Performing Arts

  • Community Program
    The Great Gatsby
    Feb 10, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 11, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 12, 2012 2:00pm
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    The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's magnificent portrait of the Jazz Age in all its idealism, hopes, excesses, and decadence, comes to the stage in the opera by Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Harbison. Ensemble Parallèle, under the direction of Nicole Paiement, presents the World Premiere of the new chamber version by San Francisco composer Jacques Desjardins.

    The cast includes Marco Panuccio in the title role, Adler Fellow Susannah Biller, Dan Snyder, Julienne Walker, Jason Detwiler, Erin Neff, and Bojan Knezevic. Stage Director Brian Staufenbiel brings his concept to life with the help of Scenic and Lighting Designer Matthew Antaky, Video Artist Austin Forbord, Costumer Christine Crook, and Wig and Make-up Artist Jeanna Parham.

    Performing Arts
  • Reflect
    Feb 16, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 17, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 18, 2012 8:00pm
    YBCA Forum
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    Thu, Feb 16: Post-show Q&A with the artists
    Fri, Feb 17: After the show, we invite you to join us in celebrating the opening of Mark Bradford and Audience as Subject, Part 2: Extra Large. Hold on to your tickets to gain access for FREE.

    YBCA welcomes Argentine writer/director Mariano Pensotti in his first American tour with his highly acclaimed El Pasado es un animal grotesco (The Past is a Grotesque Animal), a funny yet moving portrait of a generation that follows the lives of twentysomething four characters through a decade of economic and personal turmoil in which their dreams collapse and the world around them changes in unexpected ways.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Company C Contemporary Ballet
    Feb 17, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 18, 2012 6:30pm
    Feb 19, 2012 3:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    10th Anniversary Season — Winter Program and Gala

    Company C Contemporary Ballet’s 10th Anniversary Season Winter Program bursts with versatility, wit and romance led by Peter Anastos, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo founder and frequent collaborator with Mikhail Baryshnikov, whose Footage will receive its Company premiere. Alexandre Proia’s World to Come is meditatively lush and visionary and David Grenke’s Vespers is a physically demanding, deeply emotional and beautiful duet by this former Paul Taylor dancer set to music by Tom Waits. Charles Anderson’s powerfully athletic Akimbo has its roots in neo-classicism and its apotheosis in contemporary style showing the full range and prowess of his decade-old company.

    In celebration of its first decade, Company C Contemporary Ballet will hold a special Gala Celebration Saturday, February 18, 2012 beginning at 6:30 pm.

    For more information about the Company, visit www.companycballet.org

    Photo: Rosalie O'Connor

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Batsheva: Max
    Feb 23, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 24, 2012 8:00pm
    Feb 25, 2012 8:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    San Francisco Performances presents
    Batsheva
    Max

    Batsheva has become an enduring favorite of San Francisco Performances audiences. Artistic Director Ohad Naharin’s Max runs the gamut of movement from intimate, controlled and minimal to expansive, and from solo to hypnotic full-company counterpoint. Less theatrical than many of his other works, Max expounds and celebrates the potential of the human body and the possibilities of choreography in a powerful tour de force of formalism and technical mastery.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: James Blood Ulmer
    Mar 11, 2012 6:00pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    Guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer stands out as a revolutionary figure, possessing a gutsy, soulful, and ferociously gritty sound redolent of the pungent red clay of his childhood in South Carolina. After his 1971 arrival in New York, Ulmer quickly earned a reputation working with heavyweights like Art Blakey, Joe Henderson and Larry Young. But it was his breakthrough gig with Ornette Coleman that moved Ulmer to the forefront of the scene, with a gutbucket blues-drenched attack perfectly suited for Coleman’s ensemble. More recently, Ulmer has fully embraced the blues tradition with a string of sessions produced by fellow guitar iconoclast Vernon Reid, of Living Colour fame. Ulmer’s latest CD is the uncompromising Rock In Blues. Playing solo, as he will on this SFJAZZ date, James “Blood” Ulmer reveals the indomitable heart of a master, unadorned.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Reflect
    Mar 15, 2012 5:00pm
    Mar 16, 2012 5:00pm
    Mar 17, 2012 3:00pm
    YBCA Forum
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    Eiko & Koma and Kronos Quartet create an intimate performance work, half stage piece and half living installation, that viewers are invited to experience from multiple viewpoints. Inspired by their latest living installation Naked (2010), Fragile allows attendees to stay as long or as short as they wish in unaccustomed proximity to the performers or remain seated tentatively on the periphery.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    ODC/Dance Downtown 2012
    Mar 15, 2012 7:30pm
    Mar 16, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 17, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 18, 2012 4:00pm
    Mar 21, 2012 7:30pm
    Mar 22, 2012 7:30pm
    Mar 23, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 24, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 25, 2012 4:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    ODC/Dance’s 41st home season features three world premieres from Brenda Way and KT Nelson- Breathing Underwater, Transit and Cut-Out Guy- alongside repertory favorites Raking Light, I look vacantly at the Pacific...though regret, and Part of a Longer Story. Blockbuster avant cellist Zoe and the Magik*Magik Orchestra will perform live in Way’s Breathing Underwater. Crucible bike artist Max Chen unveils his three rideable artworks in Nelson’s highly anticipated Transit. In keeping with ODC’s community spirit, there will be many ways to interact with the art and fellow dance enthusiasts including the Opening Night Gala, Meet the Dancers Party, and Get Smart talks with the choreographers. and as an attendee you have the chance to ride away with a classic Euro cycle from Public Bikes.

