As the culmination to the Winter 2024 Residency, Studio 210 presented the projects of the two artists-in-residence:

Emma Andre (photos 1 & 2) presented a new piece titled In My Room. From Emma Andre: “This piece is an exploration of my relationship with femininity as I’ve journeyed through my life. Using music as a catalyst I will explore the freedom I felt in my childhood, the contradictory expectations put on young women, and the deconstruction of these ideals culminating in the reconstruction of my authentic self.”

Andrea Rodriguez (photos 3 & 4), presented a new section titled How Do We Heal? of her ongoing project La Rumba No Para (The Rumba Doesn’t Stop), a salsa love story about growing up in San Francisco, La Misión. Created by Andrea Rodriguez, the piece traverses through the streets surrounding 24th Street, where a melding of family secrets, culture, Latinx music and dance are explored through the themes of love, loss, and addiction.

Photos by Kyle Adler

Premiere:

In the Presence of Absence brings together a wide range of individuals to tell some of the millions of stories of 2020 – 2023 –  how the pandemic brought into focus the vast diversity of experiences, and yet provided a unifying lens through which to view our world. Led by Artistic Director Deborah Slater, the project sets out to explore how we all experienced the same moment differently and what we’re left with as we move forward.

Read a review of the performance here. All photos by Robbie Sweeny

Begun in collaboration with culture curator and racial equity consultant Tammy Johnson, In the Presence of Absence integrates dance, theater, text, interviews and image to explore the larger questions of our time by investigating the pandemic and post pandemic circumstances that affected us all, in our myriad differences.

In the Presence of Absence features performances by DSDT company members, members of the Cosmic Elders Theatre Ensemble + and Patricia Silver of Word for Word, original music composed by Marcus Shelby, sound design by Cliff Caruthers, lighting design by Allen Willner, video projections by video designer Oliva Ting, costumes by Dana Kawano and commissioned text from members of Youth Speaks.

As the culmination to the Summer 2023 Residency, Studio 210 presented the projects of the two artists-in-residence:

Jesse Escalante (photos 1 & 2) presented a new piece titled (Un)balanced. (Un)balanced is a personal exploration of Bipolar Disorder that examines depression and mania, while ultimately asking “is there an in between?” Emotional, personal, and visceral, this work hopes to create empathy and compassion towards the battles we do not know people are facing.

Ky Frances (photos 3 & 4), presented “Travis, a collection of memories”, which was a series of “shorts” portrayed in spoken text and movement as an exploration of queer love and heartbreak. Including writing & poetry by Ky Frances.

Photos by Kyle Adler

Jesse Escalante (L) with dancers Timmorie Freeman & Rowan Williams

Jesse Escalante (center) with dancers Timmorie Freeman & Rowan Williams

Ky Frances (back) and collaborator Zoe Huey (front)

Collaborators (L to R) Jess Bozzo, Twyla Malchow-Hay, and Gizeh Muñiz-Vengel

For nearly two years, we have endured the chaotic impact of a global pandemic. The weight of this event coupled with ongoing political, humanitarian, personal and climate crises, has caused seismic changes in our lives. There are literally millions of stories to be told.

In response, Deborah Slater Dance Theater (DSDT) Artistic Director Deborah Slater and culture curator Tammy Johnson, began interviewing community members from all walks of life about what moments during this time, no matter how big or small, have resonated for them or been life changing in some way. In tandem with these interviews, Slater is creating solos with DSDT dancers based on personal narratives created by the performers and writers from Youth Speaks, a leading presenter of spoken word performance, education, and youth development programs. Over the next year, these stories and dances will be woven together into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of images, text, movement and sound. The interviews and personal stories have made visible our common desire for community and have been a revelation in the wonder of our differences.

This work-in-progress showing will include performances by Deborah Slater Dance Theater company members and a discussion of the project led by Deborah Slater and Tammy Johnson.

