<<

Amy Seiwert’s Imagery Presents:

SKETCH 3: Expectations world premiere by Marc Brew Amy Seiwert

July 25–28, 2013

ODC Theater 3153 17th Street , CA 94110

All logo and bubble photography by David DeSilva in collaboration with Bubble Master Sterling Johnson Dear Patron:

Thank you so much for choosing to come to Amy Seiwert’s Imagery’s SKETCH 3. By doing so, you have supported Live Arts which, in and of itself, is important. But more than that, you have chosen to participate in a unique program. Each year, Amy identi"es a theme and invites stunning choreographers that she thinks have a pertinent message to create for Bay Area audiences — dances and choreographers that we wouldn’t, otherwise, be exposed to.

Last year, she brought in female choreographers to present their individual message, commenting on the lack of female choreographers in the "eld. This year, she has chosen to focus on process, shifting the focus from who makes the ballets, to how ballets are being made, as a theme. To accomplish this she invited a marvelous local choreographer familiar to Bay Area audiences through , Val Caniparoli, as well as a renowned Australian choreographer, Marc Brew. And, we can thrill to a new o#ering by Amy herself. once introduced Amy’s by saying: “Amy has more originality in 25 seconds of work than most choreographers have in their entire work.”

The SKETCH series is becoming a staple of mid-summer in San Francisco... but it won’t be able to continue without your generous support. We thank those of you who were able to support, in any way, SKETCH 3 and ask for your help in beginning to plan SKETCH 4. If you are pleased tonight, tell your friends. To give a donation, visit our website www.ASImagery.org, or talk to a company member.

Thank you for your attention. On behalf of the entire Board, I hope you enjoy this o#ering as much as we have enjoyed presenting it to you.

Niko Mayer, Chairman of the Board Amy Seiwert’s Imagery A CONTEMPORARY

“The vocabulary of ballet never changes, it is only the usage that becomes outmoded.”

—WILLIAM FORSYTHE

Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, a San Francisco-based company, believes that ballet is an expressive and vital voice relevant to our times. ASI’s artists share the belief that through collaboration and experimentation, vibrant and courageous ideas are expressed. Habitual reactions are discouraged.

ASI’s mission is to expand the de"nition of ballet by exploding preconceptions of what ballet is and can be. Focused on the intersection of genres, its aesthetic de"es classi"cation and re$ects a commitment to create and present work of excellence and in$uence. Our work touches the lives of the contemporary artists whose careers are enhanced through this artistic process, and our dance audiences who have come to expect surprising, meticulous and memorable work.

Imagery Board of Directors Imagery Sta" Niko Kozak Mayer — President Amy Seiwert — Artistic Director Lori Laqua — Treasurer Jane Elin — Project Manager Amy Seiwert — Secretary Joseph Copley — Administrative Coordinator KT Graham Joan Lazarus Company Class Teachers Fred W. Terman Andrea Basile, Laura Rae Bernasconi, Len Weiss Sandra Chinn, Kristine Elliot, James Graham, Amy London, Amy Seiwert, Erik Wagner

Amy Seiwert’s Imagery is a 501(C)3 non-pro"t corporation. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. SKETCH 3: Expectations

Triptych Choreography: Val Caniparoli Music: John Tavener, Alexander Balanescu Lighting: Jim French Costumes: Christine Darch Dancers: Full Company Photographer Lalage Snow created a powerful series of Triptychs titled We Are The Not Dead depicting the faces of British servicemen before, during and after their deployment to Afghanistan. The images highlight not only the physical trans- formations but the emotional ones as well.

INTERMISSION

Awkward Beauty Choreography: Marc Brew Music: Dan Wool Lighting: Jim French Costumes: Christine Darch Dancers: Full Company Explores the tenuous foundations we lay to build and construct our lives in an ever changing land- scape.

