Dear friends of CounterPULSE,
March at CounterPULSE is truly an international month. We’ll welcome butoh artist Yuko Kazeki from Berlin, as well as choreographer Jess Curtis with guests from France, Scotland and England. Along with local company, Fool’s Fury, these international artists will be bringing stimulating choreography, sophisticated aerial dance, and scintillating wordplay from Europe to you.
If you’ve been to CounterPULSE recently, you’ll notice that we have monthly rotating gallery shows by local emerging visual artists. In the last few months, we’ve had performance photography, Mexican art about native corn, prints from the Prison Poster Project, and much more. Right now, our exhibition by artists from the Hospitality House Community Arts Program is coming down, and we’re mounting an show by mixed-media artist Isak Immanuel for the month of March. We’re always accepting proposals for unique solo or group gallery shows by local artists.
We’re also looking for artists to design the poster for our BIG CounterPULSE First Anniversary May Day Celebration. Deadline for proposals is May 1st. Click here for more info: http://www.counterpulse.org/art_call_mayday.shtml
Applications for our Summer Artist in Residence Program (July-Sept 06) are due on Friday, March 3rd. We encourage proposals in all performing disciplines for both solo and group projects. Complete application information can be found at http://www.counterpulse.org/residency.shtml.
Finally, we’re looking for an energetic and creative intern to join our office staff for the summer, and the application deadline is March 22nd. This is a perfect position for a college student. Info online at http://www.counterpulse.org/internships.shtml .
Sincerely, Jessica Robinson on behalf of all the folks at CounterPULSE
***MARCH PERFORMANCES & EVENTS***
“Apartment” presented by foolsFURY Theater Company in association with HummingbirdWORKS Thurs. Sat. March 2-4, 8 pm $10-20 A new physical theater play written and directed by Mia Rovegno. Accompanied by a live sound score and shadow puppetry, ³Apartment² explores the ironic isolation of urban existence and solace in overcrowded city spaces. Five people live alone in separate apartments, just inches apart from each other. As we visit each apartment, the sounds and sights of each character¹s world overlap in a cacophonous visual and aural landscape, and when a wrench gets thrown into their daily routines, the neighbors get to know each other whether they like it or not! Res: 1-866-GOT-FURY or www.foolsfury.org
Shaping SF Spring Talks: Infrastructure Wars–Sustainable Movements Wednesday, March 8, 8pm FREE A historical look at how San Franciscans have fought for a human-centered city. From saving Telegraph Hill, stopping freeways, and resisting redevelopment, the corporate agenda has been thwarted again and again. Today new movements are again contesting the direction of the city. We’ll have a look at the historic Burnham Plan and some other ideas for reshaping the city. Speakers: Chris Carlsson, Stacey Parker – Garden For The Environment, Calvin Welch – Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO), Antonio Alcala.
Yuko Kaseki (Berlin) // ANNA TOMMY GRAMM and Isak Immanuel // FLOOR OF SKY (rootless ghost) Fri-Sun March 10, 11, 12. 8pm, $15. Butoh-based works performed by Immanuel, Kaseki, paige sorvillo, Justin Palermo & Kanoko Nishi. ANNA TOMMY GRAMM. (Anagramm of Body) Word play, body play. Take to pieces, making new of me and you. How many gramm will be change after that? I breath into your mouth, where it goes? I hold you tightly, you leave from my arms. How many gramm change in my heart? When I am thinking of you, I slip from standing on the grass or hit my head. Where was I? I am waiting for you. I react to every little sound. I become quicker than Kung Fu-Master. Fantasy of Mystery of Chemistry of body… Floor of Sky. Moving across landscape… 5, 6, 7 landscapes, keep counting …like stars to sleep a country. A rootless ghost. Always outside, like ancestral liter looking for dawn from a city that has become dim. Is this the quickening pace of an Atlantis? I am looking for a lighthouse. …the lineage is broken open …unfolding for a sky, tracing along the floor of sky. Res/Info: (510) 601 7494 paigesorvillo@mindspring.com, www.cokaseki.com, www.floorofsky.org
Jess Curtis/Gravity‹Intercontinental Collaborations 2 Thurs. Sun., March 16-19 & 23-26, 8:30 pm $15-20 Jess Curtis/Gravity presents an evening of fun and thoughtful interdisciplinary dance and aerial works choreographed by Jess Curtis in collaboration with international guests Jörg Müller (France), Claire Cunningham (Scotland) and Jami Quarrel (England). Can two people¹s limitations or ³dis-abilities² combine to become virtuosic? When do our skills become liabilities? Which is more beautiful, our fragility or our strength? Res/Info: (415) 435-7549
Shaping SF Spring Talks: What’s Natural about Natural Disasters? Wednesday, March 29, 8pm FREE Featuring Tom Athanasiou of Eco-Equity (author, Divided Planet), Sherlina Nager (Literacy for Environmental Justice), and Peter Davidson, UCSF director of the Tenderloin’s UFO project. We’ll be looking at earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, epidemic flu, chronic disease, etc. and framing the elements of a community response based on mutual aid, cooperation, and a renewed commitment to a public health infrastructure.
***MARCH WORKSHOPS***
HUNGRY BODY & SOUL FOOD Butoh Technique & Improvisation Intensive w/ Yuko Kaseki Mon-Fri Feb 27 to Mar 3, 2-6pm & Sat/Sun Mar 4 & 5, 1-6pm $125-$250 When we were born, our hunger began. The baby looks for the mother’s breast with mouth, hands, legs, belly, with the whole body, the soul. Your dance began. Hunger is a life energy. A meal for body, a meal for soul. Find again your own dance. Dive deeply in motion. Make the whole body permeable. Your body is a cabinet with many drawers. Feel your body memory. Find a new drawer. Empty old ones. Res/Info: (510) 601-7494 or paigesorvillo@mindspring.com, www.cokaseki.com
***ONGOING CLASSES***
Naked Modern Dance Technique With Eric Kupers Last Sunday of every month (starting Feb 26), 2 – 4 pm $15-25 Dance naked to challenge body image judgment. An atmosphere of comprehensive modern technical training: grounding, flow, articulation, alignment, awareness and embodiment that can be often hidden by clothes. Inappropriate staring, comments, touching or advances will not be tolerated. Bodies of all sizes, shapes, ages, shades and physical abilities/disabilities are invited. Info: www.dandeliondancetheater.org
Dancing with Suspended Objects with Joanna Haigood 2 sessions: Mondays March 6 April 3 and April 10-May 8, 6-8 pm. $17 drop-in, $75 for 5-class series This is a mixed level aerial dance class with a variety of suspended or flying objects including hoops, ladders, rocks, windows. The emphasis will be on skill building and exploring the metaphoric content and perceptual effects associated with the objects and flight. Joanna Haigood relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area from New York in 1979 and co-founded ZACCHO Dance Theatre. Info: (415) 626-2060 or info@counterpulse.org
FREE Yoga Classes for current and former sex workers Tuesdays, 9-10am Info: 415-626-2060
Meditation Wednesdays in March 6-7:30pm FREE Anxious? Stressed? Can’t sleep? Learn several techniques to relax the mind and body and awaken the spirit. The first step to developing a meditation practice is to simply realize how incessant and out of control our thoughts are. So if you have tried sitting before or have never tried meditating but need to do something, please come. We offer years of experience in meditation and a friendly fun time.
Beginning-Intermediate Contact Improvisation Tuesdays, 6-7:30pm, $10 drop-in, or pay $12 and stay for the jam. This class is ideal for discovering contact improvisation, brushing up on your skills, or getting a good warm-up before the jam that follows. Jess Curtis will teach class in March.
CounterPULSE Contact Improvisation Jam Tuesdays, 7:30-11 pm. $5 One of the best CI jams around. If you¹re not familiar with contact please come to the class first.
***Summer Artist in Residence Applications Available*** CounterPULSE is now accepting applications for our Summer 2006 Residency Program. Two artists or companies receive 40 hrs of free rehearsal space and participate in one weekend of shared performance. Application deadline is March 3rd. Guidelines: http://www.counterpulse.org/residency.shtml.
***RENT SPACE– SPECIAL SPRING DISCOUNTS*** 1500 square-foot dance floor, high ceilings, aerial compatible, 80-seat flexible audience seating. * In MARCH & APRIL 2006, evening rental rates are reduced to $250/night, and we’re waiving the 35% and insurance fees. * Starting APRIL 1ST 2006, Book 4 or more nights of the same show, and the minimum rental is reduced to only $250/night. Call Marielle at 415-626-2060 for details.
