Interview: Jacob Gutierrez-Montoya Talks About The SCDT 10TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW at The Sofia

Artistic mastermind and unparalleled choreographer Jacob Gutierrez-Montoya is having a summer to remember. He is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his philanthropic dance company, Sacramento Contemporary Dance Theatre, while also being recognized by Comstock’s Magazine as one of their 2024 Young Professionals. While juggling multiple other projects, he took the time to speak to BWW about SCDT’s anniversary performance, his new Fringe entry, and all of the exciting things still to come in 2024.

It’s been a while since we’ve formally spoken. During that time, you’ve taken SCDT to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Do you have any plans for that this year?

Yes, we’re going back for a couple weeks in August and we’re taking our new production, The Crucible. We’re taking a full dance theatre. It’s my own take on The Crucible itself.

Will you be performing that in Sacramento?

We are trying to figure that piece out. Our next season is kind of full. If it doesn’t happen right away, it will be on the docket for the following season. Taking something like an actual script and pulling from the dialogue has been challenging, but I think it’s going to be great.

Are you focusing on historical pieces?

When we were deciding to do Marie and The Crucible, we had to factor in that, for The Fringe, it is a different audience. It seems like they need to know a story or character. You’re competing with hundreds of groups. Our normal frame of doing cause-based work wouldn’t necessarily work in Scotland. It’s different here, where community is our center. When we go abroad, we’re doing more of an entertainment-based, performer energy. When we did Marie, it ended up being something people really loved. It’s caused us to do one more mainstream show a year. That’s going to be a new avenue we’re exploring.

What have you had going on in the past year since BWW wrote about your beautiful piece, Marie?

We ended up mounting the show again and then did our James Bond show and partnered with Samantics. We told these vignettes about James Bond, using the music and creating an action-packed evening of theatre. That was our March show, and we’re also working on a Gallery that we’re doing at the Jacquelyn Gallery Annex. All of our photography that we’ve done for the last ten years will be upstairs there at The Sofia. That’s been another exciting project. On top of that, our film, Behind the Apron, is just about finished and going to be airing on PBS. It’s our show about mental health in the food and restaurant industry. It’s a documentary that follows the idea of placing more importance on mental health specifically through the lens of an organization called I Got Your Back. That will be coming in late July or early August. One of our main sponsors of that show is Kaiser Permanente. It’s been wonderful. We are in the middle of curating the entertainment for the UC Davis Veterinary School’s 75th Anniversary Gala. I’ve been trying to ensure it has an energy to it. I’ve also been curating the work for the Habitat for Humanity Gala in September. On top of that, I’ve been planning the 10-year anniversary of SCDT and growing my investment in Hawkins.

Congratulations on the 10th anniversary of SCDT! What first prompted you to branch off to start SCDT?

SCDT is a non-profit whose emphasis is to become a vessel for mission-based work through the medium of dance theatre. That was always the goal. Causes that meant something to our company, to our shared journey as a collective entity -- that’s how we ended up choosing our causes. Who did we want to share our art with? I wanted a place where the art was meaningful in a different way. I wanted something that sparked change.

How has the company evolved over this time?

As all things, dancers come and go. It’s a great landing space when they need to kind of share and then move on in their artistic journey. What’s evolved has been the acceptance of that. This is kind of a revolving door in the best way. People come and share for a season and then move on. I think that’s what we are for artists in the community and for future artists. At first, I would’ve liked this to become something where I have these dancers that stay for a long time, and I do have a few and they’re a part of the mission -- the pioneers and founders -- but I think we’ve come to the acceptance of knowing that this is a place for people to grow. The evolution has built more trust and more work for people to trust what I’m going to show. On top of that, we have developed a partnership with The Sofia where we can do all of our performances there. Without that partnership, things would look a little different. Having that beautiful, professional space really does make a difference.

I’ve seen a few of your pieces, but so far my favorite has been Marie. What has been your favorite to work on?

The one that had the most impact on me was our human trafficking show. We did a show that benefited Agape International Missions and 3Strands Global, and it was a journey about what it’s like to be trafficked and then be saved from that. As a company, we all had to make a decision on how to enter that space healthy-minded given the dark subject matter, but also understand how to support each other through that process and find some light in it. What’s ironic about that is that there was a piece that had all of these lights for the victims. Finding those lights in the dark has been in all of our shows. That one had the most impact on me. We’re going to be remounting it. Another discovery is that we are a repertoire company and our work is meant to be repeated. It strengthens our mission in the community and our relationships.

Have you had any piece that disappointed you or that you liked even more when it was finally performed on stage?

Our first partnership with Samantics was called Embodiment and we did a piece where we had these bowls of water and the music was spiritual and the experiment was to dip the head in the water and create this movement in the water when they flipped their hair back. In the studio it was a mess and I didn’t know if it would come through. At the show with the live singing and the lights, and with the commitment of the dancers, it was an absolute spectacle. It was so beautiful and interesting to watch. I think that one surprised me. Someone said it was their favorite number in that show. It was a risk. I think the ones that are a risk have the payoff that you weren’t expecting. In that same show, I had apples fly in from the ceiling and girls were riding on the them. It was a whole Garden of Eden type energy.

You’re having an anniversary show at the Sofia on June 14th. Can you tell us about that?

The show is designed to give you a glimpse of the last ten years. We’ll be bringing back excerpts from shows and our community partnerships and introduce them. It’s going to be a beautiful celebration, but also an announcement about what the next year looks like for us. It’s also the launch of the Jacquelyn Gallery Annex and CMYK Photography, the last 10 years of photography for our company. The show is going to be a beautiful roller coaster of emotions. We’re going to highlight some of the work that was hard to share the message of and also share some of the moments of change and beauty. We’re going to share some of our videos and it will be a nice way to show that change. We just keeping moving forward and going on. To take a moment to pause and reflect will be what the show is really about. The company and our involvement in the community has helped raise millions of dollars for non-profits and that’s really nice for people to hear and know. We’re going to be bringing back some alumni that are coming from all over to dance in the last number of our show. It’s so rewarding for me to see people come in and want to celebrate the work.

SCDT’s 10th Anniversary Show will be held at The Sofia on June 14th. More information and tickets can be found onlinw at scdtheatre.org and bstreettheatre.org.

Photo credit: CMYK Photography

 

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