Question of Taste: Philip Connaughton on Wagner, Kubrick, and the Dying Swan

In advance of his new show at Cork Opera House, the choreographer selects some of his favourite dance pieces and other inspirations 

Philip Connaughton brings his Love Songs show to Cork Opera House. 

Philip Connaughton is a Dublin-based choreographer. His latest show, Love Songs, features a cast of eight dancers, and is at Cork Opera House for one night only on Wednesday, February 22. Previously, he had choreographed Party Scene, which premiered at Cork Midsummer Festival last year. “My work is the outcome of quite an eclectic career (musical theatre, contemporary dance, opera) and is increasingly autobiographical in nature,” says Connaughton.

Best recent book:

Most of my reading these days tends to be research related. The last book I read was A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini and Richard Lannon, professors from the university of California. It takes a look at the science of human emotions from perspectives of social science, neuroscience and evolutionary biology. I thought it was gonna be a really hard read but was blown away by the beauty of it.

A scene from Love Songs, by Philip Connaughton.

Best recent film:

Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is, without doubt, my all-time favourite. The style, the form, the music. It's so ahead of its time. Actually, the whole A.I. conundrum between the lead character David and the spaceships computer Hal really inspired my for Love Songs — though I think this movie is a constant inspiration.

Best recent show you’ve seen:

I really loved Crowd by Gisele Vienne at Dublin Theatre Festival 2022 — a dance theatre piece where the performers moved in a rave-like outdoor world at night time. Everything was in slow-motion. It was mind-boggling and managed to activate old memories I'd long forgotten. I love when movement does that.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old):

I'm really into preludes at the moment. I love the potential that they hold. It's the essence of a story but it could go in any direction whatsoever. I've been working a lot with Wagner's prelude from Lohengrin. Again it inspires me a lot but I find it hard to use as it's so complete in itself. 

First ever dance piece that really moved you:

Natalia Makarova dancing the Dying Swan. I saw it on TV as a kid and couldn't really understand why it was so moving. I reckon I didn't even know that it was classical ballet at the time but it blew my baby mind. Again... check it out!

The best dance show you've ever seen (if you had to pick one!):

It was a solo performance called Once by Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, to songs sung by Joan Baez. She's such a personal and beautiful performer that I honestly felt she was performing just or me and not a packed audience. That's some skill indeed.

Tell us about your TV viewing:

Any old trash! Right now I use Below Deck to numb my brain but I'm also mad about Real Housewives from pretty much anywhere. And I watch The Office (American version) on repeat constantly.

Radio listening and/or podcasts:

I listen to old radio repeats of Art Bell's Dark Matter, the podcast Nocturne, and anything to do with ufology... the truth is out there 

You're curating your dream festival — which three dancers are on the bill, living or dead?

Zizi Jeanmaire, Rudolf Nurevey, Fred Astaire. That's a dream lineup.

Your best celebrity encounter:

I was rehearsing for a show at Pineapple Studios in London back in the mid-1990s and smoking a fag in the lane outside when this fancy car pulled up and out of it stepped this gorgeous woman. She smiled at me, said hi and disappeared into the building. It was only after she was gone I realised it was Tina Turner.

You can portal back to any cultural event or era — where, when, and why?

I'd love to jump back to the early 20th century to big shows like the Ziegfeld Follies or Busby Berkeley. I'm still really inspired by the glamour and scale of it all. The whole final section in Love Songs is inspired by Busby's 1934 movie Dames.