AMY SEIWert’S IMA| GERY SKETCH 5 Stirred World Premieres by Amy Seiwert & KT Nelson achel Furst; Photo by David DeSilva. David by Photo achel Furst; R Photo: ImageryPhoto: Artist July 16-19, 2015 asimagery.org Co-Presented by ODC Theater • 3153 17th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 Dear Patron, Thank you so much for choosing to come to Amy Seiwert’s Imagery’s SKETCH 5. By doing so, you have supported live arts which, in of it itself, is important. But more than that, you have chosen to participate in a unique program. Each year, Amy identifies a theme and invites stunning artists, that she thinks have a pertinent message, to create dances for Bay Area audiences -- dancers, choreographers and composers that we wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. This year, in Sketch 5 | Stirred, IMAGERY is mixing it up. Seiwert has been collaborating with ODC co-artistic director KT Nelson on a new work. The artists edited each other’s work and interrupted each other’s process, in hopes of discovering something entirely new. This type of collaboration is extremely rare in ballet, and completely new to Seiwert. During an intensive creative process in residence at Zaccho Studio, Seiwert and Nelson worked together on creating a series of solos that explore the theme of isolation. The choreographers addressed questions such as: How does one consider the idea of isolation when not in isolation? How does it feel to be isolated in community? Finally, given the choreographers’ different working styles and aesthetics, an inherent focus of the project was the relationship between process and content. Tonight you see the outcome. Opportunities for pure choreographic exploration and development are almost non-existent in the ballet world, and rarely do they come with the freedom or resources that choreographers need to truly experiment. The SKETCH series was created specifically as a resource for choreographers to abandon their comfort zones. SKETCH has become a staple of mid-summer dance 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 5, and ask for your help in Imagery’s future endeavors. 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 offering as much as we have enjoyed presenting it to you. Niko Mayer, Chairman of the Board Photo: Imagery artists Weston Krukow and Sarah Griffin, photo by David DeSilva Amy Seiwert’s Imagery a contemporary ballet company Photo: Imagery artists Brandon Freeman and Katherine Wells, photo by David DeSilva Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, a San Francisco-based contemporary ballet 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. An environment of risk is fostered, and habitual reactions are discouraged. Artists of the Company Imagery Board of Directors Imagery Staff Danielle Bausinger Niko Kozak Mayer — President Amy Seiwert — Artistic Director Brandon “Private” Freeman Lori Laqua — Treasurer Annika Presley — Managing Director Liang Fu Amy Seiwert — Secretary Barbara Hébert — Project Manager Rachel Furst KT Graham KT Graham — Production/Stage Manager James Gilmer Joan Lazarus Minerva Ramirez — Assistant Stage Manager Sarah Griffin Fred W. Terman Evelyn Turner — LEAP Intern, Saint Mary’s Annali Rose Craig Palmer College of California Richard Walters Dana Benton (Guest Artist) Company Class Teachers Sandra Chinn, Kristine Elliott, Xavier Ferla, James Graham, Julianne Kepley, Muriel Maffre, Joanna Berman, Pascal Molat, Ben Needham-Wood, Amy Seiwert, Sharon Wehner, Katherine Wells Amy Seiwert’s Imagery is a 501(C)3 non-profit corporation. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. SKETCH 5 | Stirred Co-presented by ODC Theater and supported in part by Zaccho Studio’s Residency Program. Traveling Alone (2012) Choreography: Amy Seiwert LIGHTING: Jim French after the RepetiteUR: Lorita M. Travaglia original design by Elisha Griego REHEARSAL Assistant: Sharon Wehner DANCERS: Dana Benton and Brandon Freeman; MUSIC: Max Richter Sarah Griffin, Liang Fu, and Richard Walters; COSTUMES: Christine Darch Rachel Furst, Danielle Bausinger, Annali Rose, and James Gilmer. Premiered by Colorado Ballet, March 29, 2012, Newman Center, Denver, Colorado. PAUSE Starting Over at the End (2015) Choreography: KT Nelson & Amy Seiwert DANCERS: Choreographic Assistant: Danielle Bausinger, Brandon Freeman, Vanessa Thiessen Liang Fu, Rachel Furst, James Gilmer, Sarah Griffin, Annali Rose, MUSIC: Franz Schubert and Richard Walters. LIGHTING: Jim French Ms. Seiwert & Ms. Nelson gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the dancers in the creation of this new work. INTERMISSION