Presidio Theatre https://www.presidiotheatre.org/ Performing Arts Theater Thu, 18 Jan 2024 19:54:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-2021-Visual-Identity-Update-05-32x32.png Presidio Theatre https://www.presidiotheatre.org/ 32 32 2024 Winter–Spring Season https://www.presidiotheatre.org/2024-winter-spring-season/ Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:39:58 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2556 Announcing the January through June 204 lineup of artists and performances.

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Media Contact:
Scott Horton Communications
510-229-9739  |   Email

The Presidio Theatre announces artists and productions for January through June 2024 including premieres, new productions and classic favorites in theater, music, dance, opera and film. Located in San Francisco’s historic Presidio, the recently renovated Presidio Theatre has established a much-needed and acclaimed reputation for producing and presenting a range of work with a particular emphasis on San Francisco artists and companies while hosting performing artists from all over the globe. A schedule of events from January through June may be found below and for more information, visit our show listings.

The Children’s Theatre Association of San Francisco
Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure
Sunday, January 28, 2pm
Saturday, February 3, 2pm
Sunday, February 4, 2pm
Saturday, February 10, 10:30am & 1:30pm
Sunday, February 25, 2pm
Saturday, March 2, 10:30am & 1:30pm
Tickets: $15–$18

The Children’s Theatre Association of San Francisco invites audiences to join Wendy and the Darling children on a magical journey to Neverland, where they encounter the daring Peter Pan, his mischievous fairy Tinker Bell and of course, the Lost Boys. Together, they face Captain Hook and his pirate crew, exploring a world of endless adventures, bravery and friendship. Experience the enchantment of childhood imagination in this timeless tale of dreams, courage, and everlasting youth.

Book by Craig Sodaro. Music by Eric Rockwell. Lyrics by Joanne Bogart. Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Denver, Colorado.

The Children’s Theatre Association of San Francisco (CTA) was established in 1934 as an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to providing live musical theater for school children in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly for those who might not otherwise experience it.

New Century Chamber Orchestra
Playing with Structure
Friday, March 8, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 9, 3pm Tickets: $30–$70

New Century Chamber Orchestra embraces the elegant structure and exquisite restraint of Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, one of music’s most prominent “architects” during the Classical period. American cellist Sterling Elliott joins Daniel Hope and New Century for Haydn’s beloved first cello concerto, a virtuoso showpiece for the instrument. In the second half of the program, Igor Stravinsky’s playful ballet suite from Pulcinella offers a contrasting 20th century response to Haydn, using the amorous hijinks of the famous Italian clown to tinker unpredictably (and to the delight of modern audiences) with the shapes and patterns of centuries-old Classical melodies.

Daniel Hope, Music Director and concertmaster Sterling Elliott, cello

PROGRAM: Gluck: “Dance of the Furies” from Orfeo ed Euridice; Bloch: “Prayer” from Jewish Life, No. 1; Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major; Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite (1919-1920; rev. 1949)

Robert Moses’ KIN
New Legacies: One Act Dances
Three Choreographers, Three Composers, Three Writers Create
Friday, March 15, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 16, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 17, 2pm
Tickets $8–$45

New Legacies: One Act Dances is the 29th explosive season of Robert Moses’ KIN, the never-predictable San Francisco institution, that continues to push boundaries, create culture and shape art.

New Legacies: One Act Dances is a full evening of original live music, dance and theater. The evening features a collaborative triptych among three choreographers, three composers, three writers and a cast of 16 dancers coming together for the first time to create a work composed around the challenged moment we find ourselves in regarding a growing global impulse toward educational suppression, cast restriction and censorship.

Artistic Director Robert Moses emphasizes, “Censorship concerns, particularly the uncertainty faced by educators about teaching in their classrooms, are at the heart of this issue. Throughout history, libraries have been demolished and reconstructed to rewrite the narratives of our society aligning them with the interests of those in power. This process of erasure involves the elimination of individuals through the erasure of their stories.”

Lúnasa
Irish Acoustic Band
Saturday, March 23, 7:30pm
Tickets: $35–$65

Named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival held in honor of the Irish god Lugh, Lúnasa was formed in 1997 from members of some of the greatest Irish groups of the previous decade, with an early review from Folk Roots describing the band as an “Irish music dream team.” From the start, the band’s complex arrangements and unique sound reshaped the boundaries of traditional music and energized audiences the world over. Having since sold over a quarter of a million records and performed over 2,000 shows across 36 countries, Lúnasa has won multiple awards and become one of the most influential bands in the history of traditional music. Collaborations with singers Natalie Merchant, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and Tim O’Brien – as well as high-profile concerts at The Hollywood Bowl, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Glastonbury Festival, and Bercy Arena Paris – have helped broaden the band’s audience and cement it place at the forefront of contemporary Irish music.

Jean-François Alcoléa
Right in the Eye
Friday, March 29, 7:30pm
Tickets: $40–$50

To showcase the pictures and narratives in the fantastic worlds of such films as The Impossible Voyage or burlesque universes in such shorts as The Four Troublesome

Heads, Right in the Eye offers a poetic, playful current rendition of the works of Georges Méliès. The scenography is enhanced by subtle lighting that gives life to the set and creates continuity with the projection. Lighting and scenic design combine to establish a unique identity that makes Right in the Eye so much more than just a movie-concert: it is a fabulously imaginative and poetic show.

An original score is composed for each film making every piece unique and harmoniously integrated into the production. Inspired by the cinematographic richness and inventiveness of Méliès, Jean-François Alcoléa has devised a unique orchestration that offers a broad spectrum of sound qualities and modes of playing.

Films: Introduction (documentary based on archival materials), Le cauchemar (A Nightmare), Un homme de têtes (The Four Troublesome Heads), Voyage à travers l’impossible (The Impossible Voyage); La visite sous-marine du Maine (Divers at Work on the Wreck of the “Maine”), Le voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les Géants (The Lilliputians and the Giants), Panorama pris d’un train en marche (Panorama from Top of a Moving Train). Les nouvelles luttes extravagantes (Fat and Lean Wrestling Match), Le merveilleux éventail vivant (The Marvelous Living Fan), L’équilibre impossible (An Impossible Balancing Feat), Le royaume des féés (The Kingdom of Fairies), Nain et géant (The Dwarf and the Giant)

SFArtsED Players
The Little Mermaid
Friday, April 5, 7pm
Saturday, April 6, 3pm & 7pm
Sunday, April 7, 12pm followed by closing-day gala
Tickets: $25–$100

Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, Disney’s The Little Mermaid tells a musical tale of curiosity, longing, bravery and adventure as Ariel makes a choice to leave her undersea mermaid family to explore what life and love are like for humans on dry land. Featuring songs from the beloved 1989 animated film by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken such as “Part of Your World,” “Kiss the Girl” and the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea,” the stage adaptation features additional songs by Menken and Glenn Slater.

The April 7 performance includes closing-day gala. The ticket price includes access to a post-show reception and silent auction in the outdoor plaza of the Presidio Theatre. Gala tickets are $100 for adults, $50 for seniors/artists and $25 for youth (17 and under).

