Dear Friends,
In a year of so much loss, there is still so much to be grateful for. The company had an incredible year and I had the opportunity for exciting artistic collaborations.
I’m grateful to be an artist surrounded by passionate community, to have the opportunity to explore subjects and emotions through creative process. I am grateful for movement. Dancing keeps me in-motion. When I feel small and defeated it both nurtures me and fuels me to get up and work, to do my best to keep bringing out what is strong and kind and generous in myself and in the human spirit, to find ways dance can encourage empathy and bridge divides.
With fierce love, resilient commitment and immense gratitude,
Sarah Bush, Artistic Director
Sarah Bush Dance Project
Gratitudes for 2016:
This Land
• Creating our 2016 Season – THIS LAND, Oakland
• Presenting a free monthly outdoor performance series:
– “Recreate” with gina Breedlove at Lake Merritt
– “Reach” with Anita Lofton Project at Joaquin Miller Park
– “Recall” with Melanie DeMore at MLK Jr Regional Shoreline – (this involved the company participating in inspiring and community building Gullah Stick Pounding workshops with Melanie)
• Culminating in an evening of THIS LAND – Bringing The Outside In – 5 works celebrating Oakland landscape at The Odell Johnson Theater at Laney College
Performing
• Dancing at Grace Cathedral as part of the SF Movement Arts Festival
• Performing in front of Oakland City Hall for Dance Anywhere Day
• Participating in the Oakland Dance Festival at Jack London Square
• