It's finally June again and as usual, we are blessed with a cornucopia of Queer contemporary dance. During Gay Pride month, Bay Area Queer choreographers present an extensive selection of dance that challenges boundaries and constantly re-defines the West Coast aesthetic. This week, we will be looking at three different dance companies directed by Joe Goode, Mark Foehringer and Jesse Hurwitt.
Joe Goode is one of those tried and true dance-makers that we sometimes take for granted while flashier choreographers grab the spotlight. Last year, for his 20th anniversary, he presented some multi-media work that expanded his usual scope and showed why he continues to be one of the Bay Area's real treasures. While the choreography is not on the cutting edge, Goode doesn't shy away from fresh collaborations, creating slices of life that explore fragile connections and modern mythology.
This year he is shaking it up at the Yerba Buena Center by creating a new performance installation called Humansville. Says Ken Foster, YBCA's executive director, "We were very excited when Joe came to us with an idea to do something completely unlike his work of the last several years. His physically and emotionally resonant work communicates with an uncommon wit and candor about the frailty and enduring strength of the human spirit," Audiences will walk through the performances, choosing how to navigate the environment and actively participating in the viewing experience.
Each part of the performance will create different visual, emotional and sonic landscape with the video element working in tandem with movement. This style of performance allows the viewer to see the performance from fresh set of perspectives.
Says Goode, "There is nothing like the thrill of being in close proximity to the moving body. I am always looking for ways to bring that to the audience. The facial expressions of the dancers, the little sounds that they make are another kind of information that is lost when they are separated by the proscenium arch."
Again this year, Goode is working with video artist Austin Forbord (who is also an experienced choreographer). Last year, Forbord's video projections threatened to steal the show and it will be interesting to see how he works with Goode in an installation environment. Also contributing will be former Kronos Quartet cellist/composer Joan Jeanrenaud.
Another veteran choreographer presenting new work is Mark Foehringer presenting his 12th season at the Cowell Theater. Foehringer is known for his dynamic work that thoroughly plumbs the classical idiom while being completely contemporary. "I do very big work," he says. "I think we are living in a time when there is a lot to say and nobody is listening. Dance and music have a way of getting to the core of an issue without the burden of all the words we have heard so many times that they have stopped having any meaning."
Foehringer's new work is titled Bitter Fruit and was inspired by his father's death. "When my father passed away," says Foehringer, "many of the people spoke at his funeral, read poems and passages from the bible, I got up and danced. I danced out the way I felt about his life and my loss. After all of these years that is the moment that most people remember about that day. Dance gets to the core of feelings, the depth of that loss."
At the opposite end of the experience spectrum is new choreographer Jesse Hewit, presenting a one-night stand at CounterPULSE on June 14 (9pm). Hewit is an artist/academic from SF State that recently joined ConterPULSE's extended family and is presenting new piece called NOISE: the (micro)biopolitics of masculinity. Says Hewit, "I've been examining how gender and sexuality cooperate to create the biopolitics of masculinity. I'm looking at body image, public space, pornography and how they inform and create political systems for immigration, media (mis)representations, war tactics, violence and access to healthcare." Not sure how he's going to pack all that in one hour, but he's a fresh new voice that's tackling some interesting new territory in Queer performance.
Joe Goode at Yerba Buena Center, 701 Mission St. May 31-June 9 at 7:30 & 9:30pm. Tickets $19-$25 (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org.
Mark Foehringer at The Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, June 1-2 at 8pm. Tickets $20 (415) 345 7575, www.mfdpsf.org.
Jesse Hewit at CounterPULSE.org, 3252 Mission St. Tickets $10 (415) 435-7552. All performances in SF.
Queer fest kicks off
The National Queer Arts Festival (NQAF) celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a month-long festival of music, dance, visual art, spoken word, comedy, theatre and film, featuring over 300 artists in 50 events at 13 venues throughout San Francisco. Many of the events are free, see www.queerculturalcenter.org for details.
Highlights of NQAF 2007 include:
Speaking OUT from Inside the Border at the LBGT Center (June 1)
QBall 10th Birthday Party and Opening Night Performances at the LBGT Center (June 2)
RADAR All Stars ath the SF Main Library (June 6)
Queer Women of Color Film Festival ath the BRAVA Theater (June 8-10)
Dorothy Allison and the Bent Writing Institute at the LBGT Center (June 9)
TransForming Community at the LBGT Center (June 21)
Marga Gomez Comedy Special at the LBGT Center (June 30).
Pam Peniston, the Executive Director of the Queer Cultural Center, says that multi-racial community-building is an important part of the festival and "This year the NQAF is celebrating queer cultures past, present and future. We look back and re-connect with our history with The Beats, The Cockettes and Claude Cahun and we connect with our professional artists like Dorothy Allison, Marga Gomez, Cherry Muhanji and Rudy Lemcke and look ahead to emerging artists from Youth Speaks and the Bent Writing Institute."
The National Queer Arts Festival continues through June 30. (415) 864 4124. www.brownpapertickets.com. www.queerculturalcenter.org