A hand-picked group of young performers, ages 9-14, collaborates with seasoned and passionate stage directors, choreographers, and vocal coaches:

Ashley Alvarado, Olina Amai, Jasmine Boyd, Shiuli Chambers, Belen Diwan, Owen Du, Lila Ellis, Leelee Finn, Anna Forlin, Andrea Gonzalez, Savvy Ingle, Mable Johnson, Maesie Kaan, Emma Kadlecek, Helena Kirschner, Oriana Jooss Moran, Ian Nguyen, Lily Normanly, Joss Pearlman, Sylvie Reavill, Marco Salan, Aida Samimi, Mia Schleifer, Fiona Schobert, Alaji Sey, Shaan Swaminathan, Julia Torre, Katherine Wilder, Hollis Wofford.

Creative Team: The Players’ Artistic Director is Emily Keeler. The production’s director is Danny Duncan and the music director by Stefano Flavoni. The assistant director and choreographer is Erin Gentry. The dance instructor and choreographer is Laura Elaine Ellis . Vocal coaching and accompaniment is by Noah Bossert. Production design is by Stacey Ransom and Pete Belkin. Costumes are designed by Tiersa Nureyev. Stage Management is by Arianna Boostani.

The San Francisco Arts Education Project was founded in 1968, and for fifty-plus years has stayed true to its mission: to enrich the lives of children by facilitating hands-on participation in the visual and performing arts—taught by practicing artists.

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
FRONTERAS
Saturday, April 13, 7:30pm
Sunday, April 14, 2pm
Tickets: $35–$60

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, one of America’s leading flamenco companies, presents Fronteras, a new work choreographed by two of flamenco’s most exciting artists, José Maldonado and Karen Lugo, with an original score by Jose Luis de la Paz that will be performed live.

Fronteras asks: What is stronger – what unites us or what separates us? Despite the barriers we encounter from the moment we enter this world, it is our natural drive to push beyond these obstacles and seek deeper relationships – and like life itself, flamenco does not understand nor accept such boundaries but supersedes them.

Honored by the King and Government of Spain with La Cruz de la Orden al Mérito Civil for “all the years of passion, excellence and dedication to the flamenco art,” Carlota Santana is an internationally-renowned flamenco and Spanish dance artist and educator. In 1983, she co-founded Flamenco Vivo with Roberto Lorca; following his death from AIDS in 1987, she was determined to continue their work. In the decades since, she has led Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana’s growth as one of this country’s most successful flamenco companies, with a mission to promote flamenco as a living art form and a vital part of Hispanic heritage.

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is one of the nation’s most prominent flamenco and Spanish dance companies and is dedicated to honoring the traditions of flamenco while expanding the art form in new directions. Throughout its history, the company has employed emerging dance/music artists, and has premiered more than two dozen original works, offering commissions to outstanding US choreographers as well as renowned artists from Spain.

Patricia Racette, soprano
Craig Terry, pianist and arranger
Patricia Sings Piaf
Friday, April 19, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 20, 7:30pm
Tickets: $50–$75

An iconic artist of our time, Grammy Award-winning soprano Patricia Racette conjures the timeless power and viscerally authentic impact of French singer Édith Piaf (1915-1963), whose music gave voice to the mid-twentieth century, transcending language and borders. “For me, Piaf is a shining example through words and music. Great artist. Great actor. Great chanteuse,” says Ms. Racette. “I want to evoke Piaf without ever crossing the line of trying to imitate her. I want to create an experience.”

Patricia Racette is acclaimed on the world’s opera and concert stages and is a particular favorite of San Francisco Opera audiences, celebrated for her deeply emotional performances, impeccable technique and dramatic range. Throughout her career, Racette has been acclaimed for her courage, confidence, vulnerability, and honesty onstage. These are also qualities for which Piaf was widely known, making her artistry an ideal fit for Racette’s gifts.

Racette will be joined by pianist and arranger Craig Terry, who currently serves as Music Director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He curates the “Beyond the Aria” series for The Harris Theater and won a Grammy for “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album” with Joyce Di Donato. The performance will also feature projections by Greg Ermametaz, artistically weaving images and translated lyrics to enrich the music, messages, and stories of Piaf’s life.

New Century Chamber Orchestra
Love & War
Saturday, May 4, 3pm
Tickets: $30–$70

Daniel Hope, Music Director and Concertmaster Awadagin Pratt, piano

Pianist Awadagin Pratt joins Daniel Hope and New Century for this program of potent 20th century American works for strings that speak to our collective emotions. Coping with the senselessness of war is the heartbeat of the program’s first half, with composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson confronting his concerns about the Korean War through his work Grass. In contrast, composer David Diamond wrote his exuberant work Rounds to dispel the gloomy wartime mood of the 1940s in vivid fashion. The program closes with Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium), an epic work for solo violin, strings and percussion inspired by the ancient Greek debate over love in its many forms.

PROGRAM: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Grass, Poem for Piano, Strings & Percussion; David Diamond: Rounds, for strings; Florence Price: Adoration for violin and strings (arr. Paul Bateman); Leonard Bernstein: Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium)

Lamplighters Music Theatre
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Saturday, May 11, 7:30pm
Sunday, May 12, 2pm
Friday, May 17, 7:30pm
Saturday, May 18, 7:30pm
Sunday May 19, 2pm
Tickets: $65–$80

Based on Charles Dickens’ final unfinished novel, this hilarious whodunit invites the audience to solve its mystery by choosing the identity of the murderer. The tale is presented as a show-within-a-show, as the Music Hall Royale – a delightfully loony Victorian theatre company – presents Dickens’ brooding mystery. Musical numbers include “Perfect Strangers,” “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead,” “Off to The Races” and “Moonfall.” Simulcast on May 19th.

Music of Remembrance
Before It All Goes Dark
Wednesday, May 22, 7:30pm
Tickets: $30–$70

The world premiere of a new one-act opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. An ailing Vietnam war veteran learns he is the sole heir to a priceless art collection stolen by the Nazis. His journey to Prague to claim his legacy leads to the discovery of an identity he never knew, and through art discovers a deeper truth in his life. Based on a true story reported by Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune.

Directed by Erich Parce. Starring bass-baritone Ryan McKinny and mezzo-soprano Megan Marino. Conducted by Joseph Mechavich. Featuring the Music of Remembrance Ensemble: Demarre McGill, flute; Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola; Eric Han, cello; Jonathan Green, double bass; and Jessica Choe, piano.

Andrew Evans
An Evening of Mystery and Illusion
Friday, June 7, 7:30pm
Saturday, June 8, 7:30pm
Tickets: $40–$50

Andrew Evans, founder of The Magic Patio, is thrilled to return to the Presidio Theatre to present an unbelievable evening of magic and mentalism. In this 75- minute show, Andrew will mystify audiences with his original creations which have been featured at The Magic Castle in Hollywood and on national television for Penn & Teller’s: Fool Us. From classic illusions to one-of-a-kind inventions, this show will leave you scratching your head in wonder for weeks to come. Join us to see why Andrew’s once small, backyard performance has now become San Francisco’s premier magic experience.

Opera Parallèle
Fellow Travelers
Friday, June 21, 7:30pm
Saturday, June 22, 7:30pm
Sunday, June 23, 3pm
Tickets: $30–$120

The West Coast premiere of the opera adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s novel Fellow Travelers, a tender love story and political thriller set in the corridors of power during the McCarthy era.

