Art Animal » Performance

Dance and Diaspora: Persian Dance at the ODC Theater

Setsu Uzume — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 05:29:10 +0000

I went to church to find God, he was not there. I went to the Hindu temple, to the ancient pagoda, God was not there. I went to the Kaaba of Mecca, God was not there. I crossed the wilderness and asked about him from Avicenna, the philosopher but he was beyond the range of [&hellip

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High-art Haunted House: Layla Means Night

Setsu Uzume — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 06:43:19 +0000

Just in time for Halloween, “Layla Means Night” by Rosanna Gamson is a high art haunted house that explores perception and intimacy through retellings of 1,001 Arabian Nights. Held at the ODC Theater in San Francisco, audience members are led through the theater in three groups to view performances of the 4th night, 40th night [&hellip

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Exploring Relationships at the Intersection of Film and Dance

Setsu Uzume — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 05:42:09 +0000

When I was a kid I thought that falling in love meant floating on air like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Now, in my late twenties, I have a much more complex vision of love and relationships. Deconstructing the Surrogate, a multimedia dance performance, sums up that complexity with over a thousand layers of audio [&hellip

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Taking Classical Ballet to New Heights

Setsu Uzume — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 05:40:04 +0000

Milissa Payne Bradley takes classical ballet to new heights in her most ambitious work, Up in the Air, showing at this summer’s sixth annual Summer Performance Festival in San Francisco. The piece transforms grounded, classical movement into flight, inviting the audience on a majestic and exhilarating journey. Nine dancers balance the technique of classical ballet [&hellip

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BodiGram Wants Their Audience to Get Tipsy

Setsu Uzume — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 05:20:57 +0000

BodiGram Dance Company has come a long way from their roots in Asian philosophy. Founded by choreographers Blair Bodie and Julia Graham, BodiGram bridges the gap between pop culture and elite modern dance, smashing through the fourth wall to shed light on current social issues. At the ODC Theater in San Francisco this month, Bodie [&hellip

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The Helen Project Gives a Voice to the Face that Launched 1,000 Ships

Setsu Uzume — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:02:44 +0000

You can hardly say the name “Helen of Troy” without the epithet “The face that launched a thousand ships.” Megan Cohen and Amy Clare Tasker dive face-first into the mythos of Helen in their new play, The Helen Project, part of this year’s DIVAFest in San Francisco. The play shows Helen at four ages on [&hellip

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Bad Unkl Sista’s Butoh Transcends the Sense of Self

Elizabeth Coleman — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:07:03 +0000

There is a wide array of reactions to a Bad Unkl Sista Butoh-inspired performance, ranging from confusion and shock, to wonder and amazement. But no matter what the reaction, each member of the audience — and the dancers themselves — leave the performance feeling somehow changed by the experience. Anastazia Louise, the artistic director and choreographer [&hellip

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Inevitable by Jordan Puckett: Ignoring the Ticking Clock

Alison Kjeldgaard — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:37:12 +0000

It’s been a long while since I’ve been completely absorbed by a story. I hadn’t come to this realization until seeing Inevitable, Jordan Puckett’s short, brilliant play now at the Un-Scripted Theatre in San Francisco. Many things about Inevitable are surprising: the story itself, which neatly unravels in under an hour; the production’s short rehearsal [&hellip

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Top Ten Theatrical Moments

Alicia Coombes — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:55:01 +0000

As a theater professional, I’ve seen more plays than I can count. Picking favorites is tough since I base my opinion on a number of considerations: the experience as a whole, technical elements, various aesthetic choices…The list goes on. Therefore, it is almost impossible for me to tell people which shows they should see since [&hellip

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Review: The Fourth Messenger

Setsu Uzume — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 03:29:57 +0000

Talented writer Tanya Shaffer is back with a brand new musical that takes a refreshing, open minded look at spirituality in a modern era. As a local playwright and actor, Shaffer made a name for herself in the late 90s while doing a solo show about her adventures in Africa. In 2005, she honed her [&hellip

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