Let Down
‘Let Down’, a dance performance based on the experiences of breastfeeding mothers, was developed by Dr Aoife McGrath, a choreographer and lecturer in Drama at Queen’s University Belfast and psychologist Dr Jennifer Hanratty, a research fellow at Queen’s and the co-founder of Breastival Belfast.
After the birth of her son in 2015, McGrath became interested in finding ways to tell untold stories of women’s experiences of the maternal through dance performance.
Let Down, which premiered at Breastival Belfast in August 2018, also appeared as part of the Northern Ireland Festival of Human Rights in December 2018.
Let Down interweaves movement, verbatim text, and an original soundscape (composed by RTÉ Choice Prize 2018 winner, Sorca McGrath, of Ships Music), to give voice to women's experiences of keeping tiny humans alive.
Building on interview material and online forum discussions of both breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women gathered from original research into women's use of the internet for support undertaken by Dr. Maria Herron for Ulster University, Let Down explores questions of the quantified self, failure, and online sharing in the context of infant feeding.
This interdisciplinary dance work incorporates the latest findings of social science research on breastfeeding, approaching an emotive topic in ways that speak to, and communicate, the often-untold stories of women's maternal experiences.
Let Down, which premiered at Breastival Belfast in August 2018, also appeared as part of the Northern Ireland Festival of Human Rights in December 2018.
Let Down interweaves movement, verbatim text, and an original soundscape (composed by RTÉ Choice Prize 2018 winner, Sorca McGrath, of Ships Music), to give voice to women's experiences of keeping tiny humans alive.
Building on interview material and online forum discussions of both breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women gathered from original research into women's use of the internet for support undertaken by Dr. Maria Herron for Ulster University, Let Down explores questions of the quantified self, failure, and online sharing in the context of infant feeding.
This interdisciplinary dance work incorporates the latest findings of social science research on breastfeeding, approaching an emotive topic in ways that speak to, and communicate, the often-untold stories of women's maternal experiences.