Recent college graduate Timothy Laughlin is eager to join the crusade against communism, and a chance encounter with handsome State Department official Hawkins Fuller leads to Tim’s first job—and his first love affair with a man. Drawn into a maelstrom of deceit, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions and his forbidden love for Fuller. The piece uses the love affair of Laughlin and Fuller to shed light on the ”lavender scare”, an often-overlooked period of McCarthyism that resulted in the mass firings of suspected homosexuals from the United States government. With Senator McCarthy’s investigations into “sexual subversive”’, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions, his love for God, and his love for Fuller – an entanglement that ends in a stunning act of betrayal.

Adapted by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce, Opera Parallèle and the Presidio Theatre are proud to bring this contemporary classic to the West Coast, a beautiful opera with the message that love will always flourish under persecution.

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2023 In Review https://www.presidiotheatre.org/2023-in-review/ Thu, 28 Dec 2023 01:40:42 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2538 A look back at the highlights of 2023 including multiple world premieres, the launch of a residency program, and the 3rd annual Panto in the Presidio.

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This year, we had the privilege of seeing so many of you at the Presidio Theatre — often for several events. In the same way audiences are inspired by the live performances they experience at the Presidio Theatre, all of the artists, staff, and volunteers feel equally invigorated by the enthusiasm and generosity of our theater-goers, donors, and, of course, our board, which is led by the visionary Peggy Haas. All of our successes would not have been possible without you. As 2023 at the Presidio Theatre goes out with a bang thanks to director Liam Vincent’s remount of Panto in the Presidio: Sleeping Beauty, we’re reflecting on another landmark year for our organization. 

As proven by Panto in the Presidio’s successful third year, San Franciscans are looking for new traditions as well as unique artistic and cultural experiences. When it comes to building traditions, everyone at the Presidio Theatre was thrilled to collaborate with returning artists, including Irish musical group Lúnasa; Robert Moses’ KIN, an eclectic, singular dance company; and the Children’s Theatre Association (CTA), which put on a memorable performance of Willy Wonka.

In 2023, we were thrilled to host several world premiere shows, including Sojourner ZY, which was written by Eugenie Chan, directed by Larry Reed, scored by Paul Dresher, and performed by ShadowLight Productions; Music of Remembrance, a stunning opera event featuring composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer; the Oakland Ballet’s seminal Dancing Moons Festival, which featured the surrealist-inspired, new ballet Exquisite Corpse; Brenda Wong Aoki and First Voice’s remarkable multimedia performance Soul of the City; and The Resonance Between, a staggering blend of internationally acclaimed musicians, including Alam Khan, Arjun K. Verma, Del Sol Quartet, and Nilan Chaudhuri.

The Presidio Theatre also welcomed the world premiere of Patrick Makuakāne and Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu’s Ritual, and will serve as the new home for the visionary artist and dance company. Of course, we also had the privilege of hosting essential Bay Area artists and organizations like Lamplighters Music Theatre, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area , the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project , and the San Francisco Arts Education Project . Finally, 2023 afforded us the opportunity to uplift a new array of incredibly significant artists, including Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, one of the world’s most innovative jazz collectives; Nobuko Miyamoto’s 120,000 Stories, a storytelling event honoring the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California; and Sona Jobarteh, Gambia’s first professional female kora player, who performed to a sold-out audience.

As we look ahead to 2024, we’re honored to welcome so many of these beloved artists back to the Presidio Theatre’s stage. Additionally, we can’t wait to continue some of the important work we began this past year. In 2023, the theatre hosted its first-ever residency, which led to the world premiere of Solaz by La Tania Baile Flamenco, as well as the inaugural edition of Presidio Theatre Bliss Festival, an unforgettable musical weekend co-presented by (((folkYEAH!))).

As we look ahead to a fresh year of performances, artist development initiatives, and culturally significant programming, the whole Presidio Theatre team is humbled by your support of our organization’s essential work. See you in the new year!

Check out our 2024 programming — and buy tickets — here.

Donate to support the Presidio Theatre here.

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Robert Martin to Retire as Executive Director of the Presidio Theatre https://www.presidiotheatre.org/robert-martin-to-retire-as-executive-director-of-the-presidio-theatre/ Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:26:54 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2506 Founding Executive Director of the historic Presidio Theatre and nationally recognized performing arts leader to retire as of December 31, 2023.

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San Francisco, November 17, 2023—Robert Martin, founding Executive Director of the historic Presidio Theatre on the Main Post in San Francisco and nationally recognized performing arts leader, has announced that he will retire as Executive Director as of December 31, 2023, and will become an independent arts management and programming consultant. The Presidio Theatre Board of Directors has begun a search for a new Executive Director.

Peggy Haas, Founder and Board Chair of the Presidio Theatre and its Board of Directors selected Martin to oversee the historic Theatre’s transformation and oversee its artistic and administration beginning in 2018 two years before the Theatre re-opened to the public. “I am forever grateful to Bob for his boundless expertise and energy, programmatic vision and ability to uplift and inspire the team that made this tremendous project a reality,” she says. “We all wish him well in his next chapter as an independent arts consultant and look forward to his counsel and continued relationship with the Presidio Theatre.”

Robert Martin has enjoyed more than four decades as a national leader in performing arts programming, commissioning, and administration with a special focus on launching new arts spaces and organizations. He has overseen the multi-faceted planning, building, opening and programming of theater/performing arts spaces including the Eureka Theatre and Cowell Theater at Fort Mason in San Francisco and the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, NM. Most recently, Martin has served as Executive Director of the historic Presidio Theatre in San Francisco, overseeing its transformation from a derelict former movie theater on the military base to a vibrant and successful performing arts center, which opened to the public in September 2019 following a $45 million transformation. “I am deeply grateful to Peggy Haas for her vision of transforming the Presidio Theatre to provide a much-needed performing arts venue for San Francisco,” says Martin. “Our first four years of programming have proven that it is a vibrant hub that brings together artists and audiences fostering creativity, supporting inspiration and a place to come together.”

About Robert Martin
During Martin’s tenure, the Presidio Theatre has participated in and hosted many premieres including Kaisahan Unidad, a collaboration featuring Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco and LIKHA Pilipino Folk Ensemble; Angel Island Oratorio for Voices and Strings featuring Del Sol Quartet and Volti; Songs for J-Town by Mark Izu; Global Moves by Margaret Jenkins Dance Company; Both Eyes Open, a chamber opera with music by Max Giteck Duykers, lyrics by Philip Kan Gotanda and featuring John Duykers; Sojurner ZY: An Asian American Science Fiction Fantasy by Shadowlight Productions and Paul Dresher Ensemble; Solaz by La Tania Baile Flamenco; Soul of the City by Brenda Wong Aoki and First Voice; and Ritual by Patrick Makuakane & Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu. Upcoming world premieres include a co-production with the Magic Theatre of Jerry Garcia in the Lower Mission written by Culture Clash’s Richard Montoya and directed by Sean San Jose.

