Tara Brandel is an award-winning choreographer, director, contemporary dancer, aerial dancer and contact improviser originally from West Cork. She has been choreographing extensively since 1990. She trained in Contact Improvisation with CI pioneer Steve Paxton when she was 15, and in aerial dance with aerial pioneers Terry Sendgraff (Motivity low flying trapeze) and Genevieve Mazin (Vertical dance).
Tara performed with San Francisco based aerial dance company Jo Krieter/Flyaway Productions 2003-2005, and toured aerial dance theatre show Sisters with her sister Shaena Brandel (Pirates of the Carabiner/No Fit State Circus) 2008-2011. In 2009 Tara was commissioned by David Teevan/Junction Festival to create Edge, probably Ireland’s first integrated vertical dance performance.
Tara holds a Masters in Interdisciplinary Performance from UC Davis, where she was awarded the Della Davidson Award 2019, the Mondavi Fellowship, and the Women’s Research Center Fellowship for her show Circus, which toured to San Francisco International Arts Festival, Seattle International Dance Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival and FRESH San Francisco 2020. Her dance film CAR was Director’s Choice at the CDIFF in Toronto 2017.
Tara is also Artistic Director of Croí Glan Integrated Dance and for Croí Glan has most recently created TILTan integrated aerial dance show based around a tilting aerial pole designed by Barnaby Munn. TILT toured to Cork Midsummer, Tipperary Dance Festival and Dancer from the Dance Festival; and In Place an outdoor site specific performance made at IMMA. Tara is currently developing a new integrated aerial dance duet called I Dream of Water.