Kevin O'Connor: Guest Artist, Performer, Collaboraotor
Kevin O'Connor, from London Ontario, has been working professional for the past 15 years as an improviser, dancer, choreographer and circus artist. He studied mountain lions, coastal salmon populations and land use planning while acquiring a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of British Columbia. He then ran off and joined the circus when he was accepted into the three year circus art program at the National Circus School of Montreal. He specialized in climbing ropes and minored in clowning. Kevin received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council to create and tour his own work, has worked with Bessie Award winning choreographer Noemie Lafrance in New York City and numerous San Francisco Bay Area choreographers. He continues to collaborate with performance artist Ruth Douthwright, engaging Ontario communities with their local watershed through interactive performance and Brandy Leary exploring Choreographic Installations for Landscape and Architecture. His movement research is influenced by over 10 years of studying the human movement analysis and training methodology called the Axis Syllabus. He recently finished his MFA in choreography at the University of California Davis. His current interdisciplinary research engages improvisation, storytelling, dance and circus arts as tools for investigating the ecological body.