸 Josip Bolonić.
2nd 📸 Jentel Schiettekatte.
•
🌼🌸🌷🌹🌺🌻⚘
