Galway dance artists awarded funding for community residencies in county and city
Three Galway dance artists have received funding from Arts Council for year-long residencies with Galway County and Galway City Council.
Magdalena Hylak will partner with Galway County Council, while dance group Testing Ground will partner with Galway City Council.
A total of six applicants nationally were awarded up to €25,000 by the Arts Council in partnership with organisations or local authorities countrywide, with Magdalena receiving €24,990 and Testing Ground getting €23,000.
These residencies will allow the artists to engage in work with local communities and arts organisations to develop dance and encourage long-term planning.
Magdalena Hylak has been working in dance since 2011, with choreographers including Michael Keegan Dolan, Liz Roche, Catherine Young, Ríonach Ní Néill and Emma Martin.
More recently, she's been a core collaborator with John Scott | Irish Modern Dance Theatre and Nacera Belaza (France), giving over 220 performances in 14 countries.
Magdalena has been developing her own work since 2021, in which she questions the notion of performance. She’s now working on her first ensemble piece, which will be shown as a work-in-progress at Dublin Dance Festival 2026 and later at Dance Limerick.
Testing Ground Projects (TGP) was formed last year by Galway city-based dance artists Fionnuala Doyle Wade and Roberta Ceginskaite, with the aim of increasing engagement with dance locally, supporting dance artists, and empowering people through movement.
It has created community work, funded by Galway International Arts Festival and Galway Culture Company as well as an Artist in the Community scheme project with the Galway branch of the Community Action Tenants Union.