6 FREE Workshops
6 Artists Employed
100 Children and Young people Ages 10 -25 attended
During the summer months from June-August 2025, The Civic were delighted to have produced The Gravity Shift Programme for Children & Young People from ages 10-25 years. Consisting of 6 FREE workshops, held in The Civic, over 100 children attended. It was a terrific success showcasing the following fantastic 6 lead Artists: Sasha Krohn, Dublin Parkour led by Glenn McMahon & Fidget Feet with Sara Granda & Sly. Each of the Artists/ Facilitators held workshops for attendees to actively engage with their artform through physical movement led sessions and talks.
Physical Theatre Workshop: Embodying Storytelling with Sasha Krohn
Sasha gave a free workshop Embodying Storytelling with 10 participants from 18-25yrs on 25th June 4 -5:30pm as part of ‘The Weight of Shadow’ show, which took place on 26th June, 1pm
This dynamic movement workshop invited performance students and actors to explore the body as a powerful tool for storytelling through physical movement and non-verbal communication. The participants learnt about and tried techniques rooted in Lecoq, mime, dance, and acrobatics and gained a deeper understanding of physical awareness and how to communicate narrative, emotion, and character through movement alone.
Dublin Parkour Workshops
Glenn McMahon co-facilitated FREE three hour beginner parkour workshops with the support of Aaron Keogh and Dylan Cooper with a total of 60 participants for 10-18years from 7th-9th July. Monday 7th July with 27 participants from 10-12 years, Tuesday 8th July with 19 participants from 13-15 years, Wednesday 9th July with 14 participants from 16-18 years.
At the workshops Glenn, Aaron & Dylan gave an introduction talk to what parkour is, what parkour is like around the world, what parkour is like in Ireland. They introduced the use of their equipment to learn some of the basic/intermediate techniques to start the participants on their parkour journey, and after a short break they went outside and practiced some of these techniques on real walls and rails. These workshops were a fantastic opportunity to learn fundamental movements on specialized equipment under the guidance of experienced, well-established coaches. During the intensive training the participants got to take their skills outside for basic urban training in a safe, supportive environment.
Fidget Feet Workshops
Sara Granda and Sly, two members of the Fidget Feet were delighted to share their experience as professional artists in Ireland and will offer a safe environment where young people can ask questions and create together. Sara Granda is originally from Malaga, Spain. She is an associate artist with Fidget Feet and has performed in many of Fidget Feet’s indoor and outdoor shows. Sly is Nigerian-Irish based in Dublin he has worked for many years building the Irish Hip Hop culture nationally.
They co-facilitated FREE three hour aerial movement and hip hop workshops for a total of 21 participants for 10-18 years on Tuesday 12th August with morning and afternoon sessions. At the workshops Sara & Sly gave an introduction to the young participants to get to know more about Fidget Feet, mixing different art forms together to make shows like ‘When the Moon Spun’ round and ‘H.O.M.E’. They encouraged participants to bring an open heart and mind to be creative, be ready to get physical and bring a notebook to journal notes throughout the workshops. The participating groups thoroughly enjoyed the fun and physical sessions in hip-hop, movement and aerial. Sara & Sly mentored the young people to create different sketches mixing these arts forms and encouraging them to incorporate the skills they have. Fidget Feet Workshops at The Civic
The Civic are delighted to have supported and produced this programme and can’t wait to see this area of storytelling through physical movement: dance, aerial, circus, mime, street art grow in South Dublin and beyond! The Gravity Shift Programme was kindly supported by Creative Ireland South Dublin.
More about the Artists
Sasha Krohn is an interdisciplinary artist based in County Wexford, Ireland, whose work spans aerial acrobatics, dance, mime, physical theatre, visual art, and music. With over 14 years of experience, Sasha’s creative journey is rooted in the art of movement and storytelling, shaped by global performance and deep collaborative practice. He has performed across Russia, Japan, and Europe, refining his craft through both training and performances with acclaimed companies such as Punchdrunk, DV8, 45 Degrees (Cirque du Soleil) and more. In 2024, he debuted the critically acclaimed solo piece The Weight of Shadow at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival—a five-star reviewed exploration of psychological unraveling over 24 hours. Plans are underway for a national and international tour in 2025–26, alongside a new collaborative project with Simon Gleave (Jeudi/Flabbergast Theatre/David Glass Ensemble), named “cAnarY”.
Dublin Parkour was founded by Glenn McMahon, Also known to many as Pickles. He has been honing his parkour skills & craft and coaching for the last 15 years. Glenn is from Dublin. He grew up around Blanchardstown village and was a competitive swimmer growing up as a kid and his parents always encouraged physical activities and adventure. When Glenn was 12 he enjoyed skateboarding and rollerblading although he was never very good at these sports, he loved the idea of street cultures and became enthralled with the videos of extreme sports. When he was in first year of secondary school his friend Connor found parkour on the internet before facebook or instagram or tik tok existed back in 2007. He found videos of Parkour on the internet and began trying to replicate what he saw in the videos. A lot of time passed and many friend groups joined in the fun and dropped away from the bizarre activity. He found a website where people were organising jams(meetups) in Dublin and quickly joined them and began to learn so much about movement in a massive community full of people from all over Ireland, exchanging their experiences with trying the sport. Over time, Ireland had a lot of visitors from different countries around the world and connections began, traveling to see these other communities’ training methods became a part of his lifestyle.
“Parkour is learning how to use your body for purpose, climbing, running, jumping, and also learning how to use your body in a stylish creative way, the idea is to challenge yourself, add to your skill bank and be creative with your surroundings, whether that be in a city or in the forest. Like music there are many different genres of parkour and movement in general.”
Glenn is very keen to continue to grow Dublin Parkour, and the wider Parkour community around all of Ireland continue traveling and learning techniques.Dublin gets a level up! New Parkour Park in action 😎👀
Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre is based in Wexford and established in 1998 to create and nurture the aerial dance sector in Ireland, and developing connections and collaborations. During this time they have created and toured over 35 shows ranging from indoor, outdoor, crane, and vertical dance performances around iconic Irish landmarks, shows for young audiences, community development regionally, professional development through establishing Ireland’s first aerial dance festival and training center. These performances and opportunities take place throughout the country to make the art form accessible to all. They have achieved this through hard work, successful partnerships with venues, educational institutes, festivals and funding bodies such as Creative Europe, and the Arts and Cultural Capital Scheme 2016.
In 2010, with An Grianán Theatre and the Donegal County Council, Fidget Feet founded the Irish Aerial Dance Fest – one of the largest aerial festivals in Europe. Run annually the Irish Aerial Dance Fest hosts more than 100 classes over two weeks, and is attended by participants from all over the world. Fidget Feet are artists in residence at the prestigious Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. In 2013 Fidget Feet were awarded an Arthur Guinness Project award for the Irish Aerial Creation Centre, a new home for aerial in Ireland, which opened in Limerick in 2015.
Fidget Feet are an internationally renowned aerial dance company that recently collaborated with Tobi Omotesa creating Ireland’s first aerial hip h’Oprea, H.O.M.E. funded by Arts Council and commissioned by Carlow Arts Festival, Cairde and Eargail Arts Festival, touring nationally in 2025. Through a unique fusion of aerial choreography, contemporary dance with original music their shows are unique with high energy.
