culture
“People like me needed Sinéad O’Connor”: how the singer and activist inspired a new dance work
Tony-winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh was ‘broken up’ when she heard about the Irish singer-songwriter’s death three years ago. Now she and a group of over-40s female dancers are paying homage: ‘People love her, people need her’
TL;DR
- Sonya Tayeh was inspired by Sinéad O'Connor's 1992 protest on Saturday Night Live, seeing it as a moment of defiance against injustice.
- O'Connor's career was derailed by backlash, which Tayeh believes was a result of her being a "protest singer" with "stuff to get off her chest."
- Tayeh, an award-winning choreographer, felt profound grief upon O'Connor's death in 2023, reflecting on how the world had previously "denied her" and "vilified her heavily."
- The death of O'Connor sparked the idea for Tayeh's new dance piece, "The Surge," which is set to O'Connor's music and features women over 40.
- "The Surge" aims to explore themes of energy, self-discovery, and the experiences of older women, addressing their underrepresentation in dance and music.
- Tayeh relates to O'Connor's spirituality, her questioning of religion, and her "full-frontal demand to be heard," connecting it to her own experiences of childhood bullying and trauma.
- The casting call for "The Surge" attracted numerous women over 40, with the final cast having a combined age of 529, demonstrating a strong "soul power."
- Tayeh hopes the dance piece will vibrate loudly and reach O'Connor's heart, as a testament to her impact and the need for her message.
- The piece is described as a ritual of gestures with a sense of community and congregation, exploring layers to find the "raw self underneath."