REVIEW In the late 1990s, Mary Alice Fry, artistic director of the now defunct Venue 9, found a hole. She has been filling them ever since.
The January performance calendars at her theater and many other local small venues, she noticed, were empty. At the same time her curatorial experience had shown that women artists still had a harder time getting noticed than their male counterparts. “So many of them,” Fry said, “struggle with multiple responsibilities of mortgages, children, two or three jobs, keeping relationships going.” So she started the Women on the Way Festival, now in its ninth year, to create “a stepping stone” for local women performers.
After Fry lost her lease on Venue 9, she moved the Festival to the Shotwell Studios and to Joe Landini’s Garage. For reasons of practicality and availability, WOW’s lineup changes every night.
The performers seem to enjoy what, to an outsider, looks like a complicated format. “They like sharing the stage and seeing each other’s work,” Fry explained. “For them it’s about standards and not competition. These women are pumped up and work and scramble and always want to do more.”
While this year’s 17 performers working in theater, the circus, comedy, and dance are mostly up-and-coming, WOW also invited at least two highly experienced artists. Molissa Fenley and Nina Wise have each been working for more than three decades apiece. Each will present a world premiere.
On opening night, Jan. 15, the Garage hosted two soloists and a quartet. While none of the three pieces broke revolutionary ground, each had that spark of effervescence that makes one want to see where these artists are going. They deserve a bigger audience than they got.
Ara Glenn-Johanson’s based her earthstepper on a 10th-century English poem, “The Wanderer.” As a choreographer for herself, she proved to be rather heavy-handed as soon as she moved beyond a rather basic gestural vocabulary. But she is a strong, expressive vocalist — both live and in duets with herself on tape — and her solo became an intermittently moving meditation on loneliness and perseverance.
Gretchen Garnett’s Edited for Time needs more editing for time, but impressed the audience with the ambition, if not quite the realization, of a rigorously conceived study in formal structure. With an extended duet for Garnett and the beautifully expressive Leah Samson, the piece started with simple swaying motions and quickly evolved into patterns of elastic tension that would snap, only to be picked up again. Edited looked full of contradictions, pre-ordained accidents, and surprising repetitions. The other committed dancers were Becca Rufer and Chad Dawson.
Despite having what must be one of dance’s more convoluted titles, Pfannenstiel Incision Marks the Spot, Lenora Lee’s solo was a stark, tightly choreographed portrait of one woman’s fear and anguish about her own body — Pfannenstiel was the surgeon who invented the so-called bikini cut. With her feet planted as if nailed to the ground
and her hands veering between tendrils and claws, Lee pulled, yanked, spread, and hung her guts inside out. Performed in silence, Pfannenstiel was small in scale, but it resonated in a big way.
WOMEN ON THE WAY FESTIVAL
Through Feb. 1
Thurs-Sun., 8 p.m., at the Garage, 975 Howard, and Shotwell Studios, 3252-A 19th St., SF
Follow this donate link to make a secure online donation to our operating budget through our fiscal sponsor, the Dancers Group! Thank you!
Checks can be made payable to our fiscal sponsor – Dancers’ Group (please note Gretchen Garnett & Dancers in the memo field) – and mailed to the following address:
Dancers’ Group and CounterPULSE have teamed up to present 2nd Sundays, a series of free salons where artists share work and dialogue with audience members and fellow artists. We see this as an exciting opportunity to advance discussion of the craft and hope you’ll join us for the conversation.
Gretchen Garnett & Dancers will be showing an excerpt from their work in progress, Intermediate Levels of Disturbance.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
2pm
CounterPULSE – 1310 Mission St., SF
FREE!
Gretchen Garnett & Dancers premiered its first piece at the 2008 SpectorDance Emerging Choreographers Festival in Marina, CA. Over the past year the company has performed in San Francisco at the Garage, Dance Mission Theater, and created new work for Footloose’s 2009 Women on the Way Festival and the 2009 San Francisco International Arts Festival. GG&D has also performed in Tempe, AZ at CONDER/dance’s Breaking Ground, the DUMBO Dance Festival in Brooklyn, NY and in Berkeley, CA at The Subterranean Arthouse. The company has been described as having “a spark of effervescence” and the choreography as being “full of contradictions, pre-ordained accidents, and surprising repetitions” by Rita Felciano of the San Francisco Bay Guardian and “fresh, dynamic”… “innovative and heartfelt” by Richard Ciccarone of SF Appeal. GG&D’s upcoming events include a performance at the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a work-in-progress showing of the company’s newest piece at CounterPULSE’s 2nd Sundays (see Where We’re Going) and the creation of a new work for the San Francisco International Arts Festival in the spring of 2010. Gretchen Garnett & Dancers is fiscally sponsored by Dancers’ Group. You can contact the company at gretchengarnettanddancers@gmail.com.
Gretchen Garnett is a San Francisco-based choreographer, dancer and teacher. In addition to the works she has created for Gretchen Garnett & Dancers she has had two works commissioned by the East Street Youth Ballet in Massachusetts. Gretchen has performed with Bay Area-based companies including Kelly Bowker & Dancers, The Pfeifle Dance Project, peck peck dance ensemble, Leyya Tawil’s Dance Elixir, RAWdance. She is currently dancing with Aura Fischbeck Dance and Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton . Gretchen received her training through the high school program at the North Carolina School of the Arts and earned her B.F.A. in Dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kelly Bowker was born and raised in Michigan where she received her BFA in dance. Since moving west she has presented her choreography at Shotwell Studio through their residency program, at ODC and Dance Theater Mission. She has danced locally with HerPic Productions, Ishika Seth and is very excited to be performing with Gretchen Garnett and Dancers. When not dancing she can be found teaching pilates at Core Pilates on 17th and at Fitwell Chiropractic.
