July 31 - August 3, 2025
State of Play invites you to join the creative process, presenting premieres and works in progress by dance artists from the Bay Area and across the US who push the limits of experimentation, risk, and curiosity. Bringing audiences and artists closer together, State of Play centers the art of art-making and its constant: play.
Purchase a festival pass and save! By purchasing a Day or Festival Pass, you are gaining access to a world of unforgettable, cutting-edge performance art and becoming a vital supporter of the Bay Area's creative ecosystem. Your heroic enthusiasm for live dance not only ensures the sustainability of our programming, it fuels creative lives through the exemplary belief in the power of art-making. Festival Passes are available while supplies last.
Day Passes
Redeem 1 ticket to every activity for one day of State of Play.
Festival Passes
Redeem 1 ticket to each artist's show during State of Play.
State of Play Festival: Experimentation. Risk. Curiosity.
RISK-TAKERS // Evening Length Performances
Lisa Fagan + Lena Engelstein, Wanjiru Kamuyu | WKcollective, a dance company
CURIOUS CREATORS // Short Form Performances
Leila Awadallah, gizeh muñiz, Black Benatar, Molly Rose-Williams
EXPERIMENTERS // Studio Presentations
Kira Fargas, Kimie Parker, Natalya Shoaf
Performance Schedule
Thursday, July 31
6:00pm - Black Benatar: Meet Black Benatar
7:00pm - gizeh muñiz: FISHBLOD
8:00pm - Wanjiru Kamuyu | WKcollective, a dance company: An Immigrant's Story
Friday, August 1
5:00pm - Kira Fargas: Maya
6:00pm - Wanjiru Kamuyu | WKcollective, a dance company: An Immigrant's Story
7:30pm - Molly Rose-Williams: CRUSH
8:30pm - Lisa Fagan + Lena Engelstein: Deepe Darknesse
Saturday, August 2
6:00pm - Kimie Parker: komainu duet
7:00pm - Leila Awadallah: shuhada alive-streamed un-ceased FIRE
8:00pm - Lisa Fagan + Lena Engelstein: Deepe Darknesse
9:30pm - Black Benatar: Meet Black Benatar
Sunday, August 3
4:30pm - gizeh muñiz: FISHBLOD
5:00pm - Natalya Shoaf: from seed to bloom
6:00pm - Molly Rose-Williams: CRUSH
7:00pm - Leila Awadallah: shuhada alive-streamed un-ceased FIRE
Join us nightly in the ODC Theater Lobby to toast the artists and learn more about their performances.
STATE OF PLAY WORKSHOP WITH FESTIVAL ARTISTS
Dance your way through State of Play! The State of Play Workshop is a three-day dance and movement-based workshop featuring a selection of performing artists from ODC Theater’s State of Play festival. Each morning will begin with technique followed by varying afternoon content, with each instructor guiding students through a distinct process of play. The State of Play workshop is geared towards professional dancers, though all movers are welcomed and encouraged to join at their own pace. Enjoy sessions with gizeh muñiz, Kira Fargas, Molly Rose Williams, Natalya Shoaf, Lisa Fagan + Lena Engelstein, Leila Awadallah, and Wanjiru Kamuyu!
Accessibility at ODC
ODC is ADA Accessible. Additional wheelchair seating is provided for select shows. Getting to second floor studios in the ODC Dance Commons and ODC Theater involves riding an elevator or climbing one flight of stairs. The majority of the ODC Annex is carpeted. ODC Theater and ODC Annex restrooms are All-Gender, and in the ODC Dance Commons, All-Gender restrooms are located on the second floor. For all ODC/Dance and ODC Theater presented performances, ASL is provided for shows with performed text for at least one performance during the show run.
Land Acknowledgement
ODC is on the ancestral lands of the Ramaytush People in Yelamu. We pay respects to elders past and present, who are still here and part of our community. We recognize that regenerative land management is not new, but is a continuation of practices from Native cultures and from our own ancestors. It is our responsibility to steward the land with care, as our elders did before us.
Arts Access Tickets
ODC offers a limited number of free and/or lower-cost Art Access tickets to every ODC presented performance. For most performances in B. Way Theater, twenty tickets are allocated to the Arts Access tiers. These additionally subsidized tickets, available on a first-come, first-serve basis, are reserved for those for whom price is a barrier. Please contact boxoffice@odc.dance if you or your organization is interested in underwriting the cost of additional Arts Access tickets.
About the Theater
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. This 170-seat venue is the site of over 150 performances a year involving nearly 1,000 local, regional, national and international artists.
What’s on at ODC Theater?