WE HAVE A GREAT TIME: TERE O’CONNOR

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Jessica interviewed choreographer Tere O’Connor leading up to his NYC premiere of Long Run at NYU Skirball (10/12 & 10/13). They talked about how Tere’s fascination with structure led to the multi-layered aesthetic he has become known for. Tere revealed some of the processes he uses to convolute movement phrases, focusing on rhythm, the mixing of dance techniques, density, and invalid structures. (Learn more about all of these in the interview!) Tere related his choreographic processes to the nature of the mind itself, which remains in and out of a constant episodic flow of consciousness.

Tere O’Connor is Artistic Director of Tere O’Connor Dance. His works bring formal and conceptual concerns into direct dialogue. Engaging the tension between the geometries of the rectangular stage, the organic forms of nature, and the vast terrain of human behavior, he reconsiders abstraction. O’Connor has created over 40 works for his company and toured these throughout the US, Europe, South America and Canada. He has created numerous commissions including works for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jean Butler, and the Lyon Opera Ballet, to name a few. He has received three Bessie Awards and is a Center for Advanced Studies Professor in Dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Visit tereoconnordance.org to learn more.

NYU Skirball will present the New York City premiere of Tere O’Connor’s Long Run, playing for two performances on Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13 at 7:30 pm. Long Run (2017) pushes the emotional content of O’Connor’s movement to new physical extremes, allowing time-based elements like polyrhythms, velocity and duration to become external forces in the work, overtaking the eight performers as they repeatedly struggle to bring their bodies into a state of calm. O’Connor’s score enhances the referential potential of the work and drives its rhythmic trajectory.

Images from Long Run:

Click to view slideshow.