Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Sean Dorsey is a dancer, choreographer, and founder of Fresh Meat Productions, and he told KALW’s Jen Chien about three sensational arts events happening around the Bay this week.
- Mother, Sister, Daughter, Marvel — ODC Theater on 4/5-4/7
- The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera — El Rio on 4/7
- QTPOC Maker Day: Sew Stitch Build — Liberating Ourselves Locally Maker Space on 4/8
For Funsch Dance Experience’s 15th Anniversary season, Christy Funsch is premiering Mother, Sister, Daughter, Marvel, a full-length work for dancers aged over 40. The show harnesses the movement histories of its cast to pay tribute to the California Dancing Girls, one of the first all-women dance companies based in San Francisco in the 1910s. The work features an original score by composer Gretchen Jude. There are shows April 5-7 at 8 p.m.
"Christy is an extraordinary artist, and she is one of those very rare things, which is a modern dance or contemporary dance artist whose work is so rich and so mature ... It's work that's really accessible."
Come see an epic work-in-progress at showcase of The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera, accompanied by a seven-piece band. There will be opportunities for the audience to give feedback on this story of a teenage trans girl, Ida, who unlocks her super powers after experiencing the traumas of small-town life in the '60s. Eventually, she runs away and joins a gang of trans super heroes squatting in the Tenderloin. They use magic collectively to defend the community against the police and other enemies of their liberation.
"These folks had a work in progress previously, and it was so wildly successful that they way oversquished the room, so El Rio is giving them their larger, gorgeous outside patio space, which is a beautiful, super-classically San Francisco way to see art."
Liberating Ourselves Locally's monthly QTPOC Maker Days are about sharing tools and making space to learn, play, experiment, and build skills. LOL is a maker space in east Oakland led by a community of queer and trans people of color, and is part of Peacock Rebellion This month's theme is "Sew, Stitch, Build." Learn how to hem your pants with Ryder Diaz, get a crash course in crochet, or do your own thing with the provided craft supplies and coloring books.
"I think it is such a gloriously inspiring example of how liberation and social justice can be forged in the most playful, fun, humorous way."
Sean’s newest show Boys In Trouble is premiering in San Francisco at Z-Space from April 19-21.