April 17, 1pm “Recall” – This Land Oakland

Refresh your spirit at the shoreline where the dancers invite you to reconnect to a collective voice through dance and the rhythm of an art called Gullah Stick Pounding.

Join us Sunday, April 17th for the third and final performance of our free outdoor series, This Land Oakland!

“Recall” a 20-minute site-specific piece choreographed by Sarah Bush. Performed by Audrey Borst, Nicole Casado, Chelsea Hill, Rose Huey, Esther Steele, Nina Wu and Sarah Bush. Featuring artistic collaborator, Melanie DeMore.

Like wind and weather and wings, sound soars over borders. In “Recall”, DeMore’s orchestration and Bush’s choreography will carry the dancers across the astonishing landscape of Arrowhead Marsh, pounding out songs in the spirit of protest and peace. Audience members are invited to join in the rhythmic chorus reverberating along the water’s edge.

For the creation of “Recall”, Melanie DeMore led the dancers in a workshop to learn the art of Gullah Stick Pounding. As in the Gullah tradition, dancers designed their own sticks and learned each other’s stories and rhythms as a way to deepen their sense of connectedness.

Make a day of it!
Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline is a wetland shorebird preserve offering marsh boardwalks, fishing, bike trails, and picnic/grill areas. A restored wetland, Arrowhead Marsh is part of the Pacific Flyway migration route. Watch the birds who call the wetlands their year-round home or seasonal stopover. Enjoy the rabbits and ground squirrels who hang out in the grass areas. Bring a picnic, enjoy a bike ride or Frisbee, brings kids and dogs. (Dogs are allowed on leash along trails and in lawn areas, but not allowed on the boardwalks through the marsh.) The performance will be at the Observation Tower at the end of road after entering the park from Swan Way. The performance site is wheelchair accessible.

Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline is located near the Oakland airport. If you’re driving, enter the park from Swan Way, between Doolittle Drive and Pardee Drive, and go to the lot at the end of the park road. You can see the wooden Observation Tower from the lot. AC Transit bus #98 stops nearby on Edgewater Drive, and from the bus stop you can take a paved trail to the Observation Tower. Check google maps for directions specific to you. Please be aware that we will be at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, NOT Shoreline Park, which is nearby.

This Land blog posts:

• Critic’s Choice – Dance Europe Magazine 2016
• Photos: “Reach” at SPF9 – ODC Theater
• KALW Radio 2016 – Interview on Open Air show
• Photos from This Land show at Laney Theater
• SF Chronicle – “Dance production to take a journey through Oakland”

Watch This Land videos.

Follow along.
@sarahbushdance #ThisLand

This project is supported by the Oakland City Council and funded by the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program.

Additional support from The Blum Family Foundation, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, The Clorox Company Foundation, and many individual donors. Special thanks to East Bay Regional Park District, The Embarcadero YMCA, and New Style Motherlode Studio.
Photo credit: Lisa Harding