Performances by Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Erin Yen, Calvin Thomas Jr., Kyle Limin, & Rachel Garcia

Photos by Tim Isom

Residents Cynthia Ling Lee & Bahiya Movement (led by duo Afia & Nafi Thomson) explore rituals of grief and healing in response to our current moment of crisis. Exploring forms and presentation models, residents present projects on a virtual platform. The evening concludes with an audience-artist exchange. 

Abacus by Bahiya Movement 

Abacus is a dance video in which “abused feelings reject the calculated process of healing.” Exploring the body’s response to trauma and challenges brought about by recovery, Bahiya Movement seeks to uncover the painful process of healing and the strength one must find to persevere.

Grief Rituals/Somatic Scores for Living During a Pandemic by Cynthia Ling Lee

Cynthia Ling Lee explores participatory structures that create intimacy, invite somatic embodiment, and offer communal rituals for processing grief and trauma. Ranging from audio-based improvisational scores to carefully crafted mourning rituals on Zoom, her work asks questions specific to our current moment: how can you satisfy a hunger for physical touch while in isolation? How can we grieve together during this moment?

Resident artists Evan Johnson and ensemble the Cosmic Elders, and Bhumi B. Patel and pateldanceworks explore creating and presenting a virtual performance, inviting virtual audiences to focus on the intersection of embodied sensation over stagnant forms, and explores how remote technology can forge creative ground within our climate of national crisis. The evening culminates in an audience-artist discussion. 

Voice Over Project by Evan Johnson/Cosmic Elders

Voice Over Project inquires how to subvert traditional systems of power through innovative technological forms. Through various experiments of de-centering and de-constructing how the body and voice are experienced, the intergenerational group will navigate uncharted territories within the context of remote performance making.

the long shadow by Bhumi B. Patel/pateldanceworks

the long shadow, a reimagined virtual performance extending from our work “divisions the empire has sown.” Patel and collaborators look at the questions of resistance and resilience, dominance and dissonance, and the shadows of colonization that we are all part of today.

Premiere: February 27-29, March 1, 2020 | ODC Theater, San Francisco

“If you are not at the table, you are probably on the menu.”

This co-presentation with ODC Theater presents the third and final section of DSDT’s inCIVILITY series, A Seat at the Table, to culminate our 30th Anniversary season. Inspired by an Adam Gopnick article, “…Who Deserves a Seat at the Table”, and Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, A Seat at the Table combines athletic interactions inspired by humanity, power, and place with community input about marginalization, powerlessness, and even being shunned.

More photos:

All Photos by Robbie Sweeny

Resident artists Nol Simonse (in collaboration with Miche Wong) and Emelia Martinez Brumbaugh research socially and culturally urgent practices, exploring eroticism, fluidity, race, and ritual. An evening of experimental exchange, culminating in an audience-artist discussion.

Clown Cage by Nol Simonse & Miche Wong

Sigil1 by Emelia (Jubilee July) Martínez Brumbaugh

SIGIL: A symbolically significant set of pathways charged with desire/intention to re-pattern, make change, and/or power a specific outcome.

What candles have been or should be lit to honor boundaries crossed? 

How do you build a portal made out of walls?

What does consent look like when channeling rage?

What negative space is liberated when you say “no”?

How can you ensure that it is a spiral, not a circle?

What would you say “no” to if your magic power was that each “no” would be heard and respected?

What divine powers do triangles hold?

More photos: 

All photos by Tim Isom

Performance Dates: May 31 – June 2nd, 2019 | The Historic Firehouse at Fort Mason, for the SF International Arts Festival 2019

DSDT presents an evening of solos that celebrate 30 years of dance making in San Francisco. DSDT star Kerry Mehling comes out of retirement to reprise Grace Floats, Slater’s collaboration with Pulitzer finalist Rinde Eckert. Rinde’s voice, words and music plus Slater’s choreography tell the story of strong women, love, and loss off the coast of Maine. In Beneath the Thin Skin, a monologue by playwright Julie Hebért, the dancer is surrounded by the remnants of a traumatic experience and a new love. And finally, a slant table and chair gymnastics will jog the memory of DSDT’s fans and excite the eyes of new viewers.

