Any local resident knows that San Francisco and the Bay Area offer a plethora of arts events, performing companies, and favored venues. Here are the best of winners and runners up voted by our readers.
Best Art Museum: de Young Museum
Runners-up: SF MOMA, GLBT History Museum
Between mid-March and early this month, visitors to the de Young were in luck. A trifecta of phenomenal exhibitions, all up and running simultaneously. The couture artifacts in "Fashioning San Francisco" (through August 11), the stunning photographs of "Irving Penn," and the moving thought experiments in "Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care" took viewers along a continuum from the concrete to the conceptual with each exhibit inspiring reflection on the others. Other ongoing exhibits have always showcased the best in pop, modern and indigenous art.
www.famsf.org
Best Nature Science Museum: California Academy of Sciences
Runners-up: Exploratorium, SF Botanical Gardens
Travel from the rain forest to deep space while sipping cocktails and listening to live music. The Academy's Thursday evening NightLife events have made a post-pandemic comeback. Sure, we love kids, but sometimes it's nice to have an adults-only moment with that albino alligator.
www.calacademy.org
Best Small Art Gallery: Harvey Milk Photo Center
Runners-up: Queer Arts Featured, Tenderloin Museum
Secreted away on Scott Street in Duboce Park, this underappreciated gem features queer-themed group shows, hosts artists' talks, and houses a library of photo books for guests to peruse. With both traditional darkroom equipment and a digital lab, the center also offers photography classes to the community.
www.harveymilkphotocenter.org
Best Ballet Dance Company: San Francisco Ballet
Runners-up: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet
With its world premiere production of "Mere Mortals," a contemporary reimagining of the Pandora myth, San Francisco Ballet walked the walk that every large legacy performing arts organization loves to talk: They brought in new, younger audience members with smart and surprising work. Choreographer Aszure Barton, electronic composer Floating Points, and a brilliant design team gave us ballet by way of the Matrix. They did all this while maintaining a season of classics like "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker."
www.sfballet.org
Best Modern Dance Company: ODC/Dance
Runners-up: David Herrera Performance Company, Sean Dorsey Dance
In programs presented at their own Mission District theater and downtown at YBCA, the Bay Area's premiere modern movement company once again offered a heady mix of provocation, emotion, and abstraction, with tightly focused pieces inspired by everything from climate change to vintage animation.
www.odc.dance
Best Ethnic/International Dance Company: Theatre Flamenco Of San Francisco
Runners-up: Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, Likha-Pilipino Folk Ensemble
Led by artistic director Carola Zertuche, the company's production, "Pasajes Flamenco," brought a long-form cinematic fluidity to the Spanish dance-music hybrid more traditionally performed in short discrete bursts. Education remains a fundamental part of the company's work, with classes offered for both children and adults.
www.theatreflamenco.org
Best Classical Venue: Davies Symphony Hall
Runners-up: War Memorial Opera House, SF Conservatory of Music
So long, Salonen. The city's music lovers will miss departing conductor Esa-Pekka and his ambition, but nothing is likely to keep them away from our beloved San Francisco Symphony and its harmonious home. Heck, even COVID couldn't keep them away. The Symphony actually reported higher attendance rates this season than pre-pandemic. Bravo, Davies devotees!
www.daviessymphonyhall.org
Best Live Music Venue: The Fillmore
Runners-up: Fox Theatre, Greek Theatre
However illogically, the ten crystal chandeliers dangling from a two-story high ceiling somehow lend this iconic auditorium a homey vibe. (Where's home? Hearst Castle?). Still, with a capacity of 1,315 fans (almost a thousand fewer than the Warfield), it's one of the smallest spots to catch big rock names in the city. Have a juicy apple, and don't forget to check the historic concert posters in the upstairs lounge.
www.facebook.com/thefillmore
Best Small Music Venue: El Rio
Runners-up: Cafe Du Nord, Ivy Room (Albany)
More than whoever happens to be playing or DJing, it's the community vibe, the cheerful queerdos, and that phat patio that make this spot a winner this year and every year. As a little DuDu told me: "Her name is El Rio, and the dancing's out of hand."
www.elriosf.com
Best Theatre Company: American Conservatory Theatre
Runners-up: New Conservatory Theatre Center, Berkeley Repertory
A.C.T. brought in some heavy hitters this year, from the Broadway-aimed Motown musical "The Hippest Trip" to recent Broadway veterans "A Strange Loop" and "The Lehmann Trilogy." Locally born provocateur Kristina Wong gave sassy soapbox in "Sweatshop Overlord." But the biggest swing of all was "Big Data," a thrillingly confrontational original commission helmed by A.C.T. Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon that sizzled the synapses. Wait! Wait! There's more: From August 1-11, A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory is mounting a rare production of "Carrie: The Musical."
www.act-sf.org
Best Choral Group: San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
Runners-up: Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, Chanticleer
Since winning last year's Bestie, the SFGMC has not only performed its regular slate of crowd-pleasing Bay Area concerts. The Chorus also celebrated the grand opening of their new permanent home at The Pansy L. Chan and Terrence D. Chan National Queer Arts Center in the Mission, and brought hope to the heartland with summer concerts in Iowa and Nebraska.
www.sfgmc.org
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