A dance-theater tribute built around the voice, memoir and legacy of Sinéad O'Connor is set to launch its California tour at the Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego on Nov. 7, 2026, with a 7:30 p.m. curtain and tickets starting at $59. The production, titled “The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor,” features 10 women dancers ranging from their 40s to 60s, whose collective experience adds up to more than 500 years.
The show was conceived, choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh, the Tony Award-winning choreographer behind Moulin Rouge! The Musical, according to The New York Times. Tayeh, 49, has also choreographed for Miley Cyrus, Florence and the Machine, Kylie Minogue and appeared as a guest on So You Think You Can Dance, per Times of San Diego. San Diego's engagement is presented by ArtPower at UC San Diego, which co-commissioned the work alongside The Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, the Charleston Gaillard Center and UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, according to The Joyce Theater.
Grief Turned Into Choreography
Tayeh has said “The Surge” was a direct outcome of O'Connor's sudden death, which came at age 56 in 2023, according to the same Times report. Times of San Diego reports Tayeh developed the piece after O'Connor's death prompted her own grief and nostalgia, and that she does not intend to define or explain O'Connor's life through the work. The Joyce Theater describes the production as a meditation on voice, protest and the courage to live a life that defies the norm.
Rather than functioning as biography, the piece draws on O'Connor's music and narration pulled from her memoir, “Rememberings,” per STG Presents. A review from the UK outlet JADAR made a similar point about the Manchester production, noting that while the piece uses O'Connor's music and some of her words, it is not strictly about her but rather inspired by her. Times of San Diego reports the show examines O'Connor poetically rather than biographically, exploring themes of mental health, spirituality and transformation.
A Cast Chosen for Its Years, Not Despite Them
Times of San Diego reports Tayeh cast mature dancers specifically because age-based assumptions can limit their opportunities elsewhere in the field. The Joyce Theater frames that choice directly, stating the piece cuts through the notion of age as something to fear. In Manchester, the world premiere staged the dancers across church pews in a scene The Guardian described as a wake, noting that the 10 women's combined age is over 500 — a detail Times of San Diego also reports for the touring production, with some performers wearing O'Connor-inspired shaved heads.
The Manchester run was co-produced by Factory International and drew what Times of San Diego characterizes as rave reviews before the show transferred to New York's Joyce Theater, where JADAR reported it was scheduled to run from Sept. 16 to 27. Factory International lists the touring dance artists as Betsy Cooper, Alison Clancy, Gabrielle Malone, Mor Mendel, Amy Miller, Jennifer Nugent, Karine Plantadit, Lisa Race, Monique Smith and Jin Ju Song-Begin.
Themes Rooted in O'Connor's Own Activism
Times of San Diego notes the production touches on subjects O'Connor herself addressed during her life and career, including opposition to abuse in the Catholic Church and advocacy around the HIV/AIDS crisis and women's rights. The New York Times reports the piece more broadly explores grief, joy, rage, mental breakdown and spiritual seeking tied to O'Connor's biography, while The Music Center describes the work as an examination of resilience, rebellion and the enduring power of female expression.
Elizabeth Bradshaw, director of artistic programming at ArtPower at UC San Diego, said O'Connor was a voice of a generation, according to Times of San Diego. Tayeh has said she hopes audiences leaving the theater will reconsider their views of O'Connor, the outlet reports.
Free Access for UC San Diego Students
ArtPower is offering UC San Diego students free tickets to every performance it presents this season for the fourth consecutive year, according to ArtPower at UC San Diego. Nearly 10,000 students took advantage of that free-ticketing initiative over the past year, the organization says. Students will also have the chance to take a workshop with The Surge's dance company, per Times of San Diego, and the Nov. 7 performance is part of ArtPower's 23rd season.
The San Diego date marks the launch of the production's California leg as part of a broader international tour, Times of San Diego reports. Later in the season, ArtPower has booked another O'Connor-adjacent event: on April 22, 2027, self-described anti-disciplinary artist Dorian Wood is scheduled to perform O'Connor's 1990 album, “I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got,” in its entirety, in a stripped-down piano-and-voice format, according to ArtPower.
