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CaveWomen 2003 Performance Information |
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Dance Mission Theater Fridays & Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 6pm Sunday,
February 2, 2003 6pm Thursday,
February 13, 20 & 27, 2003 8pm Tickets $20 Advance/$25 General Admission
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About the Show
DANCE BRIGADE presents "CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION!"
Created by Krissy Keefer
FEBRUARY 1-MARCH 2, 2003
(December 2, 2002-San Francisco, CA) Back due to popular demand, Dance Brigade, San Francisco’s provocatively original dance theater company, returns with CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! The exciting sequel to CaveWomen 2002 contains Dance Brigade’s signature boundary-pushing, taiko-wushu-dance-theater-site-specific work that juxtaposes hot political topics with visceral stories about the 10th century yogini women of India and Tibet. Considered a “must-see for anyone who cares about this city’s art or its politics” by the San Francisco Examiner, the CaveWomen series is Dance Brigade’s antidote to war and the present state of affairs in the world - a stunning evocation of female power, a good dose of humor, black leather, and gutsy social commentary.
CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! runs for 5 weekends starting Saturday, February 1, 2003 through Sunday, March 2, 2003. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays 8PM, Sundays 6PM. Sunday, February 2nd’s performance will be followed by a Healing Circle with Vicki Noble, and the Thursday performances, February 13th, 20th and 27th, will be followed by Q & A with the Artists. Performances will take place once again at the multi-caverned yogini central at Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th Street at Mission (24th Street BART Station) in the heart of the mission, in San Francisco.
CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! is a primal feast of movement, theater, martial arts, aerial, trapeze and taiko drumming, delivered with passion and biting intellectual wit. It builds upon CaveWomen 2002’s multi-dimensional and site specific vignettes that explore women’s experiences from different ages and lands, with pointed social commentary on present day issues - Homeland Security, Mission District Displacement in San Francisco, the imminent War Against Iraq, violence and isolation. It includes enhancing crowd-pleasers such as Art Army with site-specific aerial flight, integrating the long-form of Wushu sword fighting, and giving audience members tasty morsels of club dancing and trapeze works.
Like it’s predecessor, CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! juxtaposes all of the above with the powerful rituals of the yogini women of 10th Century India and Tibet, who were believed to have had the ability to shape shift into animals, resurrect the dead, and walk on water. The great yogini women were originally from Odiyanna, in a valley on the border of what are now Afghanistan and Pakistan, and had the ability to transform the towns and villages where they practiced. Odiyanna was credited as being the training ground for the founder of Tibetan Buddhism.
Heralded as “Taiko drumming meets grand allegro in this knife-licking, leather booty-shaking, howl-at-the-moon performance” by the SF Bay Guardian, CaveWomen 2002 ran an unprecedented 17 sold-out performances over 6 weeks, to critical acclaim and commercial success, and halted only because of venue availability. This is a dance theater production with the insight of a seasoned political activist, the appeal of a Broadway hit, created by a boundary-breaking, cutting-edge company that has made its mark around the world. This time around, CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! could possibly become San Francisco’s longest running modern dance performance. . . And that would be no small feat for a modern dance company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since 1975, Artistic Director Krissy Keefer has refined a form of political dance theater that rivals other contemporary artists. Keefer’s signature style combines bold political content, cutting-edge movement, and stunning theater, and for this creation, Keefer deftly “steers her fellow dancers and choreographers through the myriad strands of her richly conceived material with an unfailing sense of direction.” (SF Bay Guardian) The Dance Brigade dancers include Karen Elliot, Lena Gatchalian, Sarah Bush, Tina Banchero, Debby Kajiyama, Kimberly B. Valmore, all known for their ability to deliver Keefer’s work with power and panache. Joining Dance Brigade are collaborators Bruce Ghent (Taiko Composition), Ling Mei Zhang (Wushu Choreography), Tom Wolver (Statues and Totems), Lynda Reiman (Set Design), with additional choreography by Yannis Adoniou, Terry Sendgraff and Amelia Rudolph. Ling Mei Zhang is especially noted for her martial arts accomplishments as a trainer and competitor in China, Japan and the United States. She has been named one of the three most influential women in molding contemporary Wushu today.
Co-founded in 1984 by Keefer, Dance Brigade is a contemporary dance theater company with a mission to create, produce and present dance theatre that reflects the timeless concerns of women. Called "politically savage, dramatically rambunctious, wonderfully tasteless and utterly brilliant” by the Sacramento Bee, the company has performed all over the world with their high energy content driven materials in both traditional and non-traditional venues, from international dance theater festivals to political and grass roots events. The company’s 25 year history in this unique form has enjoyed critically-acclaimed successes including Cinderella . . . A Tale of Survival, The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie, and Queen of Sheba.
Dance Brigade proudly presents CaveWomen . . . THE NEXT INCARNATION! starting Saturday, February 1 through Sunday, March 2, 2003. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays 8PM, Sundays 6PM, with a Healing Circle by Vicki Noble following the performance on Sunday, February 2nd, and Q & A with the Artists following the Thursday performances on February 13th, 20th and 27th. All performances will take place at Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th Street at Mission (24th Street BART Station) in San Francisco. Tickets are $20 Advance/$25 General Admission. For tickets and more information call (415) 273-4633 or www.DanceMission.com. Tickets also available at Mama Bears (Oakland) and Modern Times Bookstore (SF).