For Current Projects

What is Ethnic Dance?: Questions and Reflections from a “Post Multiculturalism” Conversation

Let’s face it, like it or not, traditional and ethnic dance forms around the globe are changing. I doubt there’s any dance style that’s performed exactly as it was 50 […]

Dena Beard Gets Moving: The Lab’s Director Talks about a Vision for Art-Making

It’s been a year and a half since Dena Beard took over the directorship of The Lab. The longtime hub for experimental cross-disciplinary art and performance, founded by five San […]

A Fine Time on the F Line

A sneak preview of this year’s Trolley Dances, featuring an array of performances along San Francisco’s historic F Line.

What Exactly is Community-Based Dance?, Oct 2007

From dance classes with prisoners, to after-school programs, to participatory rituals and multi-generational performance projects, Community-based dance can take a wide variety of forms. Here I explore the roots of […]

Welcome, Sep 2010

Everything is set to launch another rich dance season and September marks the return of new productions, programs and renewed theaters that reflect our robust growing community. I’ve purposefully used […]

Navigating the Storm: A Conversation with KT Nelson About Dead Reckoning

Dominating recent headlines, the scientific world is now in unanimous agreement that 2014 was the warmest year on record, thus bringing back to the table the burning issues—no pun intended—of […]

Art Meets Life: The 30th Annual Planetary Dance

At the end of the movie Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock’s character tearfully confesses that she really does want world peace. Okay, it’s a little silly—and I’m not embarrassed to admit […]

Innovation Within Tradition: Covering the Annual Classical Indian Dance Festival

IN TODAY’S FAST-PACED WORLD, the words “classical” and “traditional” in terms of dance are often oversimplified and misinterpreted as “old” or “fixed.” Classical Indian Dance is no exception. Unfortunately for […]

Jack Carpenter: a Master of Illumination

The estimable dance and theater lighting designer Thomas Skelton once remarked, “There are many barriers between the dancer and good lighting, but each can be hurdled with enough imagination, common […]