Back To (2015) Choreography: Amy Seiwert DANCERS: MUSIC: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Danielle Bausinger, Brandon Freeman, Liang Fu, Rachel Furst, James Gilmer, COSTUMES: Christine Darch Sarah Griffin, Annali Rose, LIGHTING: Jim French and Richard Walters. Selections of Back To were created for Cincinnati Ballet’s New Works Program in 2014 and premiered as Yesterday, Tomorrow. The work was expanded in 2015 and made possible, in part, with commissioning funds from ODC Theater and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Upcoming Performances of Imagery July 23: Ballet in the Bayview, Zaccho Studio, San Francisco, CA July 31: Walla Walla Dance Festival, Cordiner Hall, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA August 7: Sweet Pea Festival, Bozeman, MT August 11: Bourbon & Ballet, Shotgun Players Studio, Berkeley, CA August 15-16: The Joyce Theater Ballet Festival, New York, NY October 16-17: Trolley Dances, San Francisco, CA Sketch Series The SKETCH series was launched in 2011 as a platform for experimentation and innovation in ballet based choreography. The SKETCH series was created specifically as a resource for choreo- graphers to abandon their comfort zones. “Amy is super organized as well as wonderfully unorganized in all the right ways. The clarity she brings with being organized offered us a context to get lost together — to step into our intuition and imagination without fear and judgment. Her world is both generous and curious. Two things I highly value. Curiosity is something that can slip away in the artistic process when you get afraid. I don’t think this happened with us. I am very grateful for the balance Amy creates.” —KT Nelson “As an artist, I am constantly yearning to grow. The idea of finding an artistic voice while in collaboration with another choreographer, a new experience to me, was both intimidating and exciting. I suspected I would learn an incredible amount in process, but feared that our artistic visions would be diluted in compromise. Instead we’ve walked a fascinating balancing act. KT is brilliant, and her process, so different from my own, fascinating. It has been a wild ride and a lesson in letting go. Seeing what can be accomplished when one does has been a gift.” —Amy Seiwert Choreographers AMY SEIWERT (Choreographer and Artistic Director) — Amy Seiwert’s collaborations 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 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, was honored with a “Goldie” award from the Guardian, and twice her choreography has been listed in the “Top 10” dance events of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle (2007, 2010). Twice she has worked with dancers from the New York City Ballet, participating in the NY Choreography Institute at the invitation of Peter Martins. In addition to creating for Imagery, her creations are in the repertory of Ballet Austin, BalletMet (Columbus), Atlanta, Smuin, Washington Ballet, Cincinnati, Sacramento, Colorado, Louisville, Milwaukee and American Repertory Ballets, as well as Robert Moses’ KIN and Alaska Dance Theater. Future projects include a premier for Smuin Ballet in the fall of 2015. She is honored to be the Choreographer in Residence for Smuin Ballet as well as been an Artist in Residence at the ODC Theater. KT NELSON (Guest Choreographer) — KT Nelson is the co-artistic director at ODC. She joined ODC/Dance in 1976 and in 1986 Nelson choreographed and directed the Company’s first full length family ballet, The Velveteen Rabbit, which has since been performed annually in the Bay Area as well as touring nationwide. Nelson has been awarded the Isadora Duncan award four times: in 1987 for Outstanding Performance, in 1996 and 2012 for Outstanding Choreography, and in 2001 for Sustained Achievement. Her collaborators have included Bobby McFerrin, Geoff Hoyle, Shinichi Iova-Koga, Max Chen, Zap Mama, and Joan Jeanrenaud. In 2008 her work RingRounRozi in collaboration with French-Canadian composer Linda Bouchard was selected to be performed at the Tanzmessa International Dance Festival. In 2009 Nelson was one of three artists selected for Austin Ballet’s New American Talent Competition. In 2012 she created new work for Western Michigan University as part of their Great Works Dance Project. She has mentored with the Margaret Jenkin’s Chime Project and continues to mentor emerging artists in the bay area and abroad. Artists of the Company SARAH CECILIA 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), Kansas City Ballet School, and Barnard College, Columbia University.