INTERMISSION

The Devil Ties My Tongue Choreography: Amy Seiwert Music: Ólafur Arnalds Lighting: Jim French Costumes: Christine Darch Dancers: Full Company

The choreographers gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the dancers in the creation of these new works. Our Risks

Since Amy invited me to work with the company about a year ago, I have been looking forward to this opportunity of working with Imagery and the talented, intelligent and committed dancers for a long time. One of the prerequisites Amy clearly stated to me before beginning the process is that she didn’t want me to do what I normally do, or fall into the trap of using the tasks/formulas of choreographing that I am familiar with that I know works. This was an opportunity for me as a choreographer to be supported in taking risks and with an o#er like that, how could I say no? My identi"ed risks would be: 1. Trying new tasks and choreographic material I have not previously tried and tested. 2. Not knowing the answers but asking lots of questions and trying to problem solve as we go along. 3. Going back to my roots in and working with dancers on pointe and using more. 4. Having a very short creative process to create work and have music composed. —Marc Brew

TutuSchool® .san francisco.marin.tutuschool.com. s k e e W

w e r d n A CELEBRATING OUR 20thXX SEASON

XXTREMES - Oct 4 - 12, 2013 Palace of Fine Arts Between loss and desire lives a paradox of emotion.

RETURN TO A STRANGE LAND CARMINA BURANA DEAR MISS CLINE BY JI Í KYLIÁN BY MICHAEL SMUIN BY AMY SEIWERT

XXMAS - Dec 18 - 28, 2013 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Photo by Patrick Fraser, Dancer: Terez Dean Between traditional and radical blooms a Smuin Dance classic.

XXCENTRIC - May 2 - 11, 2014 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Between avant-garde and showbiz comes entertaining eccentricity.

WORLD PREMIERE BY AMY SEIWERT DANCIN’ WITH GERSHWIN BY MICHAEL SMUIN

smuinballet.org S M U I N 415.912.1899 B A L L E T No matter how much experience I have as a choreographer, I welcome any opportunity to CELEBRATING learn and expand my horizons. So I jumped at the invitation from Amy Seiwert to create a new work for her SKETCH 3: EXPECTATIONS project. Because of the theme of the project she encouraged me to work outside my comfort zone, and that’s how it turned out. I rarely OUR 20th SEASON address politics, war or religion explicitly in my work, and I consciously skirt hotbutton topics. XX But I was very much taken by photographer Lalage Snow’s series of triptychs, “We Are The Not Dead”, presenting the faces of British soldiers before, during, and after their deployment to Afghanistan. To explore this topic with the dancers—which we did by looking at the photos for inspiration, discussing them and then improvising—was eye opening for me. And freeing. In light of the topic, I chose to work o# pointe. It’s something I rarely have the opportunity to do, as I’m almost always expected to create works on pointe in commissions for classical companies. My collaboration with Amy Seiwert’s Imagery was incredibly satisfying from a choreographic perspective, due in large measure to the intense investment of the dancers.

—Val Caniparoli

My work is usually based on images I see when listening to music I love. These are abstract, and this is how I am most comfortable creating. For “The Devil Ties My Tongue,” my starting point was text, speci"cally Leonard Cohen’s poem S.O.S. Now the images were coming from a literal place. I worked with creating images from the words, writing the words with the body, and matching the rhythmic syllables. This starting point for creation $uctuated between being wonderfully liberating to maddeningly constraining. I also experimented with letting go of my urge to control every moment of creation, instead putting faith in these XXTREMES - Oct 4 - 12, 2013 Palace of Fine Arts beautiful dancers to make choices. Between loss and desire lives a paradox of emotion. —Amy Seiwert

