ODC/Dance

History

Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way who trained under the legendary
George Balanchine, ODC (Oberlin Dance Collective—named after Oberlin College in
Ohio where Way was on faculty) loaded up a yellow school bus and relocated to San
Francisco in 1976. Her goal was to ground the company in a dynamic pluralistic urban
setting. ODC was one of the first American companies to return, after a decade of
pedestrian exploration, to a more virtuosic contemporary technique and to commit
major resources to interdisciplinary collaboration and commissioned scores for
the repertory.
ODC/Dance Company, with it’s world-class dancers, performs its imaginative
repertory for more than 50,000 people annually. In addition to two annual home
seasons in San Francisco (Dance Downtown and our holiday production, The
Velveteen Rabbit), recent highlights include appearances with Global Arts Live in
Boston, ENT Center in Colorado Springs, Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave
Festival in New York, MODAFE Festival in Seoul Korea, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley,
Royce Hall at UCLA and in past years, standing-room-only engagements in Europe,
and Asia.
The company has been widely recognized for its rigorous athleticism and its numerous
groundbreaking collaborations with, among others, choreographers Kate Weare, Amy
Seiwert, Dexandro Montalvo, and NaHoon Park, composers Marcelo, Zarvos, Bobby
McFerrin, Zoë Keating, Zap Mama, Pamela Z, and Paul Dresher, writer/singer Rinde
Eckert; vocal ensemble Volti; actors Bill Irwin, Geoff Hoyle, and Robin Williams; visual
artists Andy Goldsworthy, Wayne Thiebaud, Jim Campbell and Eleanor Coppola; and
welder/bike designer Max Chen.
ODC is known nationally for entrepreneurial savvy and was the first modern dance
company in the United States to build its home facility, the ODC Theater. In 2005,
ODC expanded its campus to include the ODC Dance Commons, which houses ODC/
Dance, ODC School, a Pilates studio, and a Healthy Dancers' Clinic. In 2021, ODC
launched ODC Connect, a curated collection of digital content on a customized Video
on Demand platform.