PULSE

PULSE is an intensive dance and performance residency for performers with Down syndrome, led by Purple Door in collaboration with dance artists Alessandra Azeviche and Mateusz Szczerek.Taking place at Dunamaise Arts Centre in August 2026, the residency will give participants the opportunity to work as a professional ensemble, developing their movement practice, confidence and individual artistic voices. Through contemporary dance, Afro-Brazilian movement, improvisation and collaborative performance-making, the group will explore rhythm, identity, connection and what it means to move together.The residency will provide dedicated time and space for artistic experimentation, allowing the performers to contribute their own ideas and shape the work alongside the artists. Material created during the residency will be developed towards a public sharing at Dunamaise Arts Centre on the 28th of August 2026.Kasia Eliasz – Founder & Performance DirectorKasia Eliasz is a jazz musician and multidisciplinary artist based in County Wexford. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Purple Door, an inclusive performing arts company working with more than 70 performers with Down syndrome across Kildare, Dublin and Laois.She leads Purple Door’s artistic vision and develops long-term programmes, residencies and original productions in collaboration with professional choreographers, musicians and dance artists. Her work is grounded in artistic ambition, sustained creative development and meaningful opportunities for disabled performers to shape the work and develop their own artistic voices.Alongside her inclusive practice, Kasia creates music and performance work for babies, young children and their caregivers, combining live music, improvisation, movement and sensory exploration. She is also the Director and Curator of Kildare Jazz Festival. Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Kildare County Council, First Fortnight and Improvised Music Company.Mateusz Szczerek – Choreographer and Dance ArtistMateusz Szczerek is a Dublin-based dance artist and choreographer, and a professional member of Dance Ireland and ISACS. He is the Artistic Director of Human Collective and a choreographer with the international circus and dance company Kundle Cru.His work spans contemporary dance, hip-hop, circus, theatre and interdisciplinary performance. He choreographed Kundle Cru’s internationally touring production Blame Game and has developed and performed work with organisations including CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Draíocht, Dublin Fringe Festival, Tipperary Dance and The Civic.Mateusz is the curator of Dance2Connect LAB, a professional development programme for dancers created in partnership with Dance Ireland. He has also worked extensively with young people and communities, including as an Artist in Residence at Draíocht, where he developed new dance work with young audiences from Dublin 15.Alessandra Azeviche – Choreographer and Dance ArtistAlessandra Azeviche is a Dublin-based, Bahia-born dance artist, capoeirista and a leading Afro-Brazilian artistic voice. Her practice connects ancestral movement traditions with contemporary performance and uses movement to promote connection, cultural education and collective empowerment.Since moving to Ireland in 2015, Alessandra has worked with Dublin City Council, Axis Ballymun, Project Arts Centre, Dublin Fringe Festival, the Brazilian Embassy and a wide range of artists and choreographers. She is a board member of Dublin Dance Festival and an Associate Artist at Project Arts Centre.Alessandra is the founder of Quilombo Terra, a multicultural Afro-Brazilian community using ancestral knowledge and creative practice to challenge colonised structures. Her acclaimed solo work Terra was nominated for two Dublin Fringe Festival awards. Her work explores counter-colonisation, identity, resilience and intersectionality.