    www.odcdance.org

    Performing Arts
  • Reflect
    Mar 22, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 23, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 24, 2012 8:00pm
    YBCA Forum
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    Regeneration is a focal point of Eiko & Koma's multi-year Retrospective Project, an evolving examination of the pair's 40-year collaboration. The goal of the Retrospective Project is not to look back and summarize the past, but to discover in the eternal present ways to move forward as artists. The evening begins with their latest stage work, Raven, a haunting duet that unfolds on scorched canvas strewn with black feathers, and ends with a distilled version of White Dance, the first piece they made together and the first to be shown in America. In between is the iconic Night Tide, a jewel-like example of the way body and landscape blend in Eiko & Koma's moral universe.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Robert Moses' Kin
    Mar 30, 2012 8:00pm
    Mar 31, 2012 8:00pm
    Apr 1, 2012 8:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    “A visually delicious beast that never comes short of dazzling the senses” (The Huffington Post), Robert Moses’ Kin presents its 17th Annual Home Season, March 30 – April 1. The program will feature: the world premiere of Helen, a trio inspired by the words and music of Carl Hancock Rux, the poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller and Homer’s Iliad; excerpts from the forthcoming Scrubbing the Dog, investigating the residual effects of "scrubbed" or desensitized iconography and beliefs; Biography, inspired by the life and work of author James Baldwin; and the award-winning The Soft Sweet Smell of Firm Warm Things — not seen in its entirety since 2003 — and Speaking Ill of the Dead, Moses' 2007 meditation on war. Don’t miss Robert Moses' Kin whose last season the San Francisco Chronicle hailed as "masterful" and "an enchanted spell."

    www.RobertMosesKin.org

    Photo: RJ Muna

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Chano Domínguez
    Mar 30, 2012 8:00pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    While already a star in his homeland, Spanish flamenco jazz pianist Chano Domínguez won an international following with his appearance in Calle 54, the award-winning 2000 documentary about Latin jazz. Domínguez was attracted to jazz by fusion pioneers like Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report as well as the works of Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk, but Domínguez has found a singular niche as a pianist in the language of flamenco, tackled through the lens of the post-bop tradition. The incendiary keyboardist quickly became a dominant force in European jazz, leading an acclaimed trio and collaborating with artists including Paquito D’Rivera and Wynton Marsalis, with whom he recorded the stunning Vitoria Suite alongside guitar genius Paco de Lucía. Chano’s upcoming Blue Note album, Flamenco Sketches, will be a fresh take on Kind of Blue, the immortal Miles Davis masterpiece.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Benny Velarde
    Mar 31, 2012 8:00pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    SFJAZZ BEACON AWARD