Throughout his career, Martin has served as an arts management consultant, listing among his past clients the City of San Francisco, City of San Jose/Mexican Heritage Plaza, Antenna Theatre, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, San Francisco Fair, Statue of Liberty’s Harbor Festival, Z Space Studio, Bay Area Book Festival, Crosspulse, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, People’s Theater Festival at UC Santa Cruz, Free Southern Theater, A Traveling Jewish Theater and El Teatro Campesino, the American Festival Project and others. He is a founding member of Bay Area Theater Sports and National Endowment for the Arts Inter-Arts Fellow and has appeared on stage with Asian American Theater Company, Elbows Akimbo, Z Collective and others.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Scott Horton Communications
510-229-9739
Bluescott260@hotmail.com

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Announcing the inaugural Presidio Theatre Bliss Festival https://www.presidiotheatre.org/announcing-the-inaugural-presidio-theatre-bliss-festival/ Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:00:04 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2336 Presidio Theatre and (((folkYEAH!))) present the first Presidio Theatre Bliss Festival August 19 and 20 in the Theatre’s beautifully landscaped outdoor plaza.

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Presidio Theatre and (((folkYEAH!))) present the first Presidio Theatre Bliss Festival August 19 and 20 in the Theatre’s intimate, serene and beautifully landscaped outdoor plaza. Saturday, August 19, from 4 to 8:30 pm features Pearl & The Oysters and STACEY; Sunday, August 20, from 1 to 5:30 pm features Bobby Oroza, San Cha and LOUDA. Free beer tastings by Fort Point will be available for the first two hours after doors open each day (until 6pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday). Additional beer, wine, soft drinks and food from local food cart vendors will be available for sale both days. Tickets are $25 each day, with a 20% discount for both days bought together, and may be purchased HERE.

The event is standing- and dancing-room with lawn seating and limited chairs and tables available prioritized for those with special needs. Ins and outs are permitted and audiences are encouraged to being blankets, but lawn chairs are not allowed. Outside food and beverages are not permitted, with the exception of water. Sorry, no pets. We strongly recommend being vaccinated to attend but there are currently no vaccination or mask requirements. Please see
our Covid-19 Safety for further information.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

After years of grinding as a sideman in the Finnish music scene, Bobby Oroza has stepped up to make his voice heard. Always with an air of crude romanticism, Bobby pushes towards an expression transcending the borders of soul and rock balladry. His dark and intimate debut single ”This Love” didn’t take long to reach the ears and hearts of a worldwide soul music community and is already a proper classic amongst the lowrider and soul collector scenes.

Bobby was born in Helsinki, Finland into a family of musicians and artists. During frequent family parties Bobby ́s Bolivian grandfather would pick up a guitar and sing Latin canciones and Cuban classics. Bobby ś mother is a singer and his father a gypsy-style jazz guitarist. All his siblings work in show business and music. As a kid, Bobby was lucky to grow up surrounded by his parents’ record collection which included early jazz and blues, Motown hits, gospel ensembles, and doo-wop groups like The Drifters and The Clovers. The Soul records were balanced out by Brazilian ones, African ones, his mother’s collection of North and South American folk songs, and Nuyorican Salsa albums. All of these influences show up in Bobby’s music.

Bobby started working professionally as a musician in his early teens. His main instruments are guitar and percussion. Before finishing high school Bobby decided he needed to experience the rhythmic source that had inspired him the most, and travelled to Santiago, Cuba. There he studied percussion and singing intensively for months. Since his return he’s been producing, recording and performing music to make a living for his family. Teaming up with the Timmion Records house band Cold Diamond & Mink, led by Jukka Sarapää, Sami Kantelinen, and guitarist/composer Seppo Salmi, he has a tight quartet of musicians to support his vision. With his instant classic, debut album “This Love” Oroza has shared his strange and unique shade of Soul with the world, creating a cult-like following for his sound from Finland to sunny Southern California and beyond.

Born in Chicago, vocal chameleon and singer-songwriter known as Louda, is now living in the Bay Area. Her powerhouse vocals, hip-hop rhythms, and Latin styles leave you wondering if there’s anything she can’t do. Due to her curiosity within her unique genre, splitting up her time between Chicago and California has certainly influenced her musical styles and make up the large extent of her brand.

Having an interest in music growing up, Camacho didn’t take her interests seriously until high school. There, she auditioned for the school choir with no vocal training and she hasn’t looked back since. By pursuing her talents first, she received a performance scholarship to attend Northeastern University. Still longing for something more, she began to write and experiment in her solo artistry.

Early on in her artistry, she delivered many R&B and hip hop tracks with a gamut of different melodies and themes such as never-ending love in “Bells,” the enjoyment of life in “End of Summer,” and she creates an overall pleasant atmosphere of tracks in the album, Feedback.

From continual evolution within her lyrics, music, style, and name, she unquestionably puts everything she has into her art. When asked about her name, she said, “The name Louda, the actual solo artistry, feels ahead of me. It feels like it’s moving faster than I’m able to move, which is fantastic.”

Pearl & The Oysters is the French-American duo of Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack. The pair met at high school in Paris and immediately bonded over their mutual love for ’70s jazz and ‘90s space age pop. They have been writing and performing together ever since, and moved across the Atlantic together in 2015. Pearl & The Oysters signed to Stones Throw in 2022 and have since released the singles “Pacific Ave” and “Konami”. Look out for more new music from the duo coming very soon!

By subverting the tropes of popular culture from her Mexican roots to make something new, San Cha has managed to make an impact on the music world, thanks to a highly original sound that encapsulates who she is. With her on-going singles series Processions, San Cha’s essential voice is not only evident, but proves why she is a unique presence in the music industry. These series of EPs will lead to the finale, the grand ceremony.

San Cha is an experience and exploration in sound and musical genres. Interweaving through decades of music as smoothly and beautifully as the turn of a kaleidoscope. Each song a new and refreshing mix, nearly unrelatable to the last but somehow irrevocably San Cha. This is what has catapulted San Cha in the music world and has made her an undeniable force.

Using her Mexican American upbringing, San Cha channels a wave of cultures to beautifully collide in a mix of genres. As eclectic in sound as she is in emotion and storytelling. At times haunting and full of ache and quickly thereafter an unstoppable dance force. A soundtrack for your heart and club nights with friends. Because of this her music has been featured on shows such as Starz TV show Vida and Growing Fangs on Disney +.

A Romantic for the apocalypse generation, STACEY crystallizes the nostalgic longing of golden age pop records into lyrical refractions for the twenty-first century. Cruising from 60’s psychedelic day-trips to glossy 70’s daydreams, STACEY’s velvet textures have received glowing press from the likes of SPIN, LadyGunn, American Songwriter, Clash Magazine, WONDERLAND, Refinery 29, while her iconic floral live presence has led her to share stages with Charlotte Day Wilson, Tamino and Cameron Avery (of Tame Impala). Her songs have soundtracked over 15 different TV programs including Lucifer, Orphan Black, and Degrassi and have amassed over 5 million streams on Spotify. She has received praise from industry tastemakers such as Matt Wilkinson (Apple Music), Chris Douridas (KCRW, School Night), Lauren Laverne (BBC6 Music) and more. Los Angeles via Toronto, STACEY just released her debut, retro-celestial full length, Saturn Return (May 21, 2021).

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We’re hiring a Development Coordinator! https://www.presidiotheatre.org/development-coordinator/ Tue, 20 Jun 2023 22:13:35 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2313 Join the Presidio Theatre Development and Communications team.

