ABOUT ODC/DANCE

Full Company

Choreography

BRENDA WAY

Commissioned score

JOHANN HEINRICH SCHMELZER CHAD LAWSON / J.S. BACH

Light + Scenic Design

ALEXANDER V. NICHOLS

Costume Design

KYO YOHENA

Art-making inherently poses questions and proposes fresh ways of seeing. A Brief History of Up and Down joyfully shares reflections on the evolution of beauty that has taken place in dance over the 55 year lifespan of the ODC/Dance Company. From simple movement to extraordinary virtuosity- “Real people really Dancing!”

For 10 Dancers

Choreography

KIMI OKADA

Commissioned score

RAYMOND SCOTT, CARAVAN PALACE, DJANGO REINHARDT, LIZZY & THE TRIGGERMEN

Visuals

YUKI IZUMIHARA

Light + Scenic Design

THOMAS BOWERSOX

Costume Design

MAYA OKADA ERICKSON, KYO YOHENA

Inspired by the cartoons of Max Fleischer from the 1920’s and 1930’s, Inkwell draws from a black and white universe of oddballs, misfits, and maniacs. With a movement vocabulary rooted in physical comedy, vaudeville forms, and early cinema, the piece explores the power of demagogues over unwitting humans and the path from seduction to indoctrination. Music by Raymond Scott, Django Reinhardt, and other early jazz musicians.

For ODC's 5 men, 5 women

Duration

30 minute

Choreography

KT Nelson

Commissioned score

Joan Jeanrenaud

Light + Scenic Design

Matthew Antaky

Costumes

Liz Brent

A sabbatical in Death Valley serves as the inspiration for KT Nelson's Dead Reckoning. Original music from celebrated Kronos Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud underscores the story of how humanity has lost its way, and the impact that has on the surrounding natural forces. Dead Reckoning refers to navigating without the predictable reference points of stars, increasing the likelihood of accumulative error. Nelson says "Today at the rate of change in nature is unprecedented. How will we negotiate it? Are we in a time of dead reckoning?"

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"a company classic" – SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Full Company

Choreography

Catherine Galasso

Commissioned score

Dave Cerf

Visuals

Taylor Edelle Stuart

Light + Scenic Design

Thomas Bowersox

Costume Design

Catherine Galasso and Kyo Yohena

Text Excerpted from:

In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration by Shane O’Mara (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020)

Additional Music:

Terry Riley’s Keyboard Study #2 performed by Steffen Schleiermacher (MDG Records, 2002); Antonio Vivaldi’s Winter performed by Beatboy Ninja (Beatboy Music, 2024); Carl Craig’s In The Trees (2007) Remixed by Dave Cerf

Catherine Galasso’s 10,000 Steps: A Dance About Its Own Making (World Premiere) dissects the notion of “pedestrian” movement and the liminal, theatrical space between locomotion and dance through exactly 10,000 deliberate steps. Both joyful and self-reflective, 10,000 Steps: A Dance About Its Own Making reveals nuanced complexities within an intricate and exuberant structure. 

Ten thousand steps is a lot of people’s daily fitness goal—but in this piece, it’s eleven dancers’ exploration of the ways to use those steps creatively and sometimes comically, conserving and crafting and counting as they build an exploration of vernacular movement, everyday gesture, amusement and ambition.

Two Company Dancers

Choreography

Kimi Okada

Commissioned score

Teiji Ito, Steve Reich

Light + Scenic Design

David Robertson

Costume Design

Liz Brent

A couple’s secret language and signals become increasingly imperative and urgent as their world changes.

Duration

25 Minutes

Choreography

Brenda Way

Commissioned score

Music: David Lang, Gwely Mernans, Jay Cloidt, Frédéric Chopin

Light + Scenic Design

Alexander V. Nichols

 A rousing response to the daily barrage of news, disasters and disruptive events, and the solace we find in the care and affection of intimate relationships.

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" it does something more powerful than make an argument — it holds the moment, and makes us feel less alone in it.” San Francisco Chronicle

For ODC’s 5 men, 5 women

Duration

29 min

Choreography

Brenda Way, KT Nelson, Kate Weare

Commissioned score

Various + Shubert

Light + Scenic Design

Matt Antaky

Costumes

Way + Lisa Claybaugh

Way and Nelson team up with acclaimed New York-based choreographer Kate Weare in this unprecedented collaboration designed to shake up their creative process and explore new artistic territory. The inspiration for this work came from a rare original edition of Euclid's Elements, perhaps the most influential work in the history of mathematics. This highly physical, insightful, and emotive work moves from the formal elegance of geometry to its human implication: from triangles to threesome, from lines to connections, from the page to the heart.

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“There’s a point-to-point logic to the piece that seems as irresistible and inevitable as those ancient mathematical theorems. The new work... flows, twirls and regroups with utter confidence.” – SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Choreography

Brenda Way

Commissioned score

Laurie Anderson

Light + Scenic Design

Alexander V. Nichols

Commissioned

The Equal Justice Society

Unintended Consequences (A Meditation) premiered in 2008 set to music by renowned performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Commissioned by the Equal Justice Society, an Oakland, California-based organization working to transform the nation’s consciousness on issues of race and social justice, Unintended Consequences “offers a cutting critique of human relationships, and of how easily we become isolated” (The New York Times). The work considers the effects of America’s fetish of individualism and its perversion into “every man for himself.”

For 4 Women

Duration

10 Minutes

Choreography

Dexandro Montalvo

Commissioned score

Music: Someone Else & Miskate

Light + Scenic Design

Jack Beuttler

Costume Design

Kyo Yohena

Created in 2014, and featuring music by Someone Else & Miskate, Impulse celebrates “individuality, physicality and ferocity of movement.” The piece was nominated for an Izzie award for outstanding choreography.

