ODC/Dance Announces Its 2018-2019 Season

ODC/Dance, San Francisco's internationally recognized contemporary dance company, announces its 48th home season in both traditional theaters and unconventional venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, September 2018 through August 2019. The company continues last season's "Dance Around Town" initiative, with performances in public parks, churches, city streets, in San Francisco and East Bay venues, as well as in the company's home, ODC Theater.

The season includes two world premieres: Gifts of Solaceby Associate Choreographer Kimi Okada; and World's on Fire by ODC Resident Choreographer Kate Weare working with ODC Founder & Artistic Director Brenda Way. World's on Fire features music by Bay Area musician Jeff Kazor and his Old Time music ensemble, The Crooked Jades. The season also features a reprise of KT Nelson's acclaimed Path of Miracles, a site-specific dance performed in Grace Cathedral featuring the 17-member vocal ensemble Volti. In a special presentation, maestro Christian Reif leads the Berkeley Symphony and ODC/Dance in celebrated composer Anna Clyne'sThis Midnight Hour and Thomas Adès' Dances from Powder Her Face, with choreography by ODC/Dance Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson.

Works by ODC's choreographers are also featured in San Francisco's annual Trolley Dances, in ODC Theater's Walking Distance Dance Festival, and as part of the city's Global Climate Action Summit. ODC will also open the highly anticipated new venue, The Argyros Center, in Sun Valley this year, and tour to Minnesota and Kentucky.

Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way as the Oberlin Dance Collective, ODC was born at Oberlin College and relocated to San Francisco in 1976. Key members of the collective followed Way west, including KT Nelson, now Co-Artistic Director, and Kimi Okada, now Associate Choreographer and ODC School Director. Together they have built one of the most important companies in the country, committed to virtuosity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and musical commissions.

Embodying Climate Change: Dead Reckoning by KT Nelson

2018 San Francisco Global Climate Action Summit

Thursday, September 13, 1:00PM

ODC Theater

ODC/Dance performs KT Nelson's Dead Reckoning, a work that explores the human role in the transformation of the natural world, as part of the 2018 San Francisco Global Climate Action Summit. The event will also include screenings of excerpts of other works by ODC choreographers that address climate change, including Brenda Way's On a Train Heading South and Uncertain Weather by Kimi Okada. The event will include an interactive discussion exploring empathy and action around the issue of climate change.

Gifts of Solaceby Kimi Okada (World Premiere)

Saturday October 20 & Sunday October 21, 2018, 11:00am, 11:45am, 12:30pm, 1:15pm, 2:00 and 2:45pm

San Francisco Trolley Dances, Mission Creek Park

Now in its 15th year, San Francisco Trolley Dances is a two-day, public performance curated by Epiphany Dance Theater artistic director Kim Epifano. Using specific sites along San Francisco's MUNI route, artists are invited to create a short piece in response to the physical environment. ODC Associate Choreographer Kimi Okada creates a tribute to all things that offer solace-nature, family, friends, and the unconditional love of animals. The site-specific piece in two parts,The Wind at Your Back and Canine Comfort, features a team of eight dogs.

ODC/Dance Unplugged: World's On Fire

November 2, 2018, 7PM

Studio B, ODC Dance Commons

ODC/Dance Unplugged is a recurring series of public programs that offers a candid look into the creative process of ODC's choreographers. This event is a behind-the-scenes view of World's on Fire, a collaboration between ODC's New York-based Resident Choreographer, Kate Weare, and ODC Founder and Artistic Director, Brenda Way.

The Velveteen Rabbit by KT Nelson

November 24 - December 9, 2018

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater

ODC/Dance returns to YBCA Theater for its 32nd annual production of the beloved family holiday program, The Velveteen Rabbit, a story that celebrates the unique relationship between a boy and his stuffed rabbit, and the enduring power of love. Brimming with wit, festive costumes, madcap characters, and the perfect amount of holiday cheer, ODC/Dance brings Margery Williams' classic tale to life.

ODC/Dance Unplugged: Path of Miracles

February 1, 2019, 7PM

Studio B, ODC Dance Commons

This edition of ODC/Dance Unplugged explores the collaboration between the ODC dancers and Volti singers and the creation of material generated in early rehearsals for the site-specific work, Path of Miracles.

Path of Miracles, by KT Nelson with Volti

February 28 - March 2, 2019

Grace Cathedral

Following last year's sold-out performances,KT Nelson's Path of Miracles returns to Grace Cathedral for a limited run. The acclaimed site-specific performance is inspired by British composer Joby Talbot's a cappella score on the famed Catholic pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago. It was created in collaboration with San Francisco's 17-member vocal ensemble, Volti.

World's on Fireby Kate Weare, Brenda Way, and Jeff Kazor (World Premiere)

March 7 - 10, 2019

YBCA Theater

World's on Fire, with choreography by Kate Weare, directed in collaboration with Brenda Way, and music by Bay Area Musician Jeff Kazor, explores the emotional underpinnings of communities everywhere and the cyclical nature of human experience. The original score is performed live by Kazor's Old Time music ensemble The Crooked Jades. World's on Fire tackles issues of kinship, belief, suffering, love, and the will to survive.

Berkeley Symphony 18-19 Symphonic Series, Program IV:Clyne & Straussfeaturing ODC/Dance

May 2, 2019, 8PM

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley

Special Guest Appearance of ODC/Dance

Tickets available at berkeleysymphony.org

For its season finale, the Berkeley Symphony presents the program CLYNE & STRAUSS, featuring a special world premiere presentation of Anna Clyne's This Midnight Hour and Thomas Adès' Dances from Powder Her Face, with choreography by ODC/Dance Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson and performed by ODC/Dance. Maestro Christian Reif conducts.

Walking Distance Dance Festival: Canine Comfort by Kimi Okada

May 16 - 19, 2019

In Chan Kaajhal Park

Kimi Okada presents Canine Comfort across from ODC Theater, in In Chan Kaajhal Park, as part of ODC Theater's Walking Distance Dance Festival.

Summer Sampler

July 25 - August 3, 2019, 8PM

ODC Theater

This event invites audiences to experience the breadth of ODC's flagship company in their intimate home space. This year's Summer Sampler features A Modern Decameron (Plus 3), an evening-length collaboration by ODC's choreographers in week 1; and three favorite repertory works: Going Solo, Unintended Consequences and What We Carry What We Keep, in week 2.

ABOUT ODC/DANCE

The ODC/Dance Company is widely recognized for its technical rigor and numerous groundbreaking collaborations. Comprised of ten world-class dancers, the company performs its imaginative repertory for more than 50,000 people annually. Annual seasons in San Francisco include world premieres and celebrated repertory at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and at ODC Theater, and the holiday production,The Velveteen Rabbitat Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In addition to its home seasons, the Company is regularly featured in prestigious national and international tours. Recent highlights include appearances at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music Next Wave Festival in New York, MODAFE Festival in Seoul South Korea, Jacob's Pillow, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, Royce Hall at UCLA and in past years, standing-room-only engagements in Europe, Russia, and Asia.

Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way, ODC is known nationally for entrepreneurial savvy and was the first modern dance company in the United States to build a home facility, the ODC Theater. In 2005, ODC expanded its campus to include the ODC Dance Commons, which houses ODC/Dance, ODC School serving more than 16,000 students of all ages each year, a Pilates studio, and a Healthy Dancers' Clinic.

For more information visit odc.dance

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