Seán Curran Dance Company

"Curran emerges as a sublime choreographer, creating complexly musical phrases for a company that literally rises to meet his expectations." - The Village Voice

Seán Curran spent two years incubating his company at New York City's Danspace Project, paying dancers with subway tokens for rehearsals and dinners for performances. But in 1997, Curran decided it was time to grow up organizationally, to pay the dancers in real money and to create the Seán Curran Company. Since those modest beginnings, the company has toured throughout the United States and Europe, and has developed a reputation for creating a strong sense of community in the classroom and on stage, while attending to the visceral expression of emotions, musicality, clarity and craft.

The company's first major commission came in 1997 for a piece he entitled "Folk Dance for the Future." Until then, Seán Curran, who began his dance training with traditional Irish step dancing, had resisted using his Irish voice in the pieces he created. "Folk Dance for the Future" marked the beginning of Curran's incorporation of his Irish background into his choreographic works.

A graduate and guest faculty member of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Curran began his dance training as a young boy in Boston, Massachusetts. He went on to make his mark on the dance world as a leading dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and was an original member of the New York City cast of the Off-Broadway percussion extravaganza STOMP, a position he held for four years.

Curran has received numerous awards and honors, including a New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award, a choreographer's fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a designation as one of Irish America magazine's Top 100 Irish Americans.

Residency Activities

Please join us for several free residency activities conducted by members of the company on November 7 and 8, including workshops on Gender Learning and Body Percussion, and a Lecture-Demonstration program conducted by Sean Curran and company:

Lecture/Demonstration with Seán Curran and Company
Wednesday November 7, 2007, 4pm
Valborg Theatre
During this session, company members will demonstrate from their repertoire, then "take apart" the selected pieces to show how the movement phrases were generated, how the partnering was built and how the choreography was constructed. This program lasts approximately one hour, and will include a question and answer session with Seán Curran and the dancers.

"Gender Learning Groups"
Wednesday November 7, 2007, 5pm
Valborg Theatre
Immediately following a 4pm lecture/demonstration, Seán Curran and the dancers will lead a discussion of how gender figures into the performance, and how it informs our experience in the world. Topics discussed include the politics of partnering - who gets to dance with whom. The dancers share what it's like to be male or female, gay, straight or bisexual - in life, in rehearsal and on stage.

"Body Percussion"
Thursday November 8, 2007, 2:00 - 3:15pm
Percussion Room, 119 Broyhill Music Center
After four years as an original New York City cast member of the percussion extravaganza STOMP and numerous collaborations with master percussionist/composer Tigger Benford, Seán Curran has designed a unique workshop for both dancers and musicians. In this program, participants will be guided through physical warm-up and rudimentary drumming exercises, followed by set body percussion routines. The participants will then improvise, composing and choreographing individual routines using the body as a percussion and dancing instrument.

For additional details, please call (828) 262-6084, ext. 100.

This performance is funded in part by a grant from the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

This performance is presented in partnership with Appalachian's Department of Theatre and Dance and the Hayes School of Music, and is the headline concert of the North Carolina Dance Alliance's 2007 annual conference. Residency activities are presented in partnership with Appalachian's Department of Theatre and Dance and the Hayes School of Music and with support from the North Carolina Dance Alliance.

Late seating policy applies.