About the Show
Directed and Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
A Joyce Theater and Factory International Production
Tony award-winning choreographer and director Sonya Tayeh brings her singular vision to a new dance work set to the music of Sinéad O’Connor. Fierce, unflinching and tender, The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor is a meditation on voice, protest and the courage to live a life that defies the norm.
The Surge is performed by a company of ten women – ten dance artists cutting right through the notion of age as something to fear. These women total more than five hundred years of collective wisdom – affirming the passing of time as a privilege that carries beauty and experience with it.
O’Connor’s voice vibrates and guides us through the work, through both her music and narration from her memoir Rememberings. Sinéad, with her depth of emotion and restless faith, is the tether that weaves and connects audiences and dancers in this evening of mesmerising dance.
The Surge is conceived, choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh – a creative visionary whose work relating to the body in motion explores many different worlds. An internationally celebrated artist, she is the dance backbone behind numerous stage and screen projects, most notably Moulin Rouge The Musical!, for which she won the Tony Award for outstanding choreography. Her work powerfully weaves together different styles – creating onstage worlds celebrated for her chameleon-like choreography and ability to adapt her storytelling to any scale.
With The Surge, Tayeh draws on Sinéad O’Connor’s uncompromising voice and spirit to create a bold new dance work.
Support for this program is made possible by generous donors who have committed time and resources to the Charleston Gaillard Center’s Dance Initiative. The Surge: An Ode to Sinead O’Connor is commissioned by The Joyce Theater’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work and Factory International, Manchester.
Co-commissioned by The Lensic Performing Arts Center (Santa Fe, NM), the Charleston Gaillard Center (Charleston, SC), ArtPower at UC San Diego (San Diego, CA), and UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures (Santa Barbara, CA)
To me, Sinéad O’Connor’s music is rooted in a sense of a desire for freedom, an unrelenting righteousness and a quest for a spiritual awakening. The depth of emotion in her music is unmatched and vibrates through the dance space with such electric inspiration for me and has for decades now. I am so grateful to be working with ten women across many genres of the art form – from dance scholars and makers to teachers and seekers – to join me in the howl. To join me in the The Surge.
Sonya Tayeh
Credit Manuel Harlan
Credit Manuel Harlan
Directed and Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
A Joyce Theater and Factory International production
Sonya Tayeh Director and Choreographer
Sinéad O’Connor Music
Tom Visser Lighting and Scenic Designer
Marc Cardarelli Sound Designer
Jenn Freeman Associate Choreographer
Márion Talán de la Rosa Costume Designer
Mieka van der Ploeg Associate Costume Designer
Jenn Freeman, Lauren Gerrie Co-Rehearsal Directors
Betsy Cooper, Alison Clancy, Gabrielle Malone, Mor Mendel, Amy Miller, Jennifer Nugent, Karine Plantadit, Lisa Race, Monique Smith, Jin Ju Song-Begin Dance Artists
Lauren Gerrie Understudy
Stacey-Jo Marine Production Manager
Jenna Hanlon Stage Manager
Student & Teacher Tickets
The Charleston Gaillard Center’s Education and Community Program is pleased to announce student and teacher tickets are available for this performance. Limited availability. Limited to two tickets per person with valid student/teacher ID.
Student and Teacher tickets available in advance: Tickets are $36 for Green seats on seating map. Price will update after Student/Teacher ticket is added to the cart. Ticket purchasers must pick up their tickets at Will Call the night of the performance.
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For a limited time, your support goes twice as far. All gifts to the Charleston Gaillard Center’s Dance Initiative will be matched 1:1 by UBS Financial Services, doubling the impact of your contribution in support of world-class dance, new works, and community engagement.
To make a gift, use the button below or contact the Development Office at development@gaillardcenter.org or 843-579-6220.
Please note that for this performance online purchases have a limit of eight (8) tickets per customer. To purchase additional tickets or to inquire about group sales, please contact the ticket office directly at (843) 242-3099.