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“ hip, pounding and mesmerizingly executed.” San Francisco Chronicle

For ODC's Dancers

Duration

30 minutes

Choreography

Brenda Way

Light + Scenic Design

Alexander V. Nichols

Why do we hold on and how do we let go - of our stuff, our habits, our opinions, our relationships? What defines us in the end?

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For ODC's Dancers and Volti

Duration

1 hour

Choreography

KT Nelson

Composer

Joby Talbot

Conductor

Robert Geary

Lighting Design

David Robertson

Path of Miracles is a site-specific performance experience created in collaboration with San Francisco’s outstanding 17-member vocal ensemble, Volti, singing a transcendent score by Joby Talbot. Path of Miracles explores our journey through space and time.

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"The artists spoke fluently to one other, each in her own language." – San Francisco Chronicle

For ODC’s 11 dancers & 6-10 local children

Duration

75 minutes

Choreography

KT Nelson

Narration

Geoff Hoyle

Score

Benjamin Britten

Story

Margery Williams

"Once, there was a velveteen rabbit ... and in the beginning he was really splendid, fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be, and on Christmas morning the little boy loved him best of all."

ODC/Dance brings Margery Williams' classic tale of a well-worn stuffed rabbit to life through music, dance, and a splendid narration by actor/comedian Geoff Hoyle. Brimming with wit, festive costumes, and endearingly madcap characters, this production incorporates eight local children, and is a holiday treat and evergreen classic.

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"Delightful, imaginative, with something to offer both adults and children ... the choreography makes the story come alive." – NEW YORK TIMES

Duration

25 min

Choreography

Brenda Way, KT Nelson, Kimi Okada

Concept

Brenda Way, Natalia Roberts

Commissioned score

Zoë Keating, Tchaikowsky, Marcelo Zarvos

A triple-bill exploration of ODC/Dance films, featuring 2011’s Love on the Run, plus the public premiere of ODC’s Sleeping Beauty, and the public world premiere of Walk on Air (against your better judgement).

Love on the Run (2011)
A 5 minute short that takes to the streets of San Francisco to excavate everyday sources of contemporary choreography. Take the trip with us from forthright public perception to the delight of choreographic transformation.

Walk on Air (against your better judgement) (2020)
Public World Premiere

A 15-minute film that realizes the imagination of a sequestered dancer, left with her longing, her memories and her imagination. Bodies may be constrained but minds are free to roam. In Walk on Air - from a poem by Seamus Heaney - we take you into nature and the uplifting vision of being together, dancing together, again.
 
Sleeping Beauty (2020)
Public World Premiere

A 4 minute short created in the suspended reality of Shelter in Place. Set to Tchaikowsky’s atmospheric Sleeping Beauty Waltz and Narrated by artistic director Brenda Way, we consider the musings of a profession in suspension. "So let the dance company lay in wait, like the fairy tale beauty. Asleep but not gone, dormant but not defeated. Awaiting a kiss of renewal.”

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"We take you into nature and the uplifting vision of being together, dancing together, again"

Duration

75 minutes

Choreography

KT Nelson

Narration

Geoff Hoyle

Score

Benjamin Britten

Story

Margery Williams

"Once, there was a velveteen rabbit ... and in the beginning he was really splendid, fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be, and on Christmas morning the little boy loved him best of all."

Brimming with wit, festive costumes, madcap characters and the perfect amount of holiday cheer, ODC/Dance, one of America’s most exciting and acclaimed contemporary dance companies, brings a new, interactive, and special digital presentation of The Velveteen Rabbit.

Make a memorable holiday season with your family and friends. Laugh, dance, sing, and experience The Velveteen Rabbit with never-before-seen “Dance Break!” videos. Get moving and dance along with your favorite characters with activities like the “Toy Slide,” “Bunny Beat,” and “Croc Bop.”

 

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"Delightful, imaginative, with something to offer both adults and children ... the choreography makes the story come alive." – NEW YORK TIMES

ODC/Dance presents its iconic works paired specially with a local restaurant or bar. Starting with an interactive cocktail class, wine tasting, or historical context into food & beverage, we then witness an intimate conversation between the choreographers and collaborators. After gaining insights into the process of creation, ODC screens a high quality video of the work, immediately followed by Q&A with the artists. Featured artists have included Brenda Way, KT Nelson, Kimi Okada, Pamela Z, Zoë Keating, and Paul Dresher.

The Recipe

The Zoom Lobby

5:15pm
Your Zoom theater date begins with you and your friends in an informal, social chat with a mixologist, wine maker, or other expert leading you in the creation of the evening’s specialty drink. Your beverage of the evening can be ordered and delivered, or, if you live further afield and already have the ingredients, you will receive a recipe.

5:45pm
An intimate discussion of the work with the choreographer and special guest collaborators.

Livestream Screening

6:00pm
Together, we’ll watch a screening of the evening’s ODC/Dance performance, followed by a virtual Q&A with the artists.

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“ An experience like this comes close to watching a live show and the bonus of hearing from the creators of the piece themselves was wonderful and made me feel connected to an audience again.” — ODC PATRON, DRINKS & A DANCE: WALK BACK THE CAT

ODC/Dance offers live site specific composition classes taught by ODC Choreographers. Additionally, if you would like ODC's Artistic Leadership to join your podcast or other broadcast events for insight into ODC and the work, we would love to hear from you.

Cathy Pruzan
Booking Agent
(415) 789-5051
cathy@odc.dance

Joseph Copley
Associate Director of Artistic Planning
(415) 549-8515
joseph@odc.dance

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