RETURN TO A STRANGE LAND CARMINA BURANA DEAR MISS CLINE Take a long time with your anger, Pleased with the better deal? to turn away from alarming you. BY JI Í KYLIÁN BY MICHAEL SMUIN BY AMY SEIWERT sleepy head. You are clamped down. So I must say it quickly. Don’t waste it in riots. You are being bred for pain. Whoever is in your life, XXMAS - Dec 18 - 28, 2013 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Photo by Patrick Fraser, Dancer: Terez Dean Don’t tangle it with ideas. The Devil ties my tongue. those who harm you, Between traditional and radical blooms a Smuin Dance classic. The Devil won’t let me speak, I’m speaking to you, those who help you; will only let me hint ‘friend of my scribbled life’. those whom you know XXCENTRIC - May 2 - 11, 2014 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts that you are a slave, You have been conquered by those and those whom you do not know your misery a deliberate policy who know how to conquer invisibly. let them o" the hook, Between avant-garde and showbiz comes entertaining eccentricity. of those in whose thrall you su"er, The curtains move so beautifully, help them o" the hook. WORLD PREMIERE BY AMY SEIWERT DANCIN’ WITH GERSHWIN BY MICHAEL SMUIN and who are sustained lace curtains of some Recognize the hook. by your misfortune. sweet old intrigue: You are listening to The atrocities over there, The Devil tempting me Radio Resistance. the interior paralysis over here. smuinballet.org S M U I N 415.912.1899 —LEONARD COHEN, S.O.S. (1995) B A L L E T About the Artists

