March 24 through today!

I've been really behind with posting links to the San Francisco Appeal. Eek and sorry! But if you want to read everything in real time, the best way to do that is to add the Appeal's RSS feed (or just mine, if you'd like) to your reader (or whatever you use to manage blogs, rss, etc.).

On March 24, I wrote about dance anywhere, an annual event where "people [dance] wherever they are at the same time: noon here in San Francisco, 3PM in New York, 8PM in Paris, etc."

On March 31, I spoke with Aline Wachsmuth, a dance/collaborate with LEVYdance who says that "[b]eing a dancer in this particular company has given me room for growth as a mover, a choreographer, a dance viewer, and a person. I'm really grateful to have such an amazing collaborative relationship with Ben [Levy]."

And on April 7, I previewed Stephen Pelton Dance Theater's The Dance Hour. Pelton said that, "I chose the framing device of a radio hour, as a way of prompting the audience to expect varying points of view. So it is a very eclectic program. But as many of the performers have been working together for some time, it feels as if the ensemble really shines as a whole."

Today, I reviewed SF Ballet's Program 7. About Jerome Robbins' The Concert, I wrote, "The 21 dancers, clad in powder blue leotards, tights, and shoes, funnel in to see a concert, and from there we zoom off with them into music-inspired daydreams."

dance flash and other stuff @ the appeal: 2/2010!!!

yours truly is truly busy this week. i reviewed "beyond the pole," a mockumentary about two british dudes taking their environmental crusade to the north pole yesterday. it has nothing to do with dance; wait, scratch that. there are two scenes at a salsa dancing class! today i previewed "love everywhere," a multi-location dance and theater piece that kicks off at city hall on friday at noon. still to come: two, albeit brief, reviews of sf ballet!

beyond the pole excerpt:

The film opens up with one of the funniest parts: Mark and Brian explaining the why behind hiking, training, and ferrying (no planes here!) to the North Pole. They banter back and forth and finally show off what's under their shirts: more shirts. The tees say, "Don't be impotent. Be important." Ah, boys.

full review is here.

love everywhere excerpt:

Chong Shuch says, "I feel like [Love Everywhere] is just a really special thing. You know, this is the six-year anniversary of when they started issuing the same sex marriage licenses, so this piece is... really joyful and very much a celebration of those marriages, like a Valentine's Day celebration of love in this huge public space where so many people have been married. For Friday, I think it's going to be really fun..., and I hope that the performance will bring to the forefront this whole marriage equality issue without being political about it. I hope we can put some pictures and images out there in the world that bring life to that issue. "

full preview is here.

in addition, i got a chance to see sean dorsey's work at dance mission this week, and i was really blown away. so much so that i wrote to my undergrad's dance, gender studies, and glbt? heads and insisted they host him in some shape, form, or manner.

dance flash @ the appeal: sean dorsey dance

This week at the SF Appeal, I spoke with Sean Dorsey, who is recognized as the nation's first out transgender modern dance choreographer.

Excerpt:

My whole identity was very much wrapped up in being a traditional activist and community organizer, and I really struggled for many years with the idea of giving myself over to being a working artist. It felt like it would be selfish, but it was through the process of being in dance school and starting to make work that I got that actually this was the way that I could, I think, affect the most change in my community: through my cultural activism as a choreographer and artistic director.

For the full interview, go here.

Photo by Lydia Daniller

dance flash @ the appeal: sf ethnic dance festival auditions!

go check out awesome ethnic dance this weekend! bonus points if you try to conduct exit interviews...

This Saturday and Sunday mark the second weekend of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival auditions at the Palace of Fine Arts. Think of it like a local, multicultural version of "So You Think You Can Dance" auditions, minus the hot tamale train.

the full article is at the san francisco appeal.

dance flash @ the appeal: women on the way

This week at the San Francisco Appeal, I focused on the Women on the Way Festival.

It's an empowering celebration of boobs and hoo hahs at the Women on the Way (WOW) Festival, which starts this weekend and continues through the end of the month, and with 19 vastly different performing arts groups (theater, dance, spoken word, comedy, and aerial work), this festival covers a lot of ground. Artistic Director Mary Alice Fry says that Women on the Way tries "to help women break through to a place where they can recognize where their professional careers might be going and make a commitment to themselves."

For the entire advance, go here.

Photo of Sonya Smith & Dancers
by Lydia Daniller

dance flash @ the appeal: KUNST-STOFF's new space and NYE bash

This week at the sf appeal, I've highlighted KUNST-STOFF's new arts space, which kicks off with a NYE open house.

The location may be "amazing," but this is one local who thinks that Adoniou has his work cut out for him. Located just east of the basement-located, florescent light-filled Marshall's, this mid-Market span has gotten loads of attention over a planned revitalization, but currently foot traffic tends to fall off once you hit 5th. Should the area flourish, Adoniou could have a major success on his hands.

For the full article, go here.