A view of the light ballet installation as it began its journey on the Shannon earlier this week.. Photo: Emilija Jefremova

Light ballet to brighten up local night skies

The skies around Lough Ree and Athlone are due to be transformed this week by a light installation floating down the River Shannon

Light Ballet, presented as part of Brightening Air - a nationwide, ten-day season of arts experiences brought to you by the Arts Council - is travelling almost 200 kilometres along the Shannon.

The journey begins each night from dusk (approx 10.15 pm) and is due in this part of the midlands on Wednesday and Thursday..

Created by light artist Mick Murray and lighting designer Matthew Cregan, the installation is accompanied by a newly composed soundscape by David Kitt. The light installation and soundscape are synchronised in real-time allowing audiences to experience the soundscape at home, along the edgelands or those in-between places through their phones, tablets or computers. Audiences will be able to access the soundscape via the Culture Works (https://cultureworks.ie/light-ballet/) and Brightening Air (https://brighteningair.com/experiences/light-ballet) website The artwork will run on a seven minute cycle for four hours each night from dusk and the full show cycle can be seen at any point along the route.

The newly composed soundscape by David Kitt uses a familiar Irish musical time signature, intermixed with words from Poet Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe and Kitts own vocal. David Kitt brings us on a journey through, river, ‘spirit land’ and the surrounds. Once entwined, these lands, the people, the river and their connection in music, words and song deliver us to a new place, a spiritual journey along the river through its edgelands, to a familiar place. Drawing inspiration from William Butler Yeats’s own Song of Wandering Aengus, the soundscape for Light Ballet was created by David Kitt, with words from Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe’s poem Wandersong in collaboration with Mick Murray and Matthew Cregan.

For regular updates and to experience Light Ballet digitally, follow Light Ballet on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and at https://cultureworks.ie/light-ballet/ or Via https://brighteningair.com/.

For those who do not get to experience the artwork in person, Light Ballet’s journey will be live streamed and shared online afterwards.