Rehearsal images are released today for the World Premiere of The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor created by Tony award-winning choreographer and director Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge:The Musical!) opening from 25-27 June 2026 at Aviva Studios, Manchester, home of Factory International. The dance work is set to the music of Sinéad O’Connor and is a mediation on voice, protest and the courage to live a life that defies the norm performed by a company of 10 women.
Presented in partnership with The Joyce Theater and Factory International, O’Connor’s voice guides us through the work, via her iconic music and narration from her memoir Remembering’s with Tayeh’s powerfully choreography performed by 10 women – 10 dance artists cutting 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.
The company brings together Dance Artists Betsy Cooper, Alison Clancy, Gabrielle Malone, Mor Mendel, Amy Miller, Jennifer Nugent, Karine Plantadit, Lisa Race, Monique Smith, Jin Ju Song-Begin and Understudy Lauren Gerrie.
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. Tayeh has also directed and choreographed for world renowned music artists including Miley Cyrus, Florence and the Machine and Kyle Minogue. Her upcoming projects include the world premiere of Girl, Interrupted at New York’s Public Theater and the Academy Award-nominated psychological thriller Black Swan which she brings to the stage at A.R.T in Massachusetts. 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.
Director and choreographer Sonya Tayeh said: “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 Surge.”
Images: Courtesy of Joseph DiGiovanna