Post:Ballet’s Season:Ten is the celebration of a decade-long history by the dance company obviously fond of colons. Artistic Director Robert Dekkers founded Post:Ballet in 2009 with a self-described “vision to experiment with eclectic artists, using dance as a means for creative expression that takes chances, pushes boundaries, and challenges social norms.”
Dekkers and Resident Choreographer Vanessa Thiessen have been integrating dancers with diverse artists including composers, animators, architects, cinematographers, fashion designers, and sculptors.
The upcoming season includes Lavender Country at Z Space, Mirage at Onedome, and Incandescent Body at Heron Arts.
Lavender Country weaves the music and storytelling of Patrick Haggerty together with choreography by Thiessen. SFCV readers nominated that collaborative work for “Best Dance Performance” of 2017–2018.
Recently archived at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Haggerty’s 1973 Lavender Country is considered America’s first openly gay country music album. After Haggerty’s Lavender Country band disbanded in 1976, the work was all but lost until the album was rediscovered by an indie record label in 2014. Post:Ballet is reuniting with Haggerty and his Lavender Country band for another run of performances April 25–27.
In addition, the company will be filming a triptych from Lavender Country with 360/VR videographer Bruce Hamady. The immersive film will premiere at the 2019 San Francisco Dance Film Festival, and will then be shared with LGBTQ centers and festivals around the country.
The season continues on June 20 with the world premiere of Mirage, an “augmented reality and live performance experience,” co-created by Dekkers and nomad MVMT’s director/choreographer Logan Scharadin, in collaboration with Onedome. The show features “challenges to our assumptions about reality, blending physical and virtual worlds together in unexpected ways.”
The show features an original score by Daniel Berkman, costumes by Christian Squires, and virtual artwork by such artists as Android Jones, Scott Musgrove, John Park, and Shuster+Moseley.
Season:Ten culminates with the world premiere of Incandescent Body, described as a cabaret featuring singer-songwriter Star Amerasu with Magik*Magik Orchestra and the Living Earth Show. Oakland-based transgender artist Amerasu worked closely with composer Minna Choi to arrange an orchestrated album of her work that “amplifies the emotional resonance of her expressive and deeply personal music.” The premiere is at Heron Arts on July 19–20.
Fashion designer Christian Squires is collaborating with shibari artist Simön Malvaez to create the costumes and scenic design for the production, and videographer Brian Emerick will be producing a music video that will incorporate live footage from the performances.
Post:Ballet will also continue building momentum for the company’s newest evening-length collaboration with the Living Earth Show, EPiC. Scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2020, at The Midway, EPiC aims to weave concert dance, contemporary classical music, culinary art, technologically-driven visual design, and fashion into an immersive performance experience.
Thiessen and Dekkers are working with composer Samuel Adams to create a program that uses the story of Orpheus and Eurydice as “a jumping point for an introspective exploration of the modern-day human condition.”
