On October 19 at the YBCA Forum, Epiphany Dance Theater will present the premiere screening of a feature-length film about San Francisco Trolley Dances (SFTD) bookended by several short live performances and a dance party. The evening will also honor Epiphany Founder and Artistic Director Kim Epifano, whose tenure at the helm of SFTD comes to an end this year. In keeping with SFTD's history as an admission-free event, this celebration is offered to the public free with RSVP.
Titled DANCING WITH MUNI, and made in collaboration with Loren Robertson Productions, the film provides interviews with many of the more than 1,000 artists who have taken part in SFTD since its inception. Archival footage is paired with commentary from transit officials, tour guides and art-goers in addition to Epifano and Epiphany Managing Director Zoe Klein.
"SFTD is the most delectable moveable dance feast of the season," wrote Andrew Gilbert for the Bay Area News Group. "Using the city as both a backdrop and unpredictable character, the peripatetic event ushers many of the Bay Area's top dance companies off the stage and onto the street."
"SFTD reminds us that Muni is more than going from point A to point B," said Jeanne Brophy, marketing manager for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. "It reminds us to take pride in our civic spaces and embrace the diversity that makes San Francisco such a special place."
Over two decades SFTD has traveled from the Bayview to the Haight; from the Upper Mission to the City College of San Francisco, Ocean campus; from Mission Bay to the Castro; from South of Market to Chinatown to Golden Gate Park - and many points in between.
The screening of Dancing with Muni will start at 7:30 p.m., followed at 8:45 p.m. by "Flea for Free," a giveaway of old costumes, props and other sundries that Epiphany has collected over the years. A dance party will conclude the night.
Free