Stanhope Street School

Alessandra Azeviche

Alessandra Azeviche is a leading Afro-Brazilian dancer, performing at major Irish festivals with her group Criola Dance. She is also the first woman to teach Capoeira in Ireland.

Since moving to Ireland in 2015 she has worked with contemporary choreographers John Scott and more, as well as Dublin City Council, Axis Ballymun, Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival and the Brazilian Embassy. She is a board member of Dublin Dance Festival and associate artist with THISISPOPBABY.

Leading Quilombo Terra (the first Afro-Brazilian Arts performance group in Ireland) and Natural Rhythm, she has performed at major festivals sharing rhythms and dances that developed from her roots,  echoing the resilience and beauty of indigenous communities.

Previous Residencies have included:

We were delighted to have artist Jessie Thompson collaborate with Stanhope Street Secondary School and St Paul’s (Brunner) Secondary School, and to have tours and talks onsite with artist Tobi Balogun and Cabra Community College.

Jessie Thompson | Stanhope Street Secondary School | 2023

Jessie works as a professional Dancer, Choreographer, and Movement Director across live performance and film as well as teaching and mentoring multidisciplinary artists. Her work has been commissioned and supported by Dublin Dance Festival, Top 8, Project Arts Centre, Liz Roche Dance Company, Galway Dance Project, Dance Ireland, and the Arts Council.

As a dance and theatre performer, she has worked with United Fall, OneTwoOneTwo, TasteInYourMouth, Monica Munoz, and Shaun Dunne among others, as well as being heavily immersed in the Irish Street Dance Community and Film Industry.

In May 2023 Jessie worked with 4th, 5th & 6th year students at Stanhope Street Secondary School.

Osaro Azams | Stanhope Street Secondary School | 2022

Amanda Osaro Azams is a Dublin based West African Artist whose seven years of work spans across theatre, music and dance, including the Hot Brown Honey: Hive City Legacy which won Best Ensemble (2022) at Dublin Fringe Festival.

Since establishing the Fried Plantains Collective (FPC), which focuses on fostering social inclusion, Osaro has co-created events for a live audience with Dublin Fringe Festival, including Black Jam, a live music show which won the Wild Courage Award (2019), Judges Choice Award (2018) and the featured artist Damola, winning Best Performer for Black Jam (2018).

Receiving the Romily Walton Masters Award in partnership with the Centre Culturel Irlandais and Dublin Fringe Festival has been a pivotal moment as an establishing musician for the first time. Arriving back in Ireland, Osaro created the original audio-visual piece OBSIDIAN BLACK, which was shortlisted for GAZE LGBT International Film Festival 2022.

Lucia Kickham | Stanhope Street Secondary School | 2021 

Bio: Trained in the Netherlands she has worked with companies and artists which include Liz Roche Company, Company Philip Connaughton, Junk Ensemble, Jessie Keenan + Tonnta, Maria Nilsson Waller, Luke Murphy, Mary Wycherly, TRASH(NL) and Oonagh Kearney.

Training intensively with David Zambrano in Flying Low and Passing Through techniques, Lucia has developed her interest in group dynamics within improvisation, composition and teaching environments. She has received coaching from Rosalind Crisp in choreographic improvisation and is invested in this line of inquiry. Lucia is a guest tutor at IWAMD at University of Limerick, teaches on Dance Ireland’s professional training programme and regularly leads workshops at dance centres across Ireland. She is a mentor on the Noise Moves Emergence programme for young dance-makers.

In recent years Lucia has been a recipient of awards from Dance Ireland, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Tipperary Dance, Grand Studio Brussels, Tanztendenz Munich and the Arts Council of Ireland, including the Next Generation and Commission Awards.