SEÁN CURRAN

Seán Curran’s career in the arts spans 35 years, beginning with traditional Irish step dancing as a child in Boston. A sought-after choreographer and director for opera and theatre, notable projects include Salome (Opera Theatre of St. Louis, San Francisco Opera, Opera Montreal, San Diego Opera); Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream for The Shakespeare Theater; Harvey Milk, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, An American Soldier, 27, Shalimar the Clown, Ariadne on Naxos, Nixon in China, and Daughter of the Regiment at Opera Theater of St. Louis; M. Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera; NYC Opera productions of L'Etoile, Alcina, Turandot, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Capriccio, and Acis and Galetea; Shakespeare in the Park's As You Like It; the Metropolitan Opera’s Romeo and Juliette; and on Broadway in James Joyce's The Dead, Cymbeline, and The Rivals at Lincoln Center Theater. A graduate of New York University, Curran now serves as Arts Professor and Chair of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Dance. As a dancer, Curran is known for his early performance work with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, receiving a “Bessie” award for his role in Secret Pastures, and as an original New York City cast member of STOMP! His 30 choreographic works for his award-winning contemporary dance ensemble, Seán Curran Company, are characterized by collaborations across artistic genres and have toured to nearly 100 venues in the U.S., Europe and Asia with seasons in New York City at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Theater Workshop, The Guggenheim Museum, Irish Arts Center, The Joyce Theater, New Victory Theater, 92nd Street Y/Harkness Dance Project, Danspace Project, Symphony Space, Central Park Summerstage, and Celebrate Brooklyn. Seán Curran Company’s highly regarded service to the field includes donation of performances and classes to the American Civil Liberties Union NYC Chapter, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Residence (a safe house for LGBTQ youth), Dancers Responding to AIDS and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.  Curran also has created works for Jose Limon Dance Company, Darrah Carr Dance, Trinity Irish Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre's studio company, The Wooden Floor, Denmark's Upper Cut Company, Sweden's Skanes Dance Theater, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Ririe Woodbury Dance Theater, and Dance Alloy, as well as for numerous college and university dance departments. He has taught extensively at the American Dance Festival, Harvard Summer Dance Center, Bates Dance Festival, and Boston's Conservatory of Music. Happiest when making new work and teaching, Curran continues to be an ambassador for the art of dance by building and educating dance audiences. In 2019, he was honored with a prestigious Martha Hill Dance Fund award, recognizing his contributions to dance education.

COURSES

Contemporary Dance Technique; Improvisation; Composition; Choreographers, Composers & Designers