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POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position Title:
Development Coordinator
Schedule: Full-time or Flexible Part-time, Non-Exempt, Hybrid
Supervision: Director of Development and Communications
Compensation: $60,000-65,000 yearly

ABOUT THE PRESIDIO THEATRE

The Presidio Theatre is a modern performing arts center, originally built in 1939 by the U.S. Army with funding from the Works Progress Administration. Today, the mission of the Theatre is to ensure that the magic of live performance is accessible to the entire community. By reawakening an architectural jewel in the Presidio and creating a professionally run venue that reflects the rich diversity of the Bay Area, the Presidio Theatre encourages artists to grow and flourish.

ABOUT THE POSITION AND YOU

The Presidio Theatre is looking for an organized and out-going Development Coordinator. The Development Coordinator is an exciting growth-opportunity for an emerging performing arts or non-profit professional interested in fundraising from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies through in-person, online, and written solicitations and events.

The Development Coordinator plays an important role in assisting the Theatre’s Development Team build positive relationships with donors and partners, and meet the Theatre’s fundraising goals. The Coordinator will help foster an organizational culture of philanthropy, stewardship, and gratitude by managing donor benefit fulfillment for all giving levels and maintaining donor recognition listings. The Coordinator reports to the Theatre’s Director of Development and Communications and is part of the Theatre’s Development and Communications team.

This position is ideal for people who are eager to immerse themselves in a hands-on development team, work in a collaborative environment with arts professionals, and help champion the Theatre. This position has a pathway for advancement and promotion, and it will report to the Director of Development and Communications while working closely with the Theatre’s artistic and administrative staff and Board of Directors.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • Coordinate the solicitation of gifts through in-person asks, direct mail, online campaigns, and cultivation events.
  • Opportunity to collaboratively work with staff to generate new cultivation and stewardship event ideas and donor recognition opportunities for members.
  • Review show attendance lists on a daily basis and inform staff when donors are in the Theatre.
  • Track gifts on a daily basis, ensure accurate and timely gift processing, reporting, and donor acknowledgement.
  • Write and/or edit all donor acknowledgments and send to donors on a weekly basis.
  • Assist submitting grant applications and grant activity reports with the support of the Director of Development and Communications.
  • Calendar all institutional deadlines for proposals and reports.
  • Generate the weekly revenue report for Development team review as well as other giving reports requested.
  • Collaborate with staff to execute donor engagement and stewardship cultivation events.
  • Assist in the coordination of Board Meetings.
  • Attend weekly Development and Communications Team meetings, theatre Events Team meetings, and staff meetings.
  •     Other related tasks

QUALIFICATIONS 

  • 2+ years of experience working in development, fundraising, artist services, or related role(s)
  • Experience using customer relationship management (CRM) databases such as Salesforce, Tessitura, or Blackbaud
  • Professional integrity and ability to manage donor and financial information with confidentiality
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills as well as excellent customer service
  • Detail oriented with very strong organizational skills
  • Experience coordinating projects, and the ability to work well with all levels of internal management and staff, as well as outside clients and vendors
  • Preferred experience coordinating in-person events
  • Preferred experience submitting successful grant applications and grant activity reports
  • Ability to work independently as well as within a team
  • Available to work a flexible schedule, including some weekday and evening hours
  • Position requires full vaccination and regular COVID testing

COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 

At the Presidio Theatre, we believe outstanding people are the key to our success. We value diversity in all its forms (background, experience, and perspective) and are committed to the values, principles, and practice of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. These values, principles, and practices are essential to our mission and are reflected in how we operate, including search and hiring processes, promotion, and professional development. Presidio Theatre is an equal opportunity employer.

HOW TO APPLY

Email us your resumé at jobs@presidiotheatre.org. Please include a brief note or a link to a short video explaining why you would like to join our development team!

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World Premiere of Soul of The City https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-soul-of-the-city/ https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-soul-of-the-city/#respond Thu, 01 Jun 2023 21:37:19 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2268 First Voice and Presidio Theatre present the world premiere of Brenda Wong Aoki's "Soul of The City"

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STORYTELLING, LIVE ORIGINAL MUSIC, POETRY AND DIGITAL MEDIA WEAVE A POIGNANT TALE OF LOSS, REDEMPTION, LONGING AND BELONGING

 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Internationally acclaimed playwright, storyteller and performer Brenda Wong Aoki returns to the stage with the world premiere of a new multimedia work, Soul of The City, in two performances at the Presidio Theatre September 30 and October 1. The evening-length performance features Aoki and collaborators telling a profound tale of the importance of story, the wisdom of ancestors and the soul of a place. Directed by David Furumoto, Soul of The City features original music by Mark Izu, Masaru Koga and Derek Nakamoto, multimedia by Andi Wong and Olivia Ting, and costumes designed by Lydia Tanji. Performances will be Saturday, September 30, at 4 pm and Sunday, October 1, at 4 pm. Performances open in the theater’s plaza with a purification blessing by a Japanese Shinto priest. A reception follows each show.

“Soul of The City, is presented to you with some of my dearest friends–masters of their crafts with nothing to prove but lots to share,” says Brenda Wong Aoki. “We are warriors – but not soldiers. We are Soulgiers. We know why we are here, on this planet, at this moment in time, and we know what we must do. We will do it until we die. And even after because like all of us, our bodies return to the earth, our souls go back to Source and the actions we put into motion continue.”

 

TICKETS

 

About Soul of The City

Soul of The City follows a storyteller who has no more stories to tell. Her husband is sick, her boy has moved away, and no one is listening to her stories. Pursued by demons and haunted by ghosts, the storyteller embarks on a journey to find the Soul of The City. This multimedia music drama is a ritual performance. Rooted in traditional Japanese theater and music and infused with contemporary spoken word and Asian American Jazz, The Soul of he City reveals the divine in us all.

Audience members are encouraged to arrive dressed in their personal regalia and gather in the Presidio Theatre plaza to put prayers, photographs or talisman on the Soul of The City sacred tree. A Shinto priest will bless the event with a purification ceremony and willing participants will be given temple bells to call the ancestors. Once inside the theatre, the audience will experience a ritual performance of jazz, storytelling and poetry that is accompanied by photographs and images of Aoki’s family in San Francisco since the 1800’s. At the conclusion of the performance, audience and cast will return to the plaza for refreshments and rejoicing.

 

Soul of The City Cast and Creative Team

Brenda Wong Aoki – Storyteller
devorah major – First Mother
Masaru Koga – Sound of Source, Shakuhachi, Flutes & Saxophone
Jimi Nakagawa – Sound of Source, taiko & traps
Caroline Cabading – Sound of Source, voice and percussion
Derek Nakamoto – Sound of Source, keyboards
Kenneth Nash – Sound of Source, voice & percussion

Creative Team:
Brenda Wong Aoki – Playwright
David Furumoto – Director
Masaru Koga – Music Director
Lydia Tangi – Costume Designer
Patty Ann Farrell – Lighting Designer
Andi Wong – Media Artist
Olivia Ting – Media Artist
Mark Shigenaga – Photographer

Soul of The City is supported by The Hewlett-50 Award & The Hewlett Foundation, The Rainin Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and MAP Fund and individual donors.

