Hip Hop Her Way; An Interview with Sisterz of the Underground’s Sarah Smalls

Sisterz of the Underground (SOTU) is a community, network, and support system created by, and for, females who choose hip-hop as a form of expression. As an open hip-hop collective, […]

What do you Think About Dance Criticism? A Community Responds

We recently sent out a call out to nearly 30 Bay Area dance artists representing a broad cross-section of the community asking them to contribute perspectives on dance criticism. Twelve […]

Deep Roots, Many Branches: Black Choreographers Festival, Jan/ Feb 2008

It is 1992 and Katherine Dunham, the renowned dance artist and anthropologist has begun a hunger strike. The woman whose performing career is synonymous with theatricalizing African dance for the […]

The Noodle Factory is Dead, Long Live the Noodle Factory

Right now all you can see is beams and plywood walls, but by early 2008 the Oakland Noodle Factory should be a pipe dream made real. Imagine this: eleven live-work […]

The Bay Area’s Summer Performances: Theatrical adventures for any taste

If you want to experience the real Bay Area dance scene in all its breadth, depth, variety, and just-get-up-and-move wildness, you may have to come in the summer. True, September […]

Gray Zones: Ko Muroboshi’s Hand in the Development of inkBoat’s Crazy Cloud

Once again I’m roaming East Mountain hungry. When you are starving, a bowl of rice is worth a thousand pieces of gold. An ancient worthy swapped his wisdom for a […]

Revealing the Process

When someone joins the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee (The Izzies), they’re usually pleasantly surprised. Instead of a mysterious, shadowy group they will find a group of individuals like themselves—passionate […]

A Place to Explore: Mama Calizo

With its bright pink awning and front-door mosaic of CDs that sparkle like giant sequins, Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory (MCVF) is a bright spot in the South of Market district […]

Major celebrations and successes meet the usual challenges of presenting new work

This past year was a time of big birthdays, initiatives, celebrations, and rebuilding in Bay Area dance. Outshining all in historical import, ambition, publicity, and yes, hype—some perpetuated by this […]

The Crisis in Criticism: The Economy, the Internet and the Death of Dance Writing, Jun 2009

If you are reading this, odds are you earn at least part of your living working in the arts, or are a committed member of the dance audience. Let me […]