Paula Court

Choreographer Tere O'Connor explores the "otherness" of artists in "Cover Boy," coming Sept. 12 to the Schwartz Center.

The Department of Performing and Media Arts will present a performance by the Tere O’Connor Dance Company of “Cover Boy,” Friday, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts’ Kiplinger Theatre. Tickets are $27 for the general public and $25 for students and senior citizens.

“Cover Boy” is Tere O’Connor’s celebration of the outsider perspective of artists – part expression, part exorcism and part political observation. He fuses and connects the difficulties of a closeted existence with the positive elements of “otherness” to explore how this shapes a sense of social awareness.

He extracts structural conceits from the closeted gay experience to drive his choreographic process, described by O’Connor as a “queering of structure,” drawing on his own experiences and embracing this “gift of marginalization.”

“I have admired Tere’s work deeply for 30 years, and on his initial visit, I am so incredibly pleased he is presenting ‘Cover Boy’ here at Cornell,” said Byron Suber, senior lecturer of dance. “It is one of his most beautiful and personal pieces and stands out as a masterpiece of postmodern choreography.”

O’Connor has been making dances since 1982, including more than 35 works for his company. His credits include a solo work created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and numerous commissions for dance companies around the world, among them Lyon Opera Ballet and White Oak Dance Project, which commissioned his 1996 work “Greta in a Ditch.”

Tickets for the Sept. 12 performance are available at SchwartzTickets.com, by calling 607-254-2787 or from the Schwartz Center box office, 430 College Ave., Ithaca, open noon-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and one hour before performances.

Liz Field is communications manager for the Department of Performing and Media Arts.