JADAR

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor is a bold new dance work “inspired by Sinéad O’Connor uncompromising voice and spirit”, conceived, choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh, who won a Tony Award for choreographing Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The show is currently having its world premiere at AVIVA Studios, home of Factory International, before having its international premiere at the Joyce Theater (who Tayeh pitched the idea to) in New York in Autumn. That the work is premiering in Manchester, despite being pitched to a theatre in New York, is a testament to the emergence of Manchester as the city to launch new shows, with The Surge‘s world premiere taking place one day after the UK premiere of Something Rotten!

The Surge is performed by a company of ten women, of various ethnicities and ages, who cut right through the notion of age as something to fear. With more than 500 years of collective wisdom and experience, they affirm the passing of time as a privilege that carries beauty and experience with it. Every single wrinkle is earned. Yet, the older women move with such skill and elasticity that if they had their faces covered, you’d think you were watching women in their youth! But that’s just it. These women disregard the idea of a woman being in her prime. Your entire life is your prime. This feels especially important with the knowledge that Sinéad O’Connor died of natural causes aged just 56, a year after her 17-year-old son tragically committed suicide.

I don’t think that I have ever before seen a cast move with such harmony, community and solidarity. It sounds cheesy but they are such a sisterhood. The love and appreciation that they have for each other oozes right through, and they embrace the audience into their community. Tayeh has them congregate and move like a flock of birds. But she celebrates them as diverse individuals, with each dancer getting their moment in the spotlight, rather than stripping them of their individuality and forcing them into “a chorus line” – but then they come together and work as one, a collective, humanity.

The dance artists are Betsy Cooper, Alison Clancy, Gabrielle Malone, Mor Mendel, Amy Miller, Jennifer Nugent, Karine Plantadit, Lisa Race, Monique Smith, and Jin Ju Song-Begin.

Whilst the piece uses the music, and some words, of Sinéad O’Connor, it is not strictly about her but rather inspired by her. It is about all of us, but especially women. O’Connor attracted both revere and revile during her life, memorably being cancelled after tearing up a photo of he Pope in protest of the Catholic Church’s institutionalised paedophilia – something which she is now celebrated for. There is, arguably, a cult of O’Connor, like an ancient goddess who was adored by her worshipers but detested by follows of other Gods, especially men. This speaks to the impossibility of being a woman, like America Ferrara’s passionate feminist monologue in Barbie. Tayah’s choreography is at times deliberately raw, rough and visceral, celebrating women in all their humanity, warts and all. She strips away the perfection and glamour of professional dance, like her own choreography in Moulin Rouge!, and reveals something much more real underneath.

The middle section, which feels like a series of vignettes, is not as powerful and captivating as the first and last sections, but it breaks up the action and keeps it from feeling like an intense emotional overload.

Tom Visser’s scenic design is deliberately simple and slick, allowing the dancers to be the spectacle, whilst his low-level lighting is delightfully textural.

After the show, the DJ played ‘An Phailistín’ by Irish artists Sharon Shannon & Róisín Elsafty (whose stepfather is Egyptian) which felt poetic as Tayeh is Arab-American (Palestinian and Lebanese) whilst O’Connor was Irish (and pro-Palestine).

Whilst I have always appreciated the artistry and ambition evident in Factory International’s programming, I previously found some of their works to be a little alienatingly avant-garde. But the venue has finally found its footing, still prioritising artistry but also incorporating accessibility. Their past few shows have been absolutely electric – with even the “sex show” not falling victim to being self-indulgent and pretentious! The Surge is not only an ode to Sinéad O’Connor’s uncompromising voice and spirit but also Factory International’s uncompromising promise to welcome and immerse people from all walks of life into high art, onstage, off stage, backstage, and in the audience.

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor runs at AVIVA Studios (The Hall) in Manchester until June 27 before transferring to the Joyce Theater in New York City from September 16 to 27.