Kiki Cheng is from Beaverton, OR where she began her movement training in synchronize swimming at the age of six. After competing in Artistic and Rhythmic gymnastics, she found her way into dance at the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy. Her introduction to modern dance happened at the University of California, Berkeley where she completed a BA in Dance and Performance Studies. Kiki is also a massage therapist, certified phlebotomist, and yoga enthusiast. She currently lives in Oakland where she can be found practicing her latte art skills at Nomad Café.
Chad Dawson was born and raised in New Orleans, LA where he began his dance training at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. While there, Chad was able to work with and perform the works of Robert Battle and Elisa Monte. In 2008, he graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY-Purchase where he had the opportunity to perform the repertory of Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, Lauri Stallings, and Paul Taylor. Chad has performed at venues in and around NYC, New Orleans, Phoenix, Hong Kong, Japan, and at the Kennedy Center. Since arriving in San Francisco, Chad has had the pleasure of working with Heidi Schweiker, RAWdance, Mark Foehringer, PUSH Dance Company, and Gretchen Garnett & Dancers.
photo by Matt Haber
Leah Katz is a native of Northampton, Massachusetts and is excited to be dancing with Gretchen Garnett way over on the west coast. She is a (very) recent graduate of SUNY Purchase with a B.F.A. in dance. She has danced works by Lauri Stallings, Sidra Bell, Stephanie Tooman, Yung-Li Chen, Kevin Wynn and was fortunate enough to work with San Francisco’s own Ben Levy on her senior B.F.A. candidate solo. Also, studying for four months at De Theaterschool in Amsterdam, Netherlands she worked with Michael Schumacher, Anouk Van Dyke and Liat Waysbort. In October 2008 Leah and a select group of dancers were chosen to represent Purchase at the Friends Throughout the World Festival in Nanjing, China, dancing a work by Kevin Wynn. Leah began dancing with Gretchen Garnett in May 2008.
Becca Rufer has been dancing with Gretchen Garnett for since they were kids together in Northampton, Massachusetts. Other choreographers she has performed for include: Sara Pfeifle, Mark Davis, Amie Dowling, and The Movement Ensemble.
photo by Matt Haber
Leah Samson was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota, where she began her dance training at Miki’s School of Dance. She attended the University of Montana where she received a B.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography, as well as a B.S. in Finance. She is currently performing with The Riley Project, Aura Fischbeck Dance and Gretchen Garnett, and has also performed with the Pfeifle Dance Project. Leah is a board member of Push Dance Company and when not dancing she works full-time for Capital Group, a mutual fund management company.
DUMBO Dance Festival Edited For Time
September 26-27
John Ryan Theater, Brooklyn, NY
present tense – an evening of new dance work curated by Aura Fischbeck PastTime, Just Passing Through (excerpt)
July 1-2
The Garage, San Francisco, CA
present tense – an evening of new dance work curated by Aura Fischbeck PastTime, Just Passing Through (excerpt)
June 27
The Subterranean Arthouse, Berkeley, CA San Francisco International Art Festival Just Passing Through
May 21-31
Union Square, San Francisco, CA
peck peck dance ensemble’s 7th Home Season Just Passing Through (excerpt)
May 8-9 CounterPULSE, San Francisco, CA
Footloose’s Women on the Way Festival Edited For Time (extended version)
January 15-31
The Garage, San Francisco, CA
2008
CONDER/dance’s Breaking Ground Edited For Time
December 13
Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ
Dance Mission’s Harvest Choreographer’s Showcase Edited For Time
October 11-12
Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco, CA
raw & uncut Edited For Time
October 4-5
The Garage, San Francisco, CA
SpectorDance Emerging Choreographers Festival Edited For Time
July 27 SpectorDance Theater, Marina, CA
2009
Cast: Kelly Bowker, Kiki Cheng, Leah Katz, Becca Rufer, Leah Samson
Music: Bonobo, Ratatat
Premiere: The San Francisco International Arts Festival, Union Square – San Francisco, CA
Fill her up: This year’s Women on the Way Festival Sets Off Sparks
Kelly Bowker was born and raised in Michigan where she received her BFA in dance. Since moving west she has presented her choreography at Shotwell Studio through their residency program, at ODC and Dance Theater Mission. She has danced locally with HerPic Productions, Ishika Seth and is very excited to be performing with Gretchen Garnett and Dancers. When not dancing she can be found teaching pilates at Core Pilates on 17th and at Fitwell Chiropractic.
Kiki Cheng is from Beaverton, OR where she began her movement training in synchronize swimming at the age of six. After competing in Artistic and Rhythmic gymnastics, she found her way into dance at the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy. Her introduction to modern dance happened at the University of California, Berkeley where she completed a BA in Dance and Performance Studies. Kiki is also a massage therapist, certified phlebotomist, and yoga enthusiast. She currently lives in Oakland where she can be found practicing her latte art skills at Nomad Café.
Chad Dawson was born and raised in New Orleans, LA where he began his dance training at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. While there, Chad was able to work with and perform the works of Robert Battle and Elisa Monte. In 2008, he graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY-Purchase where he had the opportunity to perform the repertory of Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, Lauri Stallings, and Paul Taylor. Chad has performed at venues in and around NYC, New Orleans, Phoenix, Hong Kong, Japan, and at the Kennedy Center. Since arriving in San Francisco, Chad has had the pleasure of working with Heidi Schweiker, RAWdance, Mark Foehringer, PUSH Dance Company, and Gretchen Garnett & Dancers.
Becca Rufer has been dancing with Gretchen Garnett for since they were kids together in Northampton, Massachusetts. Other choreographers she has performed for include: Sara Pfeifle, Mark Davis, Amie Dowling, and The Movement Ensemble.
