SEASON 6
June 29th-July 2nd, 2023
ODC Theater
season 6’s offering was a poetic exploration int0 identity,Dance heritage, the intrinsic connection to music, and, of course, the surprising reflections on our time by some of today's leading and emerging choreographers.
Pam Tanowitz
Gustave Le Gray, No. 1
West Coast Premiere
Music: Caroline Shaw’s Gustave Le Gray
Costume Design: Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung
World Premiere: The Kennedy Center, Ballet Across America 2019
in collaboration with Miami City Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem
“The work has an egalitarian air: All of the dancers are onstage for (nearly) the whole time, flocking together in beautifully billowing red costumes (again by Bartelme and Jung). At one point, they push the piano across the stage; Gosling ambles along with them, his fingers not leaving the keys. With a grounded simplicity and sense of play, the piece resolves as almost a mirror image of where it started.”
New York Times, Siobhan Burke, April 24, 2022.
Season 6 will proudly present Gustave Le Gray No. 1, a ravishing and arresting work by Pam Tanowitz, a choreographer Artistic Director, Dana Genshaft, has long admired. In its West Coast debut, this work will be performed with live piano accompaniment to a score written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.
Photo: George Etheredge
José Limón
Danzas Mexicanas
West Coast Premiere
Music: Lionel Nowak, original score
Premiered: Mills College, Oakland, CA 1939
Restaged: Joyce Theatre NYC, NY 2022
“In celebration of the Limón Dance Company’s 75th anniversary season we are reconstructing and reimagining “Danzas Mexicanas”, a partially lost early work by José Limón. Developed at a pivotal moment in his career, “Danzas” is a collection of five solos representing historical Mexican figures that reveal Limón’s complicated relationship with his heritage and identity.”
Dante Puleio, Artistic Director, Limón Dance Company
Danzas Mexicanas deepens our connection and reverence for masterworks. Working with the Limón Company, we secured an excerpt comprising two solos. These will be performed by a wonderful dancer (and former student of Dana Genshaft), current Limón Company member MJ Edwards, accompanied by a piano score by American composer Lionel Nowak. The work, which is José’s response to his Mexican heritage, premiered in 1939 at Mills College in Oakland. Since then it has not been seen outside of New York, and SFDanceworks is the first company to perform these solos apart from the Limón Company.
Laura O’Malley
The Tone Inside
World Premiere
For her third commission, we are thrilled Laura, former co-director of SFDW will create an anchor piece for Season 6. Laura, who is on the precipice of a rich choreographic career, will be collaborating with lighting and set designer James French and costume designer Lauren Starobin, using music composed and arranged by Alton Allen. Her world premiere is generously underwritten by Larissa Roesch. After her success last season with Within Where we are anxious to see where Laura takes us this year.
Bryan Arias
The Broken Glass
World Premiere
Bryan, who is based in Zurich, Switzerland, will be creating a new work, a world premiere for SFDanceworks, that dives into his Puerto Rican heritage, uncovering the music of Bomba Y Plena, Boleros, and the music of his childhood. Season 6 is Bryan’s first time working with SFDW.
"Arias’s approach is similar to the magic mixture in Wes Anderson’s films: The silliness is graced by sincerity, and the poignancy glows with humanity”
Boston Globe
Alexander Anderson
What’s Left Unsaid
World Premiere
Alexander Anderson, a gorgeous emerging artist from NYC and former member of the Netherlands Dance Theater and Gibney, has choreographed an intimate duet for returning long-time company artist Nick Korkos and former SF Ballet principal dancer, Benjamin Freemantle. Alex joins Season 6 as a choreographer for the first time, after being part of the staging of Edward Clug’s Mutual Comfort last season.
Alba Castillo
Before You Land
US Premiere
Music: Joep Beving, “Prelude”, adapted by Alba Castillo
Premiere date: July 15th 2019, National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Alba Castillo, a fantastic choreographer originally from Spain and formerly with Campanie National de Dance, will be presenting a work for two women that earned her a choreographic gold medal in 2019 at the Beijing Choreographic Competition.