SAFEhouse’s Summer Performance Festival is now in its 10th year.
“We hand them a key and say, ‘We’ll see you in 12 weeks,’ ” says Joe Landini, referring to the dance makers he cultivates at Safehouse for the Performing Arts. Not losing the studio key is one of the few practical contingencies he places on resident artists — their creativity is absolutely untethered.
What results is some of the most avant-garde dance in San Francisco, created by emerging and veteran artists on themes both personal and political, in movement from lyrical to visceral. A curated cross-section is in the offing for SPF10, Safehouse’s 10th annual Summer Performance Festival, running for two weekends starting Thursday, July 6, at Joe Goode Annex.
The festival showcases a range of the Bay Area’s dancers and dance makers, from midcareer artists to those just finding their voice, like firsttime participants Sienna Williams and Diana Kalaji. “As an emerging artist in the city, it can be really daunting,” says Williams, 24. “With Safehouse, they really do believe in the value of fresh and raw work. So if you have a vision, you’re afforded the space to express yourself.”
In their first-ever collaboration, the duo are combining movement and spoken word into a deeply personal work about ethnic ambiguity. “I am a black woman and Diana is a Muslim American, and yet we’re not able to be identified as those,” says Williams.
Kalaji, 21, delves deeper into their narrative: “How do you cease to exist in spaces that continue to otherize and not recognize your existence?” she says. “And how do you overcome that and try to validate yourself ?” They underscore their concept with Mariah Carey songs: “She is the queen of ambiguity,” says Kalaji.
Few of the artists receive grants or other outside funding, and through the six-month SPF residency they receive small stipends, free rehearsal space and two performance slots. They’re also immersed in “a real sense of community,” says Landini, Safehouse’s executive director. “In the city it’s becoming harder and harder to be an artist. That’s what we offer — the idea of becoming part of that.”
Amy Foley brings to her residency 19 years’ experience as a dance maker and former member of Robert Moses’ KIN, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and ODC/Dance.
“When I first went in I was like, ‘Is this the right place for me?’ And I think that it is. So many artists are trying new
Summer Performance Festival: Thursday-Sunday, July 6-9, and Wednesday-Sunday, July 12-16. Joe Goode Annex, 499 Alabama St., S.F. $10-$20. (415) 561-6565. www.joegoode.org/ box-office.
things and being shown in varying degrees of polish,” she says. “It is very refreshing.”
Foley saw SPF as an opportunity to take creative risks. In “Thighs and Wages,” she responds to society’s objectification of women with her signature athleticism, “but I am challenging myself to pull back a little bit in terms of exuberant movement. It is highly gestural at times.”
While SPF benefits from high production values in a professional theater (this is its first season at the Annex, after five years at ODC Theater), experimentation and an underground sensibility will always be its hallmarks.
“For every well-known choreographer, there are probably 99 others,” Landini says — and SPF is dedicated to that 99 percent.
Program 1
Linda Bouchard Multimedia Works and Amy Foley’s Bellwether Dance Project are “opposite ends of the spectrum,” says Landini. In “Identity Theft,” “Linda is building this environment where the audience will interact with multimedia. And then the stage gets swept away” to make space for Foley’s contemporary quintet “Thighs and Wages.” 8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, July 6 and July 8.
Program 2
Bay Area Dance Collective’s “Heard” is dedicated to the lives lost in Oakland’s Ghost Ship fire, and Marika Brussel’s modern ballet “From Shadows” reflects on homelessness and addiction and asks, “What do we stand to gain by recognizing the humanity in all people?” 7 p.m. Friday and Sunday, July 7 and July 9.
Program 3
To create “Forgotten Tones,” Slick Babble Dance Project translated the ancient science of cymatics into a system of movement. “I saw a video demonstrating the effects of vibrating sound waves on a Chladni plate,” choreographer Emmeline GonzalezBeban said in an email. “I immediately saw visions of human bodies on Marley (dance floors) taking the place of vibrating sand on metal.” In a piece about overcoming depression, The Riley Project uses movement to express vulnerability and hope. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, July 12-13.
Program 4
Sienna Williams and Diana Kalaji’s physical-theater work “investigates what it means to be women of color who aren’t easily identified.” Dana E. Fitchett’s “Territory” delves into black American cultural traditions, while Visceral Dance Company explores a range of life experiences. 8 p.m. Friday, July 14, 3 p.m. Saturday, July 15.
Program 5
Carly Lave investigates women’s power in “(trapped),” with an electronic score by Tape Ghost. Lili Weckler completes “De Huma,” a collaborative, cross-genre trilogy on “the violence of contemporary capitalism.” “They are both really brainy, brainy choreographers,” says Landini. 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16.