Tere OConnor Dance 20th Anniversary Season BABY (world premiere) Dance Theater Workshop March 22 - April 1 (Wednesday

y Saturday at 7:30pm) Choreographed, written and directed by Tere OConnor Performed by Hilary Clark, Erin Gerken, Heather Olson, Matthew Rogers and Christopher Williams (Portions of the movement material for this work were created by the dancers through improvisation) Music by James Baker and Tere OConnor Costumes by Amy Clark and Tere OConnor Lighting Design by Brian MacDevitt Set Design by Tere OConnor and Brian MacDevitt Lighting Supervisor: Michael OConnor Music recorded and engineered by Mick Cantarella at Grampa Studios BABY was originally commissioned by the Creative Residency Program of Dance Theater Workshop with support from the Ford Foundation, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. This presentation was made possible in association with Judy and Steven Gluckstern of the David R. White Producers Circle. BABY was also created during a generous residency at the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation made possible by a gift from James Duffy in Memory of Martha Duffy and another at Florida State Universitys Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography. BABY is made possible with generous support provided by The Rockefeller Foundation/MAP Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Altria Group, Inc., Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and the generous contributions of our patrons.

BIOGRAPHIES Tere OConnor has been making dances since 1982 and has created over thirty works for his company. The company has performed throughout the US and in Europe, South America and Canada. OConnor has created numerous commissioned works for dance companies around the world, among these have been works for White Oak Dance Project, de Rotterdamse Dansgroep (Holland); Carte Blanche (Norway); Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, and Zenon in Minneapolis. In addition to his 1996 work Greta in a Ditch for White Oak, he recently created a new solo work for Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 2006, OConnor will create a new work for the Lyon Opera Ballet. 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 Internationals DNA Project Award. He has received three New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Awards. 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 Arts International: The Fund for US Artists at International Festivals. As a teacher, O'Connor taught at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Ohio State University, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, University of Illinois, School for New Dance Development, Tanzwochen, among others. He teaches regularly at Movement Research in New York City. James Baker has composed numerous works for Tere OConnor over the years. Among these: Choke, Winter Belly, The World is a Missing Girl, Hi Everybody, and Heaven Up North, for which he received a Bessie Award. Baker appears regularly in the New York area and elsewhere, as a musician, performer, composer and conductor. An accomplished percussionist, he is principal percussionist with the NYC Ballet as well as percussionist with the American Composers Orchestra. As a conductor, he has led many performances in a wide variety of styles. He was a member of the conducting staff of several Broadway shows including The King and I, The Sound of Music, The Music Man, An Inspector Calls, Oklahoma and La Boheme.

Amy Clark is thrilled to be working with Tere and his gang again. She has designed for Gus Solomons, Ben Munisteri, Marjorie Mussman, and extensively for the Juilliard Schools dance program. Recent theater design includes Dangerous Beauty, Bliss, On the Verge, and Cinderella "a new musical". She is the assistant and/or associate for several regional and Broadway shows. She is an MFA from Tisch School for the Arts design program. Hilary Clark appears in her second project with Tere O'Connor. She thanks her lucky stars that Tere O'Connor, a true visionary, makes dance, and that she is a part of it together with such amazing artists. The internal structure of her interpretation of this art form has been influenced by many experiences and people. She has danced for and with the lovely Fiona Marcotty, various other artists, and most recently with the brilliant Heather Olson. Erin Gerken holds a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and was the sole recipient of the university-wide Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship. She began dancing with Tere OConnor in 2001. She is honored to be part of a process directed by someone she deeply trusts and thankful to be working with this group of artists who both inspire and challenge her. Brian MacDevitt has worked with Tere O' Connor for 20 years in what has been his most important collaboration in dance. They have collaborated in NYC at DTW, the Kitchen, PS 122, and Danspace Project at St. Marks Church. MacDevitts most recent designs in NY are The Pillowman, The Color Purple, Urinetown, Sweet Charity, and works by Nancy Bannon at Joyce Soho. Brian is the recipient of Tony, Obie, and Hewes awards for his work in theater. He received a Bessie for his work with Tere O' Connor. Brian would like to thank Michael O'Connor for his continued support of this work. Brian teaches at Purchase College and is the father of Jake and Georgie. Michael OConnor, a native New Yorker, has designed over 200 professional productions both nationally and internationally. Shortly after graduating from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at Purchase College, he was accepted into United Scenic Artists Local 829. Aside from New York, Michael's work has been seen in Las Vegas, Orlando, Colorado Springs, as well as numerous other cities across North and South America. He is the Resident Lighting Designer for LightBox, and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts NYC. He has also been the Lighting Supervisor for Tere O'Connor Dance since 1997. Heather Olson has been dancing with Tere O'Connor for over 8 years and feels really lucky. She grew up in Chicago and holds a BFA from North Carolina School of the Arts. In addition to her work with OConnor, she has been working with Yanira Castro + Company since 2000; and has also had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Allen, Ivy Baldwin, Levi Gonzales, Ashley Smith (Red Dive), and Donna Uchizono. Her own work was recently presented through Danspace Project's Food for Thought series. Love and thanks to my family and to Damien. Matthew Rogers is from Virginia. He received a BFA in Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University. In New York, he also has had the opportunity of dancing in the works of Ivy Baldwin, Johannes Wieland, Isabelle Lewis, and with Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig, among others. Recently, he performed in his own work in collaboration Jack Ferver, his precious, at Dixon Place. He would like to thank the company for continuing to inspire day after day. Christopher Williams is a dancer, choreographer, and puppeteer. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and the cole Internationale de Thtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He is thrilled to be dancing for Tere OConnor, Douglas Dunn, and Rebecca Lazier's TERRAIN, among others. He has also performed for Basil Twist and Dan Hurlin. His own works have been presented both domestically and internationally in Bogot, Colombia. His most recent collaborations have been with acclaimed early music choirs The Anonymous 4 and Lionheart. He will premiere new work at Danspace Project this May.

For more information about the company and/or to share your thoughts, please visit: www.tereoconnordance.org Project/Tour Management for Tere O'Connor Dance: Janet Stapleton Tel: (212) 633-0016, Fax: (212) 633-0394, Email: jstapleton@att.net