The advent of Bay Area Dance Week brings a jolt of terpsichorean energy to neighborhoods throughout the Bay, activating public spaces and filling studios and venues with opportunities to experience a wide spectrum of styles and traditions.
But in the Mission, the 10-day celebration — which runs from Friday, April 25, through May 4 — also kicks off a month of dance that’s unmatched anywhere on the West Coast. It’s a season that includes the San Francisco International Arts Festival and Carnaval San Francisco (with former Mission resident John Santos serving as grand marshal this year).
“There’s just tons of dance in the Mission between now and Carnaval,” says Dudley Flores, the Rhythm & Motion teacher and choreographer who spearheads BADW’s One Dance kickoff, the mass public happening that takes place at noon on April 25 in Union Square.
Part of what makes BADW an open invitation to boogie is that all of the events are free. This year’s kick-off theme, “Dance (Our Own Party)” by The Busker, celebrates the notion “that you can dance anywhere,” Flores said, noting that the choreography is designed so that anyone can participate by watching the video online or simply showing up at Union Square.
“The song is about an introvert feeling uncomfortable dancing in public, which spoke to me as an introvert,” he says. “The other song, ‘Don’t Lose Sight’ by Lawrence, brought youthful optimism, but has this soul-funk feel that speaks to resilience and perseverance.”
As a longtime instructor at Rhythm & Motion, which is based at ODC Theater, Flores has been involved in the BADW celebration since the first participatory kick-off dance in 2006, “when we wanted to create a spectacle with the West Coast’s longest conga line. I came back as part of the Rhythm & Motion team in 2012 for One Dance and I’ve been part of the opening event ever since.”
There are more than a dozen free BADW events taking place in the Mission in the coming days. Here are five that offer a glimpse of the dance activities taking place.
- Following on heels of a triumphant run at Brava Theater, La Mezcla founder Vanessa Sanchez leads an hour-long open level Percussive Movement & Choreography Workshop featuring the rhythms of tap dance, zapateado jarocho from Veracruz and Afro-Caribbean movement.
Exploring the technique and cultural significance of each tradition, the exercises bring together the different dance forms to create polyrhythmic conversation rooted in storytelling and social justice. Dancers of all levels are invited to bring their tap shoes, zapateado shoes and folkloric skirts to be part of this percussive dance workshop. 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 26, Brava Theater Center. - Award-winning choreographer Deborah Slater presents the Ways Not to Drown Workshop, a two-hour dance theater session for dancers and choreographers she describes as “playtime for grown-ups.”
Participants create new material, gain specific, repeatable tasks to use in their own creative work, and learn tools for writing, moving and vocalization via unpredictable experiments. She welcomes movers, writers, and artists of all kinds. Be prepared to write, move, speak, and more. 11 a.m., Sunday, April 27, Studio Valencia. - A 90-minute Jamaican dancehall workshop focuses on body basics, technique, and the signature codified steps associated with the social dance. Aimee Rose’s Tropicali Dancehall workshop also covers the history and culture of dancehall up through its current evolution.
Rose has opened shows for well-known dancehall and reggae artists, choreographed for music videos, hosted workshops with top Jamaican and international dancehall dancers, and hosts trips to Jamaica. 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, Dance Mission Theater. - Named “Best Dance Class” and “Best Dance Workout Class” by various Bay Area publications, Rhythm & Motion’s Fusion with Aimee Rose is a dance workout open to students of all levels and abilities.
Taught by experienced dancers and performing artists, the class features a broad range of movement styles with choreography inspired by popular music from around the globe. 5:45 p.m., Wednesday, April 30, ODC Dance Commons. - Curious about how modern dance pieces come together? Open Rehearsal with ODC/Dance offers an intimate look at Mia J. Chong‘s process and practice as she prepares a new work for the company’s home season, Summer Sampler. This is an opportunity to be a fly on the wall observing ODC’s professional company in process. 4:15 p.m., Thursday, May 1, ODC Dance Commons.