    Timbalero and composer Benny Velarde is synonymous with Latin jazz in the Bay Area. Coming of age as San Francisco was developing an influential synthesis of modern jazz and Cuban percussion, he played an instrumental role in the new sound’s birth. Born in Panama City, his family relocated to San Francisco in 1945 and he established himself during a long stint with legendary vibraphonist Cal Tjader and work with the likes of Mongo Santamaria, Joe Henderson, Errol Garner, Stan Getz, Vince Guaraldi, Lalo Schifrin and other giants. A leader of his own bands since 1960, Velarde, now 81, has nurtured generations of local musicians and is a beloved Latin jazz ambassador. With John Santos in the group as percussionist and musical coordinator, Velarde will be honored with the 2012 SFJAZZ Beacon Award for lifetime achievement.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Raul Midón
    Apr 1, 2012 7:00pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    Raul Midón has been busy blowing minds ever since the release of his 2005 debut album State of Mind, a soul-infused session showcasing his gorgeous tenor vocals and percussive guitar style. After giving up his lucrative career as a background singer for Latin pop stars like Shakira, Alejandro Sanz and Jose Feliciano, he dedicated himself to honing a highly personal repertoire that draws on jazz, soul, flamenco, Latin and West African influences. His latest album is 2010’s Synthesis, an all-acoustic session featuring original songs that seduce with brisk syncopation and insinuating melodies. Midón has been soaking up invaluable experience, performing with bass giant Marcus Miller, recording with Herbie Hancock and honing Douala Malambo, a collaboration with another great singer, Richard Bona. One of the most phenomenal musicians on the planet, Midón is an experience, not to be missed.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Sierra Maestra
    Apr 4, 2012 7:30pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    Decades before Juan de Marcos Gonzalez served as music director and guiding spirit behind the Buena Vista Social Club, he founded Sierra Maestra, a Cuban roots band dedicated to the Afro-Cuban son style that influenced musicians around the world. Along with trumpeter Jesús Alemañy, a Cuban child prodigy, De Marcos went on to form the popular band Cubanismo!, modernizing the classic instrumentation. With brisker tempos, Sierra Maestra added a jolt of new energy to the sensuous guaracha rhythms, a sound that seized the imaginations of a new Cuban generation. Hugely popular at home, the band gradually built up an international following with a series of celebrated albums, culminating in 2010’s World Village release, Sonando Ya. U.S. and Cuban relations have presented few opportunities for stateside performances, and this is the band’s first American tour in several years.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Tin Hat
    Apr 5, 2012
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    With music that mocks categories and defies stylistic conventions, Tin Hat is a collective quartet dedicated to the idea that beautiful sounds reside at the crossroads of improvisation and composition. Founded in the mid-90s by a triumvirate of conservatory-trained East Coast transplants, the group has morphed and expanded over the years while retaining its avant-chamber sensibility. Tin Hat is anchored by founders Mark Orton, the guitarist and noted film composer, and violinist Carla Kihlstedt, known for her work with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Madeleine Peyroux and Tracy Chapman. Berkeley clarinet master Ben Goldberg and San Francisco accordion ace Rob Reich, who perform widely with the Nice Guy Trio and Gaucho, bring Tin Hat a jolt of improvisational energy. Utilizing a dizzying array of aged, esoteric instruments the band creates a cinematic soundscape, rife with emotion and drama.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet: Spring Home Season
    Apr 12, 2012 – Apr 22, 2012
    $30-65
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    TWO PROGRAMS
    April 12-15
    Triangle of the Squinches, is set to a commissioned score by legendary musician Mickey Hart and features an innovative kinetic set by cutting-edge architect Christopher Haas. Alonzo King explores the inner and outer space of the body: how do we strive to touch something infinite with our material forms? What is the resonance between the bodies we inhabit and the forms we create?

    April 18-22
    Alonzo King’s Scheherazade is a re-envisioning of the ancient collection of Persian, Sanskrit, and Arabic stories of 1,001 Nights. The exquisite dancers of LINES Ballet present a vision of the transformative potential these stories possess: the way that we are offered a chance to listen to a voice that can change our lives, the power of art to illuminate all the chambers of our hearts. The new score by tabla master Zakir Hussain re-interprets the original music by Rimsky-Korsakov, incorporating traditional Persian as well as Western instruments. Commissioned by the Monaco Dance Forum to inaugurate the Centenary of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s Scheherazade honors Diaghilev’s spirit of cutting-edge artistic collaboration, immersing audiences in a luminescent and richly textured world.

    For more information, please visit our website.

