Thanks to Creative Ireland and Limerick City & County Council, the IACC began a collaborative project with other youth groups entitled ‘Limerick’s Future Creators’. The first project involved the Irish Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra (ICOYO). Our youth performance group worked over a period of months on their creativity and performance skills, and with the help of Fidget Feet tutors and weekend intensives, brought it all together with the music of ICOYO. The performance happened in April 2019 and was a great success.

Lee Clayden, Kathryn Cooley, Aisling Ní Cheallaigh, & Emma Poole were part of the 2019 project.

The second project expanded the collaboration to bring the Limerick Youth Dance Company (LYDC) into the group. All three youth groups hosted a workshop where they explored the potential of their collaboration, and shared their skills with each other. In March 2020 they came together to have a sharing of some of these ideas, and demonstrate the possibilities of combining aerial, dance, and music. You can see some of this in the video of the sharing.

In 2020, Chantal McCormick, Sara Granda Alvarado, Kathrine Barnecutt, and Rachel Sheil facilitated these youth groups.

And then there was Covid.  The collaboration continued in small pods, with lots of Zooms, and we began working towards a short film. Our new partner Limerockers Cru joined us, and the youth decided what sort of film they wanted to make, and what story they wanted to tell. ‘Outside is Inside Now’ was created outdoors with plenty of social distancing, and was then launched by the Mayor of Limerick for Culture Night 2021.

The film featured 61 youths from Irish Aerial Creation Centre, Irish Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and Limerockers Cru dancers.

The project continued to evolve, despite the difficulties of new waves of Covid, and explored adding more hip-hop and some beatboxing to the performance. There was a small performance at the end of 2021 as restrictions allowed.

In 2022 we ran a huge Easter Camp with all the participants to begin creating something new. There was also the first National Aerial Dance Youth Exchange Day, inviting six aerial studios around Ireland to come to the IACC and skill-share, try new apparatus, and meet and network with each other. We also brought Vicki McManus of The Circus Project (UK) to share her experience with a successful teen programme in Brighton.

We invited a new group to collaborate, the Emerging Limerick Filmmakers (ELF), joining IACC, ICOYO, LYDC, and Limerockers Cru to create the biggest show yet, involving all five groups.

2023 saw the return of the National Aerial Dance Youth Exchange Day, inviting circus studios all over Ireland to bring their youth groups to the IACC.

The project continued, working towards a December 2023 performance.

In 2024 we completed an evaluation and five year plan for the project. You can read that document here or view it in the panel to the side. Select full screen to view it larger.