Sharp & Fine to Premiere A DETECTIVE STORY in October at Z Space

Sharp & Fine, a contemporary dance company known for its original experiments in theatrical storytelling, has announced its newest work, A Detective Story, premiering October 18 at Z Space in San Francisco. Featuring five performers and original music performed live, A Detective Story turns the classic formula of the detective genre inside out, with each character focusing the inspector's spotlight on themselves.

A Detective Story runs for three performances, October 18 - 20, Friday to Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets, $20 - $80, go on sale August 1 at zspace.org. For more information visit sharpandfine.org/detective-story.

Under the direction of sisters and company Co-Founders Megan and Shannon Kurashige, A Detective Story combines the trademark features Sharp & Fine has honed over more than a decade: visually stunning storytelling, wild dancing and beautiful music. “Our new show is about a detective investigating a disappearance,” said Megan. “But it's equally a story about love that humbly asks, How do you know you're with the right person and making the right choices in life?”

The cast of A Detective Story includes three couples with one member missing. Megan and Shannon developed the work in collaboration with the performers – Charmaine Butcher, Julie Crothers, Caitlin Hicks, Molly Levy and Hadassah Perry – with crucial additional input from Sonja Dale.

Sharp & Fine commissioned original music from composer and percussionist Jordan Glenn, who returns in his fourth collaboration with the company. Glenn will be joined on stage each night by Ben Davis on cello, Cory Wright on reeds and Matt Wrobel on guitar.

Additional collaborators include award-winning lighting designer Allen Willner, costume designer Emily Kurashige and stage manager Christina Larson.

“We were excited by how well-worn tropes from traditional detective stories — trench coats, confessions, red herrings and a brilliant and flawed detective — can be subverted with surreal elements to tell a deeply human story,” said Shannon. “We played a lot with how these different influences could shape not only the story and script, but also the movement and imagery of the piece.”

The creation of A Detective Story is supported in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission. For more information visit sharpandfine.org/detective-story.

ABOUT SHARP & FINE

Sharp & Fine is a San Francisco-based contemporary dance company founded in 2011 by Japanese-American sisters Megan and Shannon Kurashige. The company's original experiments in theatrical storytelling join together physically exuberant choreography, drawing on balletic and contemporary forms, with emotionally nuanced text, live music and the belief that telling a story built on personal truths is a powerful act of communication and empathy.

Sharp & Fine has collaborated with dancers, composers, musicians, authors, a playwright and an opera singer. The company's evening-length works have been performed at Z Space and ODC Theater, and shorter performances have been commissioned by Oakland Ballet, FACT/SF, the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network, the Merde Project and Soundwave. Sharp & Fine has been an artist-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Berkeley Ballet Theater and the Dresher Ensemble Studio.

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