Dance Lexie Dance | |
---|---|
Directed by | Tim Loane |
Written by | Dave Duggan |
Produced by | Pearse Moore |
Starring | B. J. Hogg Kimberley McConkey |
Cinematography | Eugene McVeigh |
Edited by | Declan Byrne |
Music by | Jules Maxwell |
Production company | Raw Nerve Productions |
Distributed by | Northern Lights |
Release date |
|
Running time | 14 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Dance Lexie Dance is a 1996 short film made in Northern Ireland. [1] The two principal characters are a widower, Lexie, and his daughter, Laura, who live in Derry. Laura becomes keen on Irish stepdance and on joining Riverdance when she grows up. Traditional Irish dancing is practiced by Irish Catholic families. Lexie and his daughter are Protestant, but Lexie relents and encourages his daughter. Self-taught, Laura enters a dance contest across the River Foyle in a Catholic district. [2] The film ends as Laura teaches her father the first steps of the dance.
Ruth Barton writes of the film's structure, "Symbolically, the film illustrates its theme of bridging divides – between father and daughter, Protestant and Catholic traditions, life and death – by the device of the boat Lexie (B. J. Hogg) pilots across the Foyle to and from his job, itself a mixed workplace. Finally, Laura performs in a Féis (dancing competition) in honour of which the boat is decked out in red, white, and blue bunting." [3]
Dance Lexie Dance was nominated in the Best Live Action Short Film category at the 70th Academy Awards. [4]
The film was included on the ALA Notable Children's Videos list in 1999. [5]
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the largest city in County Londonderry, the second-largest in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, which is spanned by two road bridges and one footbridge. The city now covers both banks.
Strabane is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation (plantation) of Ulster – a province of Ireland – by people from Great Britain during the reign of King James VI and I. Most of the settlers came from southern Scotland and Northern England; their culture differed from that of the native Irish. Small privately funded plantations by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while the official plantation began in 1609. Most of the land had been confiscated from the native Gaelic chiefs, several of whom had fled Ireland for mainland Europe in 1607 following the Nine Years' War against English rule. The official plantation comprised an estimated half a million acres (2,000 km2) of arable land in counties Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, and Londonderry. Land in counties Antrim, Down, and Monaghan was privately colonised with the king's support.
The River Foyle is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. From here it flows to the city of Derry, where it discharges into Lough Foyle and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean. The total length of the River Foyle is 32 km (20 mi). The river separates part of County Donegal from parts of both County Londonderry and County Tyrone. The district of County Donegal that borders the western bank of the River Foyle is traditionally known as the Laggan. This district includes the villages of St Johnston and Carrigans, both of which are nestled on the banks of the River.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 10,000, founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. There are branches in Ulster and elsewhere in Ireland, Scotland, England, Australia and Toronto, Canada. The society aims to commemorate the 1689 Siege of Derry when Catholic James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland laid siege to the walled city, which was at the time a Protestant stronghold. Apprentice Boys parades once regularly led to virulent opposition from the city's Irish nationalist majority, but recently a more conciliatory approach has taken place and now the parades are virtually trouble-free. The 2014 'Shutting of the Gates' parade was described as "the biggest in years" and was violence-free.
The earliest references to the history of Derry date to the 6th century when a monastery was founded there; however, archaeological sites and objects predating this have been found. The name Derry comes from the Old Irish word Daire meaning 'oak grove' or 'oak wood'.
The names of the city and county of Derry or Londonderry in Northern Ireland are the subject of a naming dispute between Irish nationalists and unionists. Generally, although not always, nationalists favour using the name Derry, and unionists Londonderry. Legally, the city and county are called "Londonderry", while the local government district containing the city is called "Derry City and Strabane". The naming debate became particularly politicised at the outset of the Troubles, with the mention of either name acting as a shibboleth used to associate the speaker with one of Northern Ireland's two main communities. The district of Derry and Strabane was created in 2015, subsuming a district created in 1973 with the name "Londonderry", which changed to "Derry" in 1984.
Muff is a village, civil parish and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is near the mouth of the River Foyle and sits close to the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The village of Culmore and the city of Derry are to the south in Northern Ireland.
The Maiden City Festival takes place in Derry, Northern Ireland in the second week in August each year. In 2008 the Festival was described as a "diverse, varied programme of events that underscores the organisers' desire to provide something for everyone", as well as a "showcase for Protestant tolerance and openness". Events included Bluegrass on the Walls, Children's Heritage Visual Art Workshops, drumming events, including some with members of the north west's African community, music of all kinds at the Verbal Arts Centre, Foyle Ulster Scots Highland Gathering, firework display, the fifth Annual Scottish Dance Competition, historical walks and talks, with the finale being the Relief of Derry Pageant on 9 August 2008. The Festival commemorates the actions of Protestant Apprentice Boys who shut the city gates against the forces of the Catholic King James in December 1688. King James laid siege to the city from December to August 1689 until the Protestant forces of William of Orange relieved the city.
Ivan Averill Cooper was a nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). He is best known for leading the civil rights march on 30 January 1972 that developed into the Bloody Sunday massacre.
Eglinton is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-north-east of Derry, to which it serves as a sleeper village, and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) west-south-west of Limavady. It resides within Derry and Strabane district. The City of Derry Airport, also known as Eglinton Aerodrome and formerly as Londonderry Eglinton Airport, lies a short distance from the village.
Culmore is a village and townland in Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is at the mouth of the River Foyle. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,465 people. It is situated within Derry and Strabane district.
Strathfoyle is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland It is about 5 miles (8.0 km) north east of Derry. It was newly built in different phases between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, with many new recent additions to the village, including Westlake, Butler's Wharf and Old Fort. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,581 people. It is within the Derry Urban Area and the Derry City Council area. The village has a small retail outlet, a Roman Catholic chapel, a library, youth club and a post office. The small retail unit was constructed in 2005 following years of under-investment in the area and pressure by local community leaders to provide more facilities for its residents.
Nerve Centre is Northern Ireland's leading creative media arts centre. It was established in 1990 in Derry, Northern Ireland to provide a creative outlet for youth culture and the many young people who feel excluded from the "arts sector". By bringing popular music, film, video, animation and interactive multimedia together, the Nerve Centre aims to promote creative collaboration and fusion between young people working across the field of popular culture to support the youth and education sectors to embrace hands-on learning and training in the new digital technologies.
Events from the year 1689 in Ireland.
Martina Anderson is an Irish former politician from Northern Ireland who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2020 to 2021, and previously from 2007 to 2012. A member of Sinn Féin, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2020.
Events from the year 1791 in Ireland.
A Letter from Ulster is a 1942 documentary by Ulster-born movie director Brian Desmond Hurst who, along with his lifelong friend Terence Young (scriptwriter) and fellow Ulsterman and Assistant Director William (Bill) MacQuitty, created this film promoting a sense of community between the people of Northern Ireland and over one hundred thousand troops from the US based in Northern Ireland at the time. William Alwyn provided music.
Eamonn Melaugh is an Irish socialist, political campaigner and activist from Derry, Northern Ireland.
Derry Girls is a British period teen sitcom set in Northern Ireland, created and written by Lisa McGee, that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4 and ran for three series. The channel's most successful comedy since Father Ted, the series was inspired by McGee's own experiences growing up in Derry, Northern Ireland, in the 1990s, during the final years of the Troubles. It stars Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn as five teenagers living in mid-1990s Derry while attending Our Lady Immaculate College, a fictional girls' Catholic secondary school based on the real-life Thornhill College, where McGee herself studied. Produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions, Derry Girls was filmed in Northern Ireland, with most scenes shot on location in Derry and some in Belfast.