San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Women’s History Month 2021: The best ways to celebrate.
The month of March is typically dedicated to honoring mighty women and shining a light on the impactful ways they have brought change and contributed to the improvement of equal rights through the ages.
Women’s History Month is celebrated across the U.S. and around the world and corresponds with International Women’s Day (March 8). Bay Area organizations plan to recognize the celebration with a variety of virtual performances, activities and lectures aimed at highlighting women’s and girls’ power all month long.
Here are some local events to check out:
Virtual (and outdoor) events
San Francisco State University’s Jane H. Galante Concert Series: “Ain’t I a Woman!”: Livestreamed performance by the Core Ensemble, featuring Shinnerrie Jackson, of a chamber music theater work celebrating the lives of four powerful African American women: novelist/anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, exslave/abolitionist Sojourner Truth, folk artist Clementine Hunter and civil rights worker Fannie Lou Hamer.
3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28. Free, registration required. 4153382467. bit.ly/3dlQxAC
NASA’s Mars Probe, Perseverance Talk with Isabel Hawkins: In this virtual program from the Exploratorium, Isabel Hawkins plans to share details of the Perseverance probe, as well as what scientists hope to learn from the Red Planet during their latest interplanetary mission. Until this presentation airs, participants are invited to watch “Life on Mars,” a presentation with Exploratorium scientist Julie Yu, available to stream now at bit.ly/3aoSfir.
4 p.m. Wednesday, March 3. Free. Available to stream on the Exploratorium YouTube and Facebook channels. 4155284444. exploratorium.edu
NightSchool: Women in Science: Celebrate International Women’s Day early in an online event featuring a panel of scientists in conversation about what it’s like and what it means to be a woman in science in 2021. With Alie Ward, creator and host of the “Ologies” podcast; Chrissy Garcia, the California Academy of Sciences collections manager of geology; Alejandra Hernandez, the Cal Academy research fellow studying coralmicrobe interactions; University of Washington Assistant Professor Melanie Malone; and Sue Pierre, environmental science educator, microbial ecologist and lead investigator of the Critical Ecology Lab research and social change collective. Programming is intended for audiences 21 and up.
7 p.m. Thursday, March 4. Free. Available to stream on the Exploratorium YouTube and Facebook channels. 4153798000. calacademy.org/nightlife Deborah Slater Dance Theater Presents: Studio 210 Winter Residency Performance: The program features new works titled “Grief Rituals/Somatic Scores for Living During a Pandemic” from Cynthia Ling Lee and “Abacus,” from mother/daughter duo Afia and Nafi Thompson’s African modern jazz fusion dance company, Bahiya Movement. The performances are the culmination of an eightweek residency and explore rituals of grief and healing in response to the current moment of crisis.
Dance Mission Theater Presents D.I.R.T. Festival 2021:
This year’s Dance In Revolt (ing) Times arts festival is set to feature Destiny Arts Center cocurators Sarah Crowell and artistic director/founder of the Brooklyn’s Àse Dance Theatre Collective, Adia Tamar Whitaker, presenting two virtual performance events spotlighting soloists and dance companies from across the country. Homegrown San Francisco storyteller Rhodessa Jones is set to be mistress of ceremonies for the occasion.
Planned featured artists include soloists Hattie Mae Williams, Kamille King, Nia Love and Sydnie L. Mosley; and dance companies Afro Urban Society, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, Destiny Arts Center, Embodiment Project, Michelle N. Gibson and the Brass, Molodi, Red Clay Dance Company, UFly Mothership and Zaccho Dance Theater.
5 p.m. Friday, March 5; Saturday, March 13. $10. 4158264441. dancemissiontheater.org
The Marsh Solo Performer Spotlight Series Presents: “Science Fair: An Opera With Experiments”: Mezzosoprano HaiTing Chinn brings her eclectic musical science show to the Marsh as a livestreamed event. Conceived and performed by Chinn with pianist Erika Switzer, the show pairs operatic vocals with lighthearted humor and science lectures. The live stream will feature a postperformance Q&A with the Marsh’s founder and artistic director, Stephanie Weisman.
5 p.m. Saturday, March 6. Free, donations encouraged. 4152823055. themarsh.org/marshstream
A Life in the Arts: “The Savannah Sipping Society”: An online reunion of the cast and crew from the 2017 theater production will be hosted by Joe Mallon. The allwomen lineup includes actors Kimberly Ridgeway, Sally Hogarty, Lisa Appleyard, Julia Etzel and Daile Rosicky. Joining the conversation will be director Katina Letheule and stage manager Kristin Smith.
7 p.m. March 12. Free, registration required. 5105231553. altarena.org
The Marsh Solo Performer Spotlight Series Presents: “Dispatches From the Great Burning”: Helen Stoltzfus presents her freewheeling work, which offers up reports from all over time and place. The evening’s event will feature a postperformance Q&A with Marsh founder and artistic director Stephanie Weisman. Stoltzfus is also set to appear on Weisman’s MarshStream broadcast at 7:30 p.m. March 11 to discuss her work and perform a brief excerpt.
7:30 p.m. March 13. Free. Available to stream through midnight March 14. 4152823055. themarsh.org/marshstream
Ongoing offerings
HERstory: S.F. Public Library Women’s History Month Series: The library plans to offer a monthlong spotlight on women’s achievements featuring a diverse schedule of virtual programs for adults and youth. This year, many of the “HERstory” programs correlate to their “One City One Book” program, which highlights author and artist Chanel Miller and focuses on building awareness of sexual assault and empowerment through activism, art and community work.
Through March 31. Free. 4155574400. sfpl.org