Michael Seaver

Writing
Michael Seaver is a writer, dance critic with The Irish Times and the Irish correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and Ballet Tanz magazine. He has written for mainstream media, as well as specialised publications such as Dance Theatre Journal, Dance Magazine and Dance Europe. A contributor to books and journals, he is currently editing The Word Life of Dances, a collection of reviews by Diana Theodores. Former vice-president of Dance Research Forum Ireland, he has also served on the editorial board of the journal Choreographic Encounters. In 2004 he was the only international critic to receive a New York Times/National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship to attend the Institute for Dance Criticism at the American Dance Festival. In 2006 he returned to teach at the Institute and was Scholar-in-residence at the Bates Dance Festival in Maine.

Music
Michael is principal clarinettist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, a co-founder of the Crash Ensemble and a member of the Haenjo Trio. He has performed concertos - from Mozart to Artie Shaw - and has given solo recitals throughout Ireland, specialising in contemporary music. He has performed Irish premieres of works by composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Tom Johnson, and Gavin Bryars, as well as many premieres by Irish composers. He holds an MA in Music and is one of a handful of musicians who have tackled Stockhausen's Harlequin for dancing clarinettist, performing the work in Ireland, Miami, Salzburg and Mexico. As a composer he wrote over twenty scores for dance companies in Ireland and Mexico between 1988 and 1996, after which he concentrated on writing about dance. He has also composed for theatre, including the Abbey Theatre.