Huma(N)ature is a dance, theater, and circus production investigating humanity’s relationship to nature – our misguided dominion over it, our inordinate influence upon it, our continued reliance on its systems, and our place within it.  Showcasing a variety of artists and shows, Huma(N)ature will be a different experience nearly every night.  

The throughline each night will be The Secrets of the Trees, a circus and dance show inspired by the book The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohleben.  This theatrical critique of capitalism and greed is told through the trees as they struggle for survival in the Anthropocene*.  Originally performed in June 2018 at Athletic Playground in Emeryville, Caitlyn Kilgore and her cast have been excitedly updating this deeply affective, dazzling acrobatic display for its Dance Mission reboot.

Other shows sharing the stage with The Secrets of the Trees vary from musicals to monologues to modern dance.  Created and performed by some of the Bay Area’s strongest activists and artist – including members of our local Extinction Rebellion (@XRSFBayArea) – each show will offer something unique, beautiful, and important for the times ahead.  

*The current, scientifically proposed geologic epoch in which human activities constitute a major impact on all Earth’s ecological processes.

Schedule:

March 6th (8pm), 7th (8pm), 8th (4pm & 8pm), 12th (8pm), 13th (8pm) & 14th (8pm)

The Secrets of the Trees

The Secrets of the Trees: a theatrical critique of capitalism and greed told through the trees as they struggle for survival in the Anthropocene*

Friday March 6th 8pm

Terra Femme – A. Spearman & Co.

Terra Femme centers on embodying Earth as a feminine being whose energy (resources-water, land, plants and vegetation, minerals, etc) is being drained by her children who create man made devices and disasters. The dancers and Earth Choir are her children.

A. Spearman & Co. is a contemporary fusion dance company that was founded in 2012 by Artistic Director Andréa Spearman. All artists are trained in various fields of movement including ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern, and cultural dance. This company seeks to design and create unique vocabularies of performance. Explosive and varied, this company maintains it’s loyalty to unusual collaborations.

Saturday March 7th 8pm

The Soul of Soil Revue – The Seastars

Come acquaint yourself with the freakosystem that teems beneath your feet and goes by the name of soil. Soil is the soul of our living world, the source of life itself—it’s time we learned how to love it. Through a (bio)diversity of song, dance, and other performative antics, we will trace our roots back to the ground and reconnect, with reverence, to nature. Mixing science and satire, we are here to share the story of soil and its significance to our survival

Sunday March 8th 4pm

The Soul of Soil Revue – The Seastars

(see above)

Sunday March 8th 8pm

Dispatches from the Great Burning:  What My Mennonite Ancestors and the Gobi Bear Taught Me About Surviving the Climate Emergency – Helen Stoltzfus

What does it mean to be a worthy ancestor – or a worthy human being – in a time of catastrophic upheaval?  What does it mean to act audaciously – without knowing the outcome of one’s actions? One woman, six dispatches from: The Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The Big Bang. The Civil War. Oakland. The Alaskan tundra. Paradise…and its fires.

Thursday March 12th 8pm

Upwelling – Nommensen Dance

Upwelling is a ocean-inspired dance performance created by Amelia Nommensen in collaboration with dancers Chelsea Boyd Brown, Annalise Constantz, Wednesday Manners and original cast member Audrey Johnson. This work in progress takes a dive into the alluring mysteries of the ocean with underwater recordings, poetry, song, and modern dance exploring the strength of feminine forces. With an original sound score by Joe Krempetz, allow the auditory and visual journey to leave your heart full of wonder and with the impulse to save our seas.

Out of the Dust – Kristen Brown & Helen Fitanides

Out of the Dust explores the fate of creatures living in a world in which they can no longer survive. Starting on the ground, they are forced to adapt to environmental factors outside their control, and eventually must find new habitat for their species survival. This piece embodies the struggle of all beings facing a changing climate and limited resources.

Friday March 13th 8pm

Cancel the Apocalypse –  Big Drama No Drama

Cancel the Apocalypse is a new work of experimental music-theatre by East Bay-based performance group Big Drama No Drama. This avant-rock opera conjures the overdriven angst of our hypermodern moment through song, soundscape, spoken word, and movement. Two musician-actors, Daniel Larlham and Liz DeRoche, offer up a screwball diagnosis of a culture in turmoil, as the production moves from a focus on the personal microcosm (disheartenment, confusion, despair) to a reckoning with the macrocosmic crisis of climate change.  Audiences will take away from the production an infusion of vitality and hope, a realistic sense of faith in the resilience of life as an antidote to the seduction of doomsday thinking.

Saturday March 14th 8pm

Cancel the Apocalypse –  Big Drama No Drama

(see above)

Sunday March 15th 7pm

Dispatches from the Great Burning:  What My Mennonite Ancestors and the Gobi Bear Taught Me About Surviving the Climate Emergency – Helen Stoltzfus

(see above)

Siren’s Last Song – Ebb/Flow Collective

The Ocean herself brings an oil-slicked message with the tide.  Rainbow plastics fill the siren’s tail as he swims a somber finale, alone in a foreign place he once called home.  The siren’s last song, a distant memory –the Ocean embraces him as he drifts into eternal sleep.