World-premiere dance-theater work by choreographer Sonya Tayeh, set to Sinéad O'Connor's music and exploring themes of protest, faith and vulnerability.
The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor premieres at the Balboa Theatre on Saturday, November 7, 2026. It's a world-premiere dance-theater work by Tony Award-winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh, set to Sinéad O'Connor's music and presented by San Diego Theatres and Artpower @ UCSD.
The piece is built around narration drawn from O'Connor's memoir, Rememberings, and it takes her music as its foundation. Tayeh describes it as an exploration of protest, faith, vulnerability, and the courage to defy expectationâthemes that run through O'Connor's life and work. The whole thing is performed by a company of ten women, and there's a specific reason for that: between them, they have more than five hundred years of collective experience. It's a deliberate choice meant to challenge fear around aging and to honor the beauty, strength, and perspective that come with time.
If you're familiar with O'Connor, you know she spent much of her career pushing against expectations, so the casting fits the subject. The show brings together her music and her own words, with Tayeh's choreography filling in the gaps. It's a world premiere, meaning this is the first time it's being staged, and it's making its debut right here in San Diego.
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Tickets run from $54 to $86, with facilities fees included. The performance starts at 7:30 PM, and the doors open an hour before, so you've got plenty of time to get settled. One practical thing to keep in mind: the Balboa Theatre is cashless, and every attendee needs their own ticket. If you're planning to go, it's worth remembering that early.
