"Mr. O'Connor transmuted dry, rigorous, minimal movement into rhythmically complex, textured encounters among his four superb dancers to create a kind of poem of richness and emotional depth." – The New York Times

The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is pleased to present Tere O’Connor Dance in an encore presentation of Rammed Earth, September 24-28, 2008 in BAC’s Howard Gilman Performance Space.

Following its critically acclaimed run at The Chocolate Factory last year, Tere O'Connor brings Rammed Earth to BAC for 10 performances this fall. Inspired by contemporary architecture, where concepts of adaptability and human interaction drive design, O'Connor has created a work that adapts to each new setting in which it is performed. The work challenges the perceived rigidity of built space, juxtaposing it with the fluidity of the human form. The evening-length work brings into evidence the shifting layers of architectural reference in dance. Audience members are incorporated into the expanding and contracting liquid space of the work as they are escorted into different viewing positions throughout the performance.
Rammed Earth is created by O’Connor in collaboration with his longtime artistic partners lighting designers Michael O’Connor and Brian MacDevitt, and composer James Baker, and is performed by Hilary Clark, Heather Olson, Matthew Rogers and Christopher Williams.

Performances are September 24-28, 2008 (Wednesday-Sunday) at 7:00pm and 9:00pm. Artist discussion to follow the 7:00pm performances on Thursday, September 25 and Saturday, September 27. For tickets to Tere O’Connor Dance’s gala performances on September 24, please call 212-633-0016. All other tickets are $20 and can be purchased through the Ticket Central Box Office at
212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. Please note that there is no late seating for these performances.

The Baryshnikov Arts Center is located at 450 West 37th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues in NYC. For more information visit: www.bacnyc.org.

Tere O’Connor has been making dances since 1982 and has created over 35 works for his company. The company has performed throughout the US and in Europe, South America and Canada. O’Connor has created numerous commissioned works for dance companies around the world, among these have been works for Lyon Opera Ballet, White Oak Dance Project, de Rotterdamse Dansgroep, Holland; Carte Blanche, Norway; Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, PA; and Zenon in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to his 1996 work Greta in a Ditch for White Oak, he recently created a new solo work for Mikhail Baryshnikov entitled Indoor Man. Tere O'Connor is a 1993 Guggenheim Fellow. He is the recent recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art Award, a National Dance Project Award, and Arts International’s DNA Project Award. He has received three New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Awards including one for Sustained Achievement. He is also a recipient of repeated grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The New York Foundation for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation/MAP Fund, Jerome Foundation, Altria Group, Inc., Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, and Mid-Atlantic USArtists International. As a teacher, O'Connor was a ballet instructor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for nine years. A much sought after teacher, O’Connor has also taught at the Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, University of Illinois, at the School for New Dance Development (The Netherlands), and Tanzwochen (Austria), among others. He is currently a professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign.

Photo credit:
Tere O’Connor Dance
“Rammed Earth”
Pictured: Heather Olson and Matthew Rogers
Photo by: Paula Court