AMY SEIWERT serves as the Artistic Director and primary choreographer of Imagery. Her collab- orations with artists of other disciplines and commitment to experimental work from a classical base make her a unique voice in the Bay Area dance community. As Rita Felciano wrote in the SF Bay Guardian: “She quite possibly is the Bay Area’s most original dance thinker, taking what some consider a dead language and using it as a 21st century lingo to tell us something about who we are. “ She was named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine, one of the “Hot 20 Under 40” by 7x7 Magazine, and was honored with a “Goldie” award from the Guardian. Twice her choreography has been listed in the “Top 10” dance events of the year by the SF Chronicle, and twice she has worked with dancers from the , participating in the New York Choreography Institute at the invitation of Peter Martins. She has had the pleasure of participating in the CHIME (Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange) Program both as a mentee in 2007 with Julia Adam, and mentor in 2013 with Tanya Bello. In addition to creating for Imagery, her creations are in the repertory of , Ballet Met (Columbus), Atlanta, Smuin, Washington, , Sacramento, Colorado, Louisville and American Repertory Ballets as well as Robert Moses KIN and Alaska Dance Theater. Future projects include upcoming commissions for Smuin and Milwaukee Ballets. She is honored to be the Choreographer in Residence for Smuin Ballet as well as an Artist in Residence at the ODC Theater. www.ASImagery.org Award-winning international choreographer MARC BREW has been working in the UK and internationally for the past 18 years as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and speaker; with Company, PACT Ballet South Africa, In"nity Dance Theatre, CandoCo Dance Company and was Associate Director with Scottish Dance Theatre. Marc has since been dedicating time to his own choreography with Marc Brew Company. His new work Fusional Fragments is a unique collaboration between world-renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and was commissioned by the Unlimited Programme as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. RECENT COMMISSIONS INCLUDE: AXIS Dance Company, and GDance production Stuck in the Mud, Candoco Dance Company, Touch Compass, DadaFest International Festival, Velcro Dance Company, Scottish Dance Theatre, Without Walls Consortium, Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Liberty Festival, East London Dance and new choreographies for youth dance companies Project Y, Ydance, Cando2, and Shift at The Place. www.marcbrew.com VAL CANIPAROLI’S versatility has made him one of the most sought-after choreographers in the United States and abroad. Although San Francisco Ballet has been his artistic home for more than 41 years, Caniparoli has also contributed to the repertories of more than 40 companies, including; Jo#rey Ballet, , , Paci"c Northwest Ballet, Theatre, , , , Washington Ballet, , Smuin Ballet, , , , State Theatre Ballet of South Africa, , Milwaukee Ballet, Richmond Ballet and . Caniparoli has also choreographed for the Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. He has worked on several occasions with the , most memorably on the Rimsky-Korsakov opera-ballet Mlada, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Caniparoli has received ten grants for choreography from the National Endowment for the Arts, an artist fellowship from the California Arts Council, and two awards from the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation. His work with A.C.T. includes the staging and creation (with Carey Perlo# ) of Tosca Cafe and choreography for A Doll’s House, A Christmas Carol, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Arcadia. www.valcaniparoli.com KT GRAHAM (Production Stage Manager) Kathryn T Graham is currently Production Director & Stage Manager for Smuin Ballet and PSM for Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. Previous positions include PSM and Lighting Designer for Lewitzky Dance Company, Technical & Lighting Director for Washington Ballet, PSM and a Lighting Designer for WestWave Dance Festival, PSM for the performances for Dance/USA’s 2012 National Conference, Production Manager for Gay Games IV Cultural Festival in NYC, and also for the NGO Forum – United Nations World Conference on Women in China. She loves drawing, creating, and walking labyrinths, and is an avid knitter, reader, and diarist. CHRISTINE DARCH (Costumes) Christine Darch designs for choreographers Julia Adam, Robert Dekkers, Jodie Gates, Edwaard Liang, Jae Man Joo, James Kudelka, Matthew Neenan, David Palmer, Gina Patterson, Brian Reeder, Dwight Rhoden, Amy Seiwert, and Merian Soto. She has been commissioned by , Atlanta Ballet, Axis, Cincinnati Ballet, , Complexions, Diablo Ballet, , Imagery, Marin Ballet, , North Carolina Dance Theater, Oregon Ballet Theater, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Smuin Ballet, and Washington Ballet. This is her "rst collaboration with Marc Brew and Val Caniparoli, and eighth with Ms. Seiwert. She has been nominated twice and in 2011 received the Isadora Duncan Award for visual design for Amy Seiwert’s ballet, White Noise. JIM FRENCH (Lighting) Jim French is thrilled to be collaborating on another SKETCH. Other lighting designs for dance include; Adele Myers, , Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Company C Ballet, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Joe Goode Performance Group, LevyDance, Project Bandaloop, Richmond Ballet, Rioult Dance NY, and Dance. Jim has toured the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America with the companies of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Martha Graham, Pascal Rioult, and Twyla Tharp. www.jimfrenchld.com DAN WOOL (Composer for Awkward Beauty) Dan Wool is a San Francisco based composer who has worked in New York, Los Angeles, London and Mexico City creating scores for more than 45 feature "lm and broadcast television projects, including seven "lms for celebrated cult "lmmaker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy). Dan has worked extensively creating sound and music for advertising and also as sound-designer for short "lms and documentaries. As a music producer, and engineer, Dan has collaborated with international artists such as Bernie Worrell (Parliament-Funkadelic), Philip Chevron and James Fearnley (The Pogues); Debra Harry (Blondie); and many Bay Area artists, including All My Pretty Ones, Essence, The Mermen and Kally Price.

About the Dancers

BRANDON FREEMAN, better known as “Private”, hails from Colorado. In addition to a very successful 12-year career with ODC, Private has also had the privilege of working with Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Little Seismic Dance, TheaterWorks in Palo Alto, Oakland Ballet Company, and Sonya Delwaide. Nominated multiple times, Private earned an Isadora Duncan Award with Brian Fisher, for Ensemble Performance in 2002. In addition to teaching ballet and technique, including Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, he plays the cello and is a woodworker. Private has worked with Imagery since 2010.

RACHEL FURST was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She began dancing at the age of three and danced competitively until high school, where she attended the Baltimore School for the Arts. Rachel is a recent graduate of ’s LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Psychology. Throughout her dance training, she has had the opportunity to perform works by Amy Seiwert, Sidra Bell, Gregory Dawson, Yannis Adoniou, Kara Davis, Carmen Rozenstraten, Gina Patterson, and Julia Adam. Rachel began dancing with Imagery in 2012.