Audience Reviews: 

“The movement is spectacular but the stories are even more compelling. DSDT makes you think and feel… Always provocative. You think about it for weeks and months afterward.”

 – Kim Teevan

“I cannot  pinpoint which part I liked the best because every dancer did their very best artistically and I became engaged in what they were sharing with their movements and voice.”

– Evangelina Saldana

“It was a gift to revel in the formative solo works of Deborah Slater Dance Theater.  Each soloist gave themselves wholly, filling the air with their story and filling our hearts with their art.  They all clearly relished in the supreme artistry and sobering humanity that is Deborah’s work. I laughed, I cried, I remembered.” 

– Anna Greenberg

“I see a lot of dance, but I’m now a solid Slater fan.  This is one of the most overlooked technically superb and interesting dance companies in town!”

 – Gail Goldman

More Photos:

Photos of Kerry Mehling, Hien Huynh, Areyla Moss-Maguire & Nol Simonse by Tim Isom

Performance Dates: March 28-30th, 2019 | ODC Theater, San Francisco

The Sleepwatchers, critically acclaimed and nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award following its
premiere in 2001, is inspired by the writings and research of Stanford sleep specialist Dr. William Dement. These excerpts look at sleep metaphorically and literally, examining how it affects society’s mental and physical well-being.

Note from the Directors

Deborah Slater and Jim Cave met when they both worked at the Acme Cafe on 24th Street in 1976. Jim was a barista. Deborah a waitress. Twenty years later, after getting their creative footing, Deborah asked Jim to co-direct A Hole in the World, a beautiful paean for Deborah’s dad. That collaboration led to another project called The Sleepwatchers.

Through Deborah’s sleep doctor brother, Dr. Jeremy Slater, Deborah learned of stories about patients with unusual sleep disorders – like the family who got up in the middle of the night and ate together, then woke up in the morning wondering why they were all gaining weight. They remembered nothing! The more stories he told, the more fascinated she became. Dr. Slater referred Deborah to contact Dr. William Dement, one of the pioneers in sleep research at the Stanford Sleep Research Center. The title, The Sleepwatchers, came from his book of the same name. What was so compelling besides the funny and disturbing stories, was all the research indicating that the glorification of ‘not sleeping’ was costing us our health, our ability to focus, even our economic well-being.

Deborah and Jim originally premiered The Sleepwatchers in 2001 with collaborators David Allen Jr., Jeanne Henzel, Elaine Buckholtz, Kerry Mehling, Yayoi Kambara, Lisa Okuhn (and more) with original text pulled from interviews with numerous people about sleeping and dreaming.

Flash forward about twenty years and here we are at ODC. It’s wonderful to re-imagine the piece with a different group of collaborators. Genders of characters have shifted and the text re-worked, but the heart of the matter remains the same: one long night in a sleep lab, guided by a compassionate doctor, a mischievous demon, and a sleepless patient. Sleep research has advanced in leaps and bounds since the piece’s inception, but the hypnotic allure of the polysomnographs remain the same. Our deepest thanks to the performers and interviewees who brought this piece to life in the first place and to this current group, who have made it their own funny, dramatic, heartfelt voyage into the science, mythology, and emotional realities of sleeping and dreaming. We hope you enjoy tonight’s journey.

Reviews:

“The [work] is chock-full of Dance Theater elements, expertly woven into a rich artistic tapestry: text, characters, scenework, set, sound, humor and movement. And by simultaneously mining these disciplines, Sleepwatchers makes some penetrating physical, psychological and emotional statements about the mysterious process of sleep.” – HeatherDance.com

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More Photos:

Photos of Derek Harris, Vincent Hwang, Meegan Hertensteiner, Kyle Limin, Jenny McAllister, Nol Simonse by Robbie Sweeny