 

About Brenda Wong Aoki

Brenda Wong Aoki is a playwright, an artistic director, and America’s first nationally recognized Asian Pacific storyteller. She creates works for theater, symphony, contemporary dance, world music, taiko, jazz, live performance with film & museum installations. A descendant of Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Scottish ancestors, her work speaks to the essential hybridity of American culture. Brenda has deep roots in San Francisco. Her grandfather, Reverend Chojiro Aoki, in the 1800’s was a founder of the nation’s first Japantown, San Francisco. One of the world’s first fully ordained Japanese Christian priests, he was forced out of Grace Cathedral because he supported his younger brother’s marriage to a white woman and died in Salt Lake City Utah where Brenda was born. She wrote an award winning play, Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend, about this story and the children resulting from the marriage, the first documented bi-racial Japanese children in the

U.S. Brenda’s grandmother, Alice Wong, a bi-racial Chinese woman was a founder of the first Chinatown Garment Union in the nation’s first Chinatown also here in San Francisco.

Aoki has been awarded Hollywood-Dramalogue, Critics Circle, Dramatist Guild Awards, two NEA Theater Fellowships, the first Wattis Artist Residency and a Japan- US Creative Artist Fellowship. Past presenters include the Kennedy Center, New Victory Theater on Broadway, Hong Kong Performing Arts Center, the Adelaide International Festival in Australia, the Esplanade in Singapore, San Diego Rep, Dallas Theater Center and the Apollo Theater. In 2023, she will premiere a new work about her family’s 126-year history in San Francisco commissioned by a Hewlett 50 Playwright Award. Since 1976, Brenda and her partner, composer Mark Izu, have created original performance works by people of color representing the authentic story of America. (BrendaWongAoki.com)

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Sleeping Beauty Returns! https://www.presidiotheatre.org/sleeping-beauty-returns/ https://www.presidiotheatre.org/sleeping-beauty-returns/#respond Fri, 12 May 2023 22:55:07 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2188 Holiday magic returns to the Presidio Theatre in 2023 with Sleeping Beauty the Panto, back by popular demand.

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The annual holiday tradition of Panto in the Presidio returns to the Presidio Theatre with a remounting of Sleeping Beauty full of magic, humor, music, dance and a message of hope for all ages in 28 performances November 25 through December 30. A popular hit when it premiered in 2022, the over-the-top musical re-imagining of the classic fairytale is set in the magical kingdom of Pantoland, a mythical realm that bears a striking resemblance to contemporary San Francisco. Produced by Peggy Haas and directed by Liam Vincent, this is a Sleeping Beauty like no other. Characters and details include the princess and prince, an evil, scene-stealing witch named Hernia and Bay Area native fairies. They are joined by a lovably whacky palace cook, the regal Queen and her King (“he has a great personality”), a talking dog, a chorus of dancing, singing chickens and (spoiler alert!) a consensual awakening kiss. Panto is a traditional British holiday entertainment that combines slapstick humor, one-line zingers, outrageous characters and send-ups of current events. Audiences get into the action by booing the villains, cheering the heroes and the occasional pelting with candy tossed from the stage. Tickets, priced $20-$60, may be purchased here:

Sleeping Beauty Tickets

Twenty-eight performances will be given, kicking off with five previews Saturday, November 25, at 1 pm (preview); Sunday, November 26, at 1 pm (preview); Wednesday, November 29, at 6 pm (preview); Thursday, November 30, at 6 pm (preview); Friday, December 1, at 6 pm (preview); OPENING NIGHT Saturday, December 2, at 6 pm; and subsequent performances Thursday, December 7, at 6 pm; Friday, December 8, at 6 pm; Saturday, December 9, at 1 pm and 6 pm; Sunday, December 10, at 1 pm; Thursday, December 14, at 6 pm; Friday, December 15, at 6 pm; Saturday, December 16, at 1 pm and 6 pm; Sunday, December 17, at 1 pm; Thursday, December 21, at 1 pm; Friday, December 22, at 6 pm; Saturday, December 23, at 1 pm and 6 pm; Sunday, December 24, at 1 pm; Tuesday, December 26, at 1 pm and 6 pm; Wednesday, December 27, at 1 pm; Thursday, December 28, at 1 pm; Friday, December 29, at 6 pm; and Saturday, December 30, at 1 pm and 6 pm.

“We were thrilled with audiences and critical response for the premiere of Sleeping Beauty last year, so we decided to bring back the magic and fun,” says Executive Producer Peggy Haas, creator of Panto in the Presidio. “As critics pointed out, this is a family holiday production that proudly represents the best of San Francisco and the Bay Area with joy, welcome, hope and signature panto irreverence and laughter.”

“I can’t imagine a more stellar creative team and cast to reawaken the magic of Sleeping Beauty,” says director Liam Vincent. “These are performing artists all of whom have top theater, music and dance credentials. They deliciously elevate this rich and complex comedic artform of panto and make it crave-ably relatable for Bay Area audiences.”

About the Creative Team and Cast

Executive Producer Peggy Haas has assembled an all-star creative team including director Liam Vincent. Playwrights are Stephanie Brown and Richard Ciccarone. International music legend Mason Williams and musical director Bill Keck’s whimsical score features pop and classic rock songs with re-written lyrics. Sleeping Beauty features magnificent costumes by Alina Bokovikova and production design by Sean Riley. Christine Nicholson is dramaturg and Phoebe Angeni is assistant director. Choreographer Stacey Printz, technical director Jeff Gregory, production manager Patty Ann Farrell and production consultant Karen Szpaller complete the team.

Much of the cast from the world-premiere performances in 2022 will return, including some of the Bay Area’s most versatile, acclaimed and popular performers: Rotimi Agbabiaka, Andre Amarotico, Daniel Benitez, Phaedra Tillery Boughton, Ian Brady, Curt Branom, Jen Brooks, Maggie Connard, Ruby Day, Merrill Grant, M. Javi Harnley, Matthew Kropschot, Renée Lubin, Dian Meechai, Kaylee Miltersen, Scott Reardon, Sharon Shao, Gary Stanford Jr., Mercury van Sciver, Eiko Yamamoto and Ryan Patrick Welsh. New to the cast for 2023 are Stacy Ross and Gwen Tessman.

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World premiere of Solaz https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-solaz-by-la-tania/ https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-solaz-by-la-tania/#respond Tue, 18 Apr 2023 21:06:24 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2159 Flamenco artist La Tania and the Presidio Theatre present the world premiere of Solaz, a new multimedia flamenco work July 21-23, inspired by the extraordinary history of the Egyptian Temple of Debod.

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By Scott Horton

Flamenco artist La Tania and the Presidio Theatre present the world premiere of Solaz, a new multimedia flamenco work July 21-23, inspired by the extraordinary history of the Egyptian Temple of Debod. Built in the second century BCE, the Temple was rescued in the 1960s during the flooding of Nubia, when Egypt was constructing the Aswan Dam. The ancient Temple was cut into pieces and transported to Madrid, where it was reconstructed and now serves as a beacon of cultural survival in the face of global displacement. Solaz combines dance and music, intertwined with poetic visual imagery, creating a sensory journey evoking personal and universal messages of hope, renewal and impermanence. Three performances will be given Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, at 7 pm and Sunday, July 23, at 4 pm at the Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco. Tickets, priced $15-$45 may be purchased here.