JAMES GILMER of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and the Pittsburgh School for the Creative & Performing Arts. After graduating in 2011, he joined Cincinnati Ballet where he worked with Amy Seiwert for the "rst time as a soloist in I Think of You Often. He is delighted to work with her again and to be dancing with Imagery this summer.

SARAH GRIFFIN was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. From the age of four, she trained in classical ballet with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Estudio Maria Cecilia Diaz (Buenos Aires, Argentina), School, and Barnard College, Columbia University. Sarah has performed with Kansas City Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, the Ensemble, Oakland Ballet, and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. She has appeared in many ballets from the classical canon, as well as neoclassical and contemporary works by , , Geo#rey Holder, , Robert Garland, Amy Seiwert, and Graham Lustig. She is thrilled to be participating in the creation of new choreography with fantastic Bay Area talent.

ANNALI ROSE is currently a dancer with Ballet San Jose. Formerly, she danced with Trey McIntyre Project for four years and Sacramento Ballet for nine. She originally met Amy while working with Sacramento Ballet, and performed in her works lessness, I Want Inside and End Quote while with that company. This is her "rst time working with Imagery and she is very excited for the opportunity. WESTON KRUKOW, better known as “The Puppy”, is honored to once again collaborate with Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Weston performed principal roles in Balanchine’s (Sanguinic), Allegro Brilliante, and Donald McKayle’s Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder (Captain). Recovering from a major back injury, Weston would like to thank his supportive family and inspiring teachers for making his return to dance possible. BEN NEEDHAM#WOOD returns for his third SKETCH season with Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. He "rst worked with Amy at the Louisville Ballet, where he was a company artist for "ve years. While in Louisville, Ben had the opportunity to perform many principal roles. Some standouts include “Romeo” in Alun Jones’s , “Armand” in Val Caniparoli Lady of the Camellias as well as principal roles in several contemporary works by Adam Hougland. Ben will be joining Smuin Ballet starting in August, and is thrilled to be relocating to San Francisco. KATHERINE WELLS is from Sunnyvale, California. She has danced with Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Colorado Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Diablo Ballet, Dance Company and is currently a member of Dance Through Time, Tanya Bello’s Project B and Robert Moses KIN. Katherine "rst worked with Imagery in 2003 and has been very fortunate to have been part of many ground breaking works including White Noise.

Rehearsal shots by Andrea Basile.

JOSEPH & CARLOS PRESENT:

Saturday, August 10 ODC Theater Sta":

Director: Christy Bolingbroke Box O$ce Agents: Amber Slemmer, Operations Manager: Mark Erickson Diana Broker, Susan Oak Marketing Team: Francis Aviani, Jerri Zhang House Managers: Michelle Fletcher, Michelle Kinny, Mary Lachman, House Technicians: Jason Dinneer, Christi Welter and Alec White Zoe Klein, Matthew Lewis, Will McCandless, Del Medo#, Andrew Patterson, Ernie Trevino Receptionists: Angela Mazziotta, Brittany Delany Client and Patron Services Manager: Dan Rivard

