Dance Brigade, Holly Near & Ferron Announce West Coast Tour Of A WOMAN'S SONG FOR PEACE in January

Krissy Keefer's Dance Brigade will kicks off its 50th Anniversary Season with a seven-city West Coast Tour January 9-19 of A Woman's Song for Peace, a new dance theater work featuring original live music and performances by iconic musician and activist Holly Near, seminal queer feminist singer-songwriter Ferron, and groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean jazz artist Christelle Durandy, intertwined with Dance Brigade's fierce, nuanced choreography. The Oregon performances are January 9 at Hult Center in Eugene, January 10 at Newmark Theater in Portland, and January 12 at Craterian Theater in Medford.  The California performances are January 15 at Center Theatre/Mendocino College in Ukiah, January 17 at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, January 18 at Crocker Theater/Cabrillo College in Aptos, and January 19 at Herbst Theater in San Francisco.  For tickets and information, go to https://dancemissiontheater.org/dance-brigade/the-peace-tour/

Dance Brigade is sponsoring this seven-city tour to make an indelible mark on the upcoming inauguration. This is a cry for peace to end all wars so that peace and justice can prevail, not only in the Middle East, but also in Sudan, Ukraine, and at our borders and inner cities of the United States. “As we move through an intense and divisive Presidential election cycle in which these issues are front and center, Dance Brigade offers A Woman's Song for Peace with the aim of reorienting audiences to our shared humanity and desire for peace. We believe that this collaboration can unify and activate people. We offer it as a gift to our communities for healing, transformation, and a vision for a way forward,” says Keefer.

1975 was the birth of the Wallflower Order Dance Collective, a ground-breaking dance company in the 1970's called an “American Treasure” by the Kansas City Star and included in dance critic, author, and choreographer Deborah Jowitt's book,Time and the Dancing Image. Original member Krissy Keefer has carried on the legacy of provocative, feminist dance producing cutting-edge productions that explore the intersection between art and social justice with Dance Brigade, a performing dance company, which formed in the Bay Area in 1984; Grrrl Brigade, a youth empowerment dance program; and Dance Mission, a dance center in the heart of San Francisco's Mission district supporting underrepresented, emerging, and established artists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dance Brigade members are Lena Gatchalian, Bianca S. Mendoza-Prado, Deb'e Taylor, dominique hargrove, Frances Sedayao, Fredrika Keefer, Johanna Gormley, Kimberly B Valmore, KJ Dahlaw, Megan Lowe, Sarah Bush, Sierra Tiatia, Vivian Dai.

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT AT WOW HALL ON JANUARY 11

In Eugene, OR, Dance Brigade will partner with WOW Hall on WOW's 50th anniversary fundraising event on Saturday, January 11 with a tribute to their shared history including songs and storytelling by Holly Near and Ferron, and performance of a signature dance theater piece with original members from the Wallflower Order Dance Collective, whose inception took place at the WOW Hall in 1975. “Defiance” was created in 1977 in sign language and written by Dorothy Miles and performed across the US and internationally; it remains a lasting and powerful work about finding one's voice and speaking one's truth to power.  For tickets and information, https://wowhall.org/event/dance-brigade/

DANCE BRIGADE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON CONTINUES

In March 2025 Dance Brigade continues its anniversary celebration during Women's History Month with the premiere of MATCH GIRL, a fractured fairy tale about class struggle. Featuring ten artists, the work explores the drug and homeless crisis in San Francisco as it relates to poverty, addiction, skyrocketing housing costs, and the lack of political will to make exacting change. In November 2025 Dance Mission Theater marks its 25th anniversary. The show will feature Dance Mission friends and colleagues in a huge performance celebration at a San Francisco venue to be announced. For more information, go to https://dancemissiontheater.org/dance-brigade/50years/

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Artistic Director Krissy Keefer/Dance Brigade explores the intersection between art and social issues with fierce inventiveness and a deft comic touch. Coming out of the legendary Wallflower Order (founded in 1975) Keefer has honed her craft over the last 40 years by creating her content-driven choreographies that are a high-energy blend of ballet, modern dance, jazz, song, text, sign language, and explosive Taiko drumming. Dance Brigade is sumptuous dancing; biting, intellectual, insightful wit; and provocative originality. This dynamic multi-racial troupe of women proves that socially relevant dance can be technically brilliant, as well as exuberant with down-home hilarious fun. This company dances at full throttle. The company has created over 10 full-length concerts of contemporary dance theater, including Pandora's Box, Ballet of the Banshees, Cinderella, Queen of Sheba, CaveWomen, Spell, The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie, The Great Liberation Upon Hearing, and Hemorrhage. For these productions, they received numerous grants and awards.

Dance Mission Theater connects and empowers diverse Bay Area communities and artists through all aspects of dance and dance theater, including the production of new works, instruction, and performance. We are an artist-driven, feminist organization dedicated to building community, addressing social justice issues, exploring cultural identities, promoting inclusivity, and creating a more peaceful world through collective action.  Many women artists, artists of color, and culturally specific ensembles consider Dance Mission to be their artistic home. Master teachers of dance and music have created a thriving intergenerational community celebrating cultural traditions, welcoming students of all backgrounds. Dance Mission is also the home of Krissy Keefer's Dance Brigade, San Francisco's groundbreaking, feminist social-change modern dance company.

Holly Near is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. After 50 years of bold work, she is still one of the most consistent and well-informed voices for change. Her work is loving, challenging, funny, thought-provoking, and remains rooted in the global community. As an outspoken singer and ambassador for peace, Near brings a unique integration of world consciousness and self-evaluation, always growing and sharing experience humbly and boldly. A recipient of dozens of awards from organizations such as the ACLU and the National Organization of Women, Near was one of Ms Magazine's Women of the Year recipients and has been nominated for Grammys as well as the Legends of Women's Music Award.

Ferron is a distinctive Canadian folk singer-songwriter and poet whose gritty style helped birth a 1990s underground movement. In addition to gaining fame as one of Canada's most respected songwriters, Ferron, who is openly lesbian, became one of the earliest and most influential lyrical songwriters of the women's music circuit, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier, and the Indigo Girls. From the mid-eighties on, Ferron's songwriting talents have been recognized and appreciated by music critics and broader audiences. In 1996 she received the OUTmusic Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards. Now 50+ years into her distinguished career, Ferron remains a salt-of-the-earth singer who approaches her art with both sleeves rolled up, ready to dive in. She walks her talk with heart exposed and performs with a courage and commitment that few other artists ever muster. The words she sings resonate as irrefutable and significant, and she illuminates the human experience in a way that few artists are capable of.

Composer/musician Christelle Durandy fuses Afro-Caribbean, jazz and other polyrhythmic sounds in a provocative exploration of the African diaspora's diffuse and powerful musical energy – a multicultural complexity Durandy herself embodies, having been raised in France by a mother from Reunion Island and a father from Guadeloupe. Durandy currently fronts her Afro-Caribbean ensemble Sanktet as well as the Grammy-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra. She contributes her talents as writer, arranger and performer to the all-female World-Latin music collective Cocomama. Her vocals have been featured on diverse projects with such luminaries as John Santos, Paula West, George Mesterhaze, Jon Faddis, Pedrito Martinez, Baptiste Trotignon, Toshi Reagon, Allison Miller, Luis Enrique, Paul Carlon Octet, LaFrae Sci, Camille Thurman, Edward Perez, Ran Blake, John Benitez, Max Pollak RumbaTap, Ricky Ford and Ze Big Band, La India, Camille A. Brown, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Meklit Hadero, Carlos “El Bola” Betancourt, and Millicent Jhonnie.

TICKETS AND INFORMATION FOR ALL SHOWS:

OREGON SHOWS

Thursday January 9 at 7:30pm 

Soreng Theater, Hult Center in Eugene

https://hultcenter.org/events/dance-brigade-womans-song-for-peace/

Friday, January 10 at 7:30pm

Newmark Theatre, Portland'5 Centers for the Performing Arts

https://www.portland5.com/newmark-theatre/events/womans-song-peace

Sunday, January 12 at 5 pm 

Craterian Theater, Collier Center (Medford)

https://craterian.org/event/a-womans-song-for-peace/

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT: 

Saturday, January 11 at 6pm at WOW Hall Fundraiser (Eugene)

https://wowhall.org/event/dance-brigade/

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SHOWS

Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30pm Center Theater at Mendocino College (Ukiah)

Saturday January 18 at 7:30 pm Crocker Theater, Cabrillo College VAPA Complex (Aptos)

Friday, January 17 at 7:30pm Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (Santa Rosa)

Sunday, January 19 at 6pm Herbst Theatre, SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center 

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