The creation of Solaz is rooted in La Tania’s own lived experiences with displacement, her empathy for others and the humanity and solace of origin and place. As a child, La Tania travelled and moved frequently. As a mature artist, she relocated halfway around the world to San Francisco, which would be her home and creative base for three decades. More recently she was displaced, like many artists, by the escalating costs of living and working in the Bay Area. Having lost her San Francisco home and studio to gentrification, she returned to Spain, where she is currenlty living in Seville.

“Dance has often allowed me to speak the unspeakable, and the emotional realm of displacement is very real for me, so this project is particularly poignant,” says La Tania. “Traveling and moving often throughout my life, I grew up with the idea that it was normal to be in constant flux. But dance has always been with me, it’s my home, where I find solace. It’s been magical working on this new choreography in Sevilla, but I look forward to returning to San Francisco soon to finish creating this beautiful show with my friends from throughout the Bay Area arts community, with gratitude for life’s gifts and the kindness all around me.”

Solaz is choreographed by La Tania, with artistic direction by La Tania and Adrián Arias. The evening-length work features dancers Melissa Cruz, Cristina Hall, La Tania, and Mizuho Sato, with composer and guitarist José Luis de la Paz, singer José Cortés and oud player Gary Haggerty. Solaz is supported by grants from the Creative Work Fund and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

About La Tania

La Tania has spent more than four decades setting the international standard as an innovator and icon of traditional and contemporary flamenco. Her work has earned her top honors and recognition including prestigious Choreographers Fellowships from both the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Artistic Excellence, the Arts Achievement Award for Contemporary Dance from San Francisco Focus, as well as many grants from agencies and foundations including The National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, James Irvine Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and others.

Her creative spark and keen ability to tell stories through movement and music have long inspired La Tania to lead collaboration on special projects as dancer and choreographer with Carlota Santana Flamenco Vivo Company in New York, Theater of Yugen, the Flamenco Society of San Jose, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco in Santa Fe, Adrian Arias Illusion 5, a multidisciplinary project at the De Young Museum, Rupa & The April Fishes at the Independent in San Francisco, Opera Parallele, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and other artists and organizations.

La Tania began her professional career at age 17 dancing and touring with multiple companies in Spain, where she grew up traveling the flamenco world watching her mother and others perform. It became her life’s passion. Early in her career she danced with Compania Juan Quintero, Ballet Raul performing in Mallorca, Greece and Ibiza and performed at Esfoguero in Mallorca under the guidance of Alberto Lorca. From there she moved on to dance as a soloist in the major Tablaos of Madrid, such as Canasteros, La Venta del Gato and the prestigious Corral de la Moreria where she performed for many years, eventually becoming its star dancer. She performed as a featured artist at Zambra and Casapatas as well. She continued her studies with various masters of flamenco dance like Merche Esmeralda, Cristobal Reyes, La Tati, and most notably Ciro, whom she considers her greatest influence; and began touring as a soloist with some of Spain’s most renowned Flamenco companies. Traveling with Paco Peña, Mario Maya, Los Flamenco Somos Asi and others, La Tania danced throughout Europe, North Africa, Japan and Mexico.

In 1991 La Tania started her own company in Madrid and in 1993 performed in California, where she decided to relocate. The company toured extensively, presenting many programs and bringing renowned artists from Spain such as Rafael Campallo, Belen Maya, Jose Anillo, Andres Marin, Juan Antonio Suarez “Cano”, Enrique el Extremeno and Jose Luis Rodriguez.

She is currently in Spain creating the world premiere of Solaz.

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World Premiere of Sojourner ZY https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-sojourner-zy/ https://www.presidiotheatre.org/world-premiere-of-sojourner-zy/#respond Thu, 19 Jan 2023 21:33:37 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2118 An original play written by Eugenie Chan with shadow theater by ShadowLight Productions and live music by the Paul Dresher Ensemble. March 2–5.

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The world premiere of Sojourner ZY: An Asian American Science Fiction Fantasy co-produced by ShadowLight Productions, New Performance Traditions/Paul Dresher Ensemble and the Presidio Theatre will be given March 2-5 at the Presidio Theatre. Sojourner ZY is an original play written by Eugenie Chan with new music composer Paul Dresher performed by ShadowLight Productions in its signature large-scale cinematic shadow theater style directed by Larry Reed. Performances will be Thursday, March 2, at 8 pm (preview), Friday, March 3, at 8 pm, Saturday, March 4, at 8 pm, and Sunday, March 5, at 2 pm. The Presidio Theatre is located at 99 Moraga Avenue on the Main Presidio Post in San Francisco. Tickets, priced $15-$25 may be purchased here.

About Sojourner ZY

In a not-so-distant future, the Earth Federation has sent out spaceships to scour the universe for the resources necessary to sustain an environmentally depleted and damaged Earth. We follow the mission of Sojourner ZY, who pilots the last surviving spacecraft, as he communicates with Earth Federation’s Mission Control and with his wife scientist and devoted children, who struggle to survive in Earth’s ever-more precarious environment. And as he desperately tries to sack strange new worlds of their resources, he confronts uncomfortable choices and unforeseen consequences.

Audiences will be surrounded in a primal, yet futuristic landscape of sound from composer Dresher’s invented instruments, cinematic-scale shadow puppet imagery and a fantastical story that follows the interplanetary journey of the space traveler Sojourner ZY. On his journey, he encounters a dizzying array of uniquely adapted and strange civilizations. The story is told via projected and live shadow sequences with dialogue and songs and seeks to address vital issues of all time—race, gender, identity and the environmental crisis.

In ZY’s galactic travel, he encounters an array of contrasting societies, from the uber-authoritarian to the uber-altruistic: in a liquid world where beings shapeshift among sexes, ethnic and sexual identities within miniature bubble-spheres in total anarchic paradise (until it’s not); a moonscape of mammal-headed creatures who find abundance by adopting the animal mind to live harmoniously with nature and who follow an authoritarian leader (until they do not); and a light-filled asteroid of intangible beings—all female—who thrive by turning themselves into pure light and sound. While each alternative offers a solution to mankind’s survival, each also yields a flaw that threatens ZY’s vision of humanity and mankind itself.

ZY seeks common cause with these mysterious entities. But in this pursuit, he is challenged to confront age-old beliefs about mankind’s place in the natural world and the cosmos itself. By dint of his own conception of being human, is he destined to keep replicating the actions that led to the Earth’s destruction in the first place? To confront this dilemma, he must journey deep into his own Being. His travel ends with the greatest challenge, in a journey to the ultimate planet—that of the sphere of the Self.

Soujourner ZY Creative Team

Eugenie Chan, writer; Larry Reed, director; I made Moja and Ya Wen Chien, co-lead designers and shadow performers; Sharon Shao, voice actor and shadow performer; Vivienne Truong, voice actor; Ruby Day, voice actor; Lydia Greer, shadow performer, light operator; Jessica Nguyen, Truong Nguyen, Lindsay Ordesta and Fred C. Riley III, shadow puppeteers; Jacquelyn Serrano, digital design and animation; Samara Lotri Tana, shadow puppeteer and animator; Paul Dresher, composer, performer; and Joel Davel, percussionist. The music will be performed live by the electro-acoustic duo featuring composer Dresher performing on the Hurdy Grande and Quadrachord (created and constructed in collaboration with Daniel Schmidt) and acclaimed percussionist Joel Davel performing on Don Buchla’s invented mallet instrument, the Marimba Lumina.