ODC Theater exists to empower and develop innovative artists. It participates in the creation of new works through commissioning, presenting, mentorship and space access; it develops informed, engaged and committed audiences; and advocates for the performing arts as an essential component to the economic and cultural development of our community. The Theater is the site of over 150 performances a year involving nearly 1,000 local, regional, national and international artists. Since 1976, ODC Theater has been the mobilizing force behind countless San Francisco artists and the foothold for national and international touring artists seeking debut in the Bay Area. Our Theater, founded by Brenda Way, then under the leadership of Rob Bailis for nearly a decade, and currently under the direction of Christy Bolingbroke, has earned its place as a cultural incubator by dedicating itself to creative changemakers, those leaders who give our region its unmistakable de"nition and $are. Nationally known artists Spaulding Gray, Diamanda Galas, Molissa Fenley, Bill T. Jones, Eiko & Koma, Ronald KBrown/EVIDENCE, Ban Rarra and Karole Armitage are among those whose "rst San Francisco appearance occurred at ODC Theater. ODC Theater is part of a two-building campus dedicated to supporting every stage of the artistic lifecycle—conceptualization, creation, and performance. This includes our $agship company ODC Dance and Our School, in partnership with Rhythm and Motion Dance Workout down the street at 351 Shotwell. Over 250 classes are o#ered a week and your "rst class is free. For more information on ODC Theater and all its programs please visit: www.odctheater.org SUPPORT: ODC Theater is supported in part by the following foundations and agencies: Creative Work Fund, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, James Irvine Foundation, LEF Foundation, National Dance Project, National Endowment for the Arts, San Francisco Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation and The Fleishhacker Foundation. ODC Theater is a proud member of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Chamber Music America, Dance USA, Dancer’s Group, and Theater Bay Area. ’s Amy Seiwert Imagery Summer ODC Summer Workshop Contemporary Workshop Series: Immerse, Invigorate, Investigate Choreography Amy Seiwert’s Imagery & Composition with Imagery Summer Workshop at ODC Dance Commons ONE WEEK ONLY August 12-16 351 Shotwell Street San Francisco, CA 94110 12:00-4:00 pm — $275

To register, contact the ODC Dance Commons front desk at: 415-863-9830 ext. 100 A heartfelt thank you to all individual donors who collaborated in 2013. Your patronage is the di!erence.

Principal Season Sponsor: $5,000 and above Fred Terman Geo#rey Fallon

Choreographer Sponsor: Contributor: $250–$499 Friend: $35–$99 $1000–$4,999 JoEllen Artnz Anonymous (2) David DeSilva Joseph Debellis AXIS Dance Rick and Sharonjean Kristine Elliot GTLS Designs James H. Smith Celia Fushille Julie Caine Len Weiss Peggy Heineman Joseph Copley and Carlos Venturo Dancer Sponsor: Daniel Levenstein Amy Cluxton and Jay Wilson $500–$999 Lorraine Padden Ann Derby Anonymous (1) David Seiwert Leila D. Fossek Terry and John Furst Bruce Braden Sponsor: $100–$249 Cory Gabel KT Graham Anonymous (3) Andrew Gilbert Lori Laqua Allison Baber Jean Halvorsen Steve and Niko Mayer Ana Cecilia and Mark Bukowski Kaleena and Shannon Hurlburt Don Monaco Carla Escoda Susan Pinch Lenard G. Weiss Ann Haskins and Hugh Harrison Greta and Gregg Schoenberg Allie Weissman Barbara Hébert Cindy Seiwert Dalia Rawson Hughes Marcus Shelby Chris Marr Je# Tabaco Helen Hilton Raiser Gabriel Williams Jim and Janny Separovich Gail Sinque"eld

We also have tremendous gratitude to the many individuals who donated below the $35 level, as well as individuals who donated after July 13th.

Amy Seiwert’s Imagery is grateful to the following foundations for their support for SKETCH 3: Expectations: The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Fund, the Fleishhacker Founda- tion and New Stages for Dance II, administered by Dance/USA in partnership with Dancers’ Group. Leadership Support for the New Stages for Dance II Initiative is provided by MetLife Foundation. Tonight’s performance is also made possible in part through a gift by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts through the YBCAway program.

Amy Seiwert’s Imagery is honored to be a Resident Arts Group at Zaccho Dance Theater Amy Seiwert’s Imagery would like to thank City Ballet School, Academy of Ballet, Judy Smith and AXIS Dance, Smuin Ballet, Christy Bolingbroke, Carlos Venturo, Mary Ellen Hunt, Niko and Steve Mayer, Joanne Peters, Aimée Ts’ao, Creative Scotland, and Trader Joe’s.

PROGRAM DESIGN: PHYLLIS PETERSON, MAGNOLIASTUDIO.COM