    Performing Arts
  • Dare
    Apr 27, 2012 8:00pm
    Apr 28, 2012 8:00pm
    YBCA Forum
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    YBCA welcomes internationally renowned choreographer David Zambrano, a monumental figure in the international dance community for more than a quarter century, with his newest work, Soul Project, a series of virtuosic solos set to live recordings of classic soul tunes by such artists as Aretha Franklin, Ike & Tina Turner and Gladys Knight & The Pips. This performance is part of a debut U.S. tour of Soul Project produced by MAPP International Productions.

    Performing Arts
  • Reflect
    May 11, 2012 8:00pm
    May 12, 2012 8:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    Women's Voices features works written specifically for Kronos Quartet — including the world premiere of a new piece by Vân–Ánh Vanessa Võ, as well as three Bay Area premieres including Derek Charke's Tundra Songs featuring Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Jane Monheit
    May 16, 2012 7:30pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    When Jane Monheit first performed for SFJAZZ a decade ago, she was a wide-eyed ingénue at the start of a meteoric rise launched by her debut at the Monk Institute's 1998 vocal competition. There was no doubt about her exquisite voice and supple sense of swing, which became the foundation of a brilliant recording and touring career. At 34, Monheit continues to grow as an artist, honing her sound and expanding her repertoire. She has spent the past several years immersing herself in Brazilian music, and nearly about every performance now includes songs by Jobim and Ivan Lins, who accompanied her on 2002’s In the Sun. Her latest EmArcy album Home is a lustrous collection of standards that finds Monheit keeping company with top-flight guests including John Pizzarelli, Mark O’Connor and Larry Goldings.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Tia Fuller
    May 17, 2012 7:30pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    Touring and recording with superstar Beyoncé has put saxophonist Tia Fuller at the center of the pop music universe, reaching millions of listeners with her concise, beautifully crafted solos. On her own time, the 36-year-old is a rising force on saxophone and flute — a savvy bandleader, composer, and arranger who follows in the footsteps of masters like Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McLean and Kenny Garrett. She’s racked up an imposing range of credits, including T.S. Monk, Jon Faddis, Jimmy Heath, Gerald Wilson and Nancy Wilson. As if her performing career wasn’t enough, Fuller is also a devoted educator, lecturing and presenting master classes at music institutions around the world. Featuring an all-female rhythm section, her latest album is Decisive Steps, a masterly statement by an artist with a reputation as one of the most important new instrumentalists in jazz.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Armitage Gone! Dance: Three Theories
    May 18, 2012 8:00pm
    May 19, 2012 8:00pm
    Novellus Theater at YBCA
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    San Francisco Performances presents
    Armitage Gone! Dance
    Three Theories

    Inspired by physicist Brian Greene’s best-selling book, The Elegant Universe, “Punk Ballerina” (Vanity Fair) Karole Armitage has created a daring, high-speed work of elegance and force. Her response to Greene’s take on string theory is a sonic and pictorial interplay between video and kinetic imagery and live and electronic sounds exploring geometry, patterns in space and structures of rhythm.

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    SFJAZZ: Brad Mehldau Trio
    May 18, 2012 8:00pm
    May 19, 2012 8:00pm
    May 20, 2012 7:00pm
    YBCA Forum
    Buy tickets at sfjazz.org »

    Over the past two decades, no artist has done more to extend and refine the piano trio’s possibilities than Brad Mehldau. With two brilliant Northern California-raised compatriots, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, he’s forged a strikingly beautiful group sound distinguished by a flexible approach in which the players continuously trade roles, often eschewing traditional bass and drum solos while elaborating on the form of a song. Whether playing his own stunning compositions, Thelonious Monk classics, American Songbook standards, or more contemporary tunes by Nick Drake, Radiohead or the Beatles, Mehldau has a gift for long, emotionally arching improvisations. Known for selecting different repertoire on each night of an engagement, the trio’s SFJAZZ run provides a rare chance to hear a wide cross-section of their recent material.

    Photo courtesy of the artist

    Performing Arts
  • Community Program
    Armitage Gone! Dance: Family Matinee
    May 19, 2012 2:00pm
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    San Francisco Performances presents
    Armitage Gone! Dance
    Family Matinee

    Karole Armitage’s reputation as “punk ballerina” rose from her edgy interpretations of classical dance. Her company of dancers brings incredible energy and focus to the stage in dynamic choreography.

    Performing Arts

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