Local performance presenter CounterPULSE has developed an impressive track record for finding cutting-edge art in the Bay Area, and creating space for artists to shine. Starting out at the Western Addition's 848 Community Space, CounterPULSE next moved into the SoMa district, and there it has blossomed into one of the West Coast's most visible sites for emerging performing artists. Their mission is highlighted each spring with STREAM/fest, which collects the best of the best, and creates a forum for new work. Executive director Jessica Robinson says, "We specialize in finding emerging artists who are ready to be seen by a larger audience, and giving them the space and freedom to create new work. Judging from the response we've received from our audiences, our risk-taking seems to be paying off."
The festival is broken into two parts. MAP: Media-Assisted Performance (May 17-18) is a hybrid of technology and live performance; and EPF: Emerging Performance Festival (May 19-20) features artists who are moving past the usual areas of genre and content. Says Robinson, "We received dozens of applications this year, and we've chosen the work that is most risky, multi-disciplinary, and politically relevant. In essence, this festival is what CounterPULSE is all about."
The MAP program will feature Catherine Galasso, David Szalasa, Eric Koziol, the ESP Project, Smith/Wymore Disappearing Acts and Subject to Change Performance Company. Be sure to watch out for a film by ESP featuring the charismatic Erika Chong Shuch (with media artist Ishan Vernallis) and Smith/Wymore, who have steadily been emerging as one of the Bay Area's most talked-about multimedia performance companies.
The EPF program includes Courtney Moreno and Sonya Smith, Deep Waters Dance Theater (Amara Tabor-Smith), Deepa Subramaniam, Julia Steele Allen, Kim Harmon and Rabble Rouser Dance Theatre (Sarah-Luella Baker). This is another group of all-stars; Smith is a multi-talented performer who has worked with a who's-who list of local choreographers, Tabor-Smith is a powerful new voice on the scene, and Baker is a quirky blend of movement and idiosyncratic performance. Robinson is especially excited about the appearance of Steele Allen. "She's one of the most exciting emerging queer theater artists in the Bay Area. Her haunting new piece Blood of the Virgin interweaves the stories of a male hustler and a young virgin in really surprising ways. Her last solo show, Boy Called Noise, won best of the San Francisco Fringe, and this one is surely headed in that direction."
Pick-ups
Proving again that postmodern contemporary dance is alive and well in the Bay Area (see recent stints by Meredith Monk and Deborah Hay), the ODC Theater presents veteran choreographer/director David Gordon and his company, Pick Up Performance Co., this week. Gordon emerged from the New York postmodern dance boom in the 1960s, and has been crafting theatre and dance pieces with a quiet tenacity for 40 years. This week, he brings his own distinctive interpretation of Shakespeare's Henry V, but don't expect the usual Elizabethan trappings.
Dancing Henry Five reduces Shakespeare's five-act, four-hour epic into an hour-long meditation on the arrogance of power. The piece includes audio and filmic snippets of Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and a symphonic score by William Walton. Dancing Henry Five also features a cast of nine dancers, including Valda Setterfield, Gordon's wife and collaborator for over 40 years. Also on board for this project was Jennifer Tipton, one of the East Coast's most prominent lighting designers. The New York Times described Dancing Henry Five as "a delightful and accomplished evening of theater that sweeps its audiences along in a stylish, feel-good theatrical experience."
STREAM/fest at CounterPULSE (1310 Mission St., SF), Thurs.-Sun., May 17-20 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($12-20, sliding scale): (415) 435-7552 ( www.counterpulse.org).
Pick Up Performance Co. at the ODC Dance Commons (351 Shotwell St., SF), Wed.-Sat., May 16-19. See www.odcdance.org for times. Tickets ($18-$25): (415) 863-9834.