At the end of June the streets of San Francisco, and many dance venues, will be bustling as the local dance community plays host to our colleagues from across the country, as well as many outside our borders. During the content-rich and celebratory Dance/USA Conference, over 500 attendees will convene for a lively conversation, and the scene is sure to invigorate. As happens with national convocations, you can expect friendships to renew and new ones be made, novel programming, and creative inspiration–fueling dialogue (and grant proposals) for the next year. This gathering allows the growing community of practitioners, and supporters of the moving body, time to interact and be re-stimulated. They will have had the opportunity to decelerate, listen, reflect, expound, and laugh.
Through a series of free and ticketed performances, the San Francisco host committee worked to highlight our region’s amazingly rich dance landscape. For those living in the Bay Area it’s no new thing to relish the abundance of traditional dance, juxtaposed with hip hop, modern, dance-theater, site-specific explorations, and the stylings of classical ballet. Yet, I propose that even stalwart locals might take for granted all that our dance community has to offer.
If you are attending the conference, you will surely be motivated by the discussions that will transpire, and for those just wanting to revel in an amazing theatrical experience, be sure to purchase a ticket to one, or both, of the performances at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Thursday June 28 at 12noon and 8pm. You’ll have the opportunity to watch the national community appreciate, and applaud, the range of dance in the Bay Area.
In addition to conference specific programming June 27-30, there will be other exciting events going on at YBCA, ODC Theater, Z Space, Dance Mission and CounterPULSE that feature work by inkBoat, Joe Goode, Keith Hennessy, ODC/Dance, Micaya, Lizz Roman and offerings the entire month at the Ethnic Dance Festival. All of these performances can be found in our calendar within this issue and online.
This month also marks a major transition within the Dancers’ Group office. Long-time program director Kegan Marling will be leaving his position to more fully engage in artistic adventures–performing, making dance, and taking the time to be engrossed in other theatrical wonders. Kegan’s contributions to our mission are considerable and extensive, so please help us thank him for his work developing and overseeing programs such as the Lighting Artists in Dance, and New Stages for Dance grant programs, the Rotunda Dance Series, 2nd Sundays, Dance Discourse Project and ONSITE. When you embrace and investigate creativity, doors opening and closing are constant.
We invite you to enjoy the articles within, revealing new perspectives on a thriving and curious dance landscape.
I look forward to seeing you at the Dance/USA conference and for those not able to be there, there is always next year in Philadelphia.
Enjoy the surprises that abound.
— Wayne Hazzard, executive director
This article appeared in the June 2012 issue of In Dance.
