Aine Stapleton, (PhD Researcher)

Áine is a PhD researcher with the Department of Music, Drama, Film and Screen, and Heritage and Museum Studies at Ulster University’s Derry-Londonderry campus. She holds a Master of Arts from the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy & Management, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia, and a BA in Dance Studies from the University of Surrey, London.

Since 2004, Áine has produced and toured experimental dance and film work internationally. More recently, she has created dance and film works focused on Lucia Joyce, daughter of Irish writer James Joyce, and will premiere a feature film, When Life is Silent, based on the dance history of Monte Verità in Switzerland in 2026. Her work has been described by Film Ireland as “a must-see.”

Her solo and collaborative work has been supported by national and international funding bodies and institutions, including Culture Ireland, The Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin City Council, Wicklow County Arts Office, the Jan Michalski Foundation, the Irish Embassy in Switzerland, and the Permanent Representation of Ireland in Strasbourg. She has spoken about her work in academic and artistic contexts, including Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, the University of Mainz, the James Joyce Centre (Dublin), and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. Áine is also part of Irish all-female electronic trio Everything Shook, who released their second album at NCH Dublin in 2023.