About New Performance Traditions and The Paul Dresher Ensemble

New Performance Traditions is a hub for incubating multi-disciplinary arts projects from conception and production through performance, recording, and broadcast. We are dedicated to the creation of risk-taking and challenging performing artworks and to supporting the artists that conceive them in order to engender a more equitable, inclusive, and creative community.

New Performance Traditions’ current projects include: The Paul Dresher Ensemble; In Studio Performances; West Oakland Sessions; the Dresher Ensemble, Artist Residency Program, Both Eyes Open, a chamber opera by Philip Kan Gotanda & Max Giteck Duykers ); The Electronic Lover, a podcast opera by Lisa Mezzacappa; MEKONG — The River Runs by Vân-Ánh Võ; The Rebirth of Apsara by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance; MIMI (Museum of Invented Musical Instruments and Interval Archive for Microtonal Research); Actors’ Reading Collective, and Lightfast.

About ShadowLight Productions

ShadowLight was founded in 1972 by filmmaker/theater director/shadow artist Larry Reed. The driving forces were Reed’s interests in and appreciation of shadow theater traditions, film and world cultures, and the passion to express them in an integrated fashion. He is one of the few Westerners to have trained in the traditional Balinese shadow theater and is a dalang or “shadow master.” After over 15 years of studying and performing in this tradition, Reed began expanding the scope of ShadowLight’s artistic activities in order to create a deeper connection with contemporary American audiences. Through much exploration and experimentation, he successfully integrated traditional shadow theater techniques with modern theater and film styles. The outcome was a “live animation film” – a completely original way of using shadows in theater that is not culture-bound. Performed behind and in front of a 15’x 30’ screen, these works orchestrate silhouettes of puppets, actors, and cutout sets illuminated by multiple electric light sources to create cinematic effects live on stage. Each show features live music and is created by a collaborating ensemble of writers, choreographers, composers, designers, actors, dancers, musicians and puppeteers from various cultural backgrounds, artistic disciplines and styles.

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Idris Ackamoor Celebrates 50th Anniversary https://www.presidiotheatre.org/idris-ackamoor-the-pyramids-celebrate-50-years/ https://www.presidiotheatre.org/idris-ackamoor-the-pyramids-celebrate-50-years/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:37:36 +0000 https://www.presidiotheatre.org/?p=2116 Presidio Theatre and Cultural Odyssey present Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids 50th Anniversary Celebration: Afro Futuristic Dreams. Free to the public March 17 & 18.

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In celebration of half a century in the performing arts–beginning with the founding of his legendary band, The Pyramids in 1972– Idris Ackamoor will salute this epoch with the American premiere of Afro Futuristic Dreams in two performances at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco for free to the public. Presented by the Presidio Theatre and Cultural Odyssey, the performances celebrate the 50th Anniversary commemorative double vinyl album release in 2023 of Afro Futuristic Dreams for STRUT Records. Performances will be Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18, at 7:30 PM, and the Presidio Theatre is located at 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94129. Admission is free with reservations as a salute and homage to the audiences who have supported Idris Ackamoor over half a century. Tickets are available here.

“We are deeply honored that legendary Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids will celebrate their 50th anniversary with San Francisco and the world at the Presidio Theatre,” says Presidio Theatre Executive Director Robert Martin. “Always ahead of his time, Idris is an originator and leading exponent of Afrofuturist Jazz. These performances are a rare opportunity to hear him and The Pyramids recall and make history again, right here in San Francisco.”

Idris Ackamoor just returned from a triumphant European tour that began at the renowned Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and continued throughout Germany and Italy to sold out houses and critical acclaim.

Afro Futuristic Dreams is a departure from other albums recorded by Idris Ackamoor with The Pyramids or his other ensembles over his career as a performer and composer and features the first music Ackamoor composed for orchestral musicians. It features string quartet, additional horn section, multiple vocalists and his band, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids. The band features Idris performing on saxophones, keytar, piano, vocals, spoken word and percussion; original Pyramids co-founder Margaux Simmons conducting the orchestra and performing on flutes, percussion, vocals; Sandra Poindexter on acoustic and electric violins, vocals, and percussion, Bobby Cobb on guitar, and vocals, original member Mark Heshima Williams on acoustic and electric basses, and George Hearst on drums.

Afro Futuristic Dreams pays homage to the present Afrofuturism movement that has embraced the science-fiction writers Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany and musician Sun Ra. Idris Ackamoor ☥The Pyramids also have been celebrated as progenitors of Afrofuturism in interviews and articles.

Says Ackamoor, “Afro Futuristic Dreams chronicles the historic ‘times we be a’livin’, the past we be feelin,’ and the future the planet is headin’ in. It is a testament to survival, unity and honesty to face our collective destiny! The title track is a psychedelic San Francisco experience inspired by George Clinton and Parliament- Funkadelic.”

Police Dem was composed for all the known and unknown black victims who have suffered at the hands of police murders and brutality including Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and musician Elijah McClain. Thank You God is spiritual jazz for the 21st century in the vein of Pharaoh Sanders’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and “Tauhid,” and John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” Nice It Up is a celebratory romp to shout out our survival and triumph over a historic tragedy of unparalleled proportions. The composition, Garland Rose, is dedicated to Idris’ granddaughter, all of our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and Darnella Frazier, the Minneapolis teenager who filmed the murder of George Floyd…all who will inherit this earth we as, ancestors ‘in waiting,’ will bequeath to them.

About The Pyramids

The Pyramids was founded fifty years ago in 1972. Saxophonist and composer Idris Ackamoor had originally left his hometown of Chicago to study music at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where his teachers numbered legendary pianist Cecil Taylor. Via the Antioch Abroad Program, Ackamoor landed a year’s study overseas in 1972, which allowed him, and two Antioch students, Margaux Simmons and Kimathi Asante, to travel to Europe and Africa where they co-founded The Pyramids. The trip took in a musical spiritual journey up into Northern Ghana, the land of the Fra Fra of Bolgatanga and the Islam-influenced Dagomba in Tamale, where Ackamoor taped some field recordings. “We played with the King’s musicians in Tamale,” he remembers. “I also undertook a healing ceremony in the bush of Bolgatanga with a Fra Fra traditional healer (a Juju Man).” Back in Yellow Springs, The Pyramids brought together all of the knowledge from their journey and released two independently produced albums including Lalibela (1973), and King Of Kings (1974). After graduating, Idris and the band headed to Oakland, California and quickly met other musicians in the thriving San Francisco Bay Area music scene where they recorded their third album, Birth/Speed/Merging in 1976.

The Pyramids played their last concert at the 1977 UC Berkeley Jazz Festival sharing the stage with vocalist Al Jarreau, and jazz legends Woody Shaw and Dexter Gordon. Out of the blue, The Pyramids announced their return in 2007. “Around 2006 there was an increased interest in the 1970s music the band recorded with many requests from record labels to re-issue the early albums,” Ackamoor explains. “The Pyramids’ three LPs were showing up on eBay for high prices.” A Berlin booking agency began organizing European dates for the band and The Pyramids were fully back in business. The momentum has continued for the group with Ackamoor landing a Lifetime Achievement Award from Gilles Peterson at his Worldwide Awards in London.

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