ODC Kicks Off Summer With State Of Play Festival Of Dance in June

ODC Theater has announced the complete program for its tenth annual summer dance festival, June 2 - 11. State of Play features two weeks of activities across ODC's two-building campus, including nine world or regional premieres, seven works-in-progress by performing artists from across the country plus an array of free activities. Single event tickets, starting at $15, and Festival Bundles, starting at $32, are now on sale at odc.dance/stateofplay.

As part of an ongoing series of events in honor of its 50+ anniversary, ODC this year inaugurates a new format for its signature summer festival with programming from guest curators amara tabor-smith and Charles Slender-White. Formerly known as the Walking Distance Dance Festival, which featured evening-length double bills, this year's festival highlights the interplay of works by artists at different stages of their careers. Audiences will have the opportunity to witness performances from fully staged evening-length events to early works-in-progress.

"State of Play marks a significant shift towards curation as collaboration," said tabor-smith and Slender-White in a joint statement. "Together we talked about racism and privilege in the field of dance, and about wanting to raise the visibility of powerful queer and BIPOC artists who we felt were making incredibly important art. If there is a unifying theme in our curation, it is that these artists are creating work that we feel will provide much needed breath, hope and inspiration to move through this moment in time that we all find ourselves in."

Companies presenting evening-length premieres include little house dance from Portland, Maine, MKArts from Virginia, and SAMMAY, currently based in Los Angeles. Companies and individual artists premiering works of shorter length are, in all but one case, based in the Bay Area: Blind Tiger Society under the direction of Bianca Cabrera; Dragons Dance under the direction of Erin Yen; KRIMM'S DANCE PARTY under the direction of Kim Ip; Megan Lowe Dances; Nicole Peisl. Rosanna Tavarez / LA DANSA DANSA is visiting from Los Angeles.

Finally, the companies presenting works-in-progress include DANCE MONKS / Mirah Kellc Esteva & Rodrigo Esteva; Detour with lead artist Kat Cole; James Graham Dance Theatre; Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble; Liv Schaffer & the Dance Generators; Nina Haft & Company; and OYSTERKNIFE, the artistic partnership of Gabriele Christian and Chibueze Crouch.

"Whether for established dance fans or newcomers to the genre, we have categorized activities into three groups," said ODC Theater Creative Director Chloë L. Zimberg. "For those primarily interested in realized, fully produced works, check out our list of premieres. For those interested in the creative process, there is a series of works-in-progress that will invite audiences more intimately into performance development. And for audiences who want to dive deeper into the ideas and discussions in the dance field today, join us at one of our free community activities."

"We are also thrilled to offer digital broadcasts of the premieres for those who cannot join in-person. The density of offerings in this year's festival is an exciting step as we grow and build a festival that stands alongside the Bay Area's beloved full-day fringe theater, film and music festivals."

Among the free activities scheduled throughout the festival is a panel discussion on June 2 titled "Ephemerality and Permanence: Legacy, Lineage and Letting Go;" a picnic lunch with games for the whole family on June 5; a long table discussion titled "Envisioning the Future of Dance" on June 6; a live debate on how best to allocate limited resources among arts professionals on June 8; and on June 11, "Re-imagining Araw ng Kalayaan," a conversation around the struggle for independence in the Philippine diaspora.

"I am full of anticipation for State of Play," said former ODC Theater Resident Artist Monique Jenkinson aka Fauxnique. "From training here as a young dancer to premiering and re-staging work as a mature artist, for decades I have watched ODC grow and deepen its commitment to dance artists. I am thrilled with this next phase of ODC's growth, especially its embrace of the concept of play as a driving theme. Though we dance artists take our work more seriously than most people realize, ultimately it is a sense of play - onstage, in the studio, in conversation - that liberates us to move the culture forward."

The following is a detailed schedule of events listed in chronological order. For more information about these and other events taking place during the festival visit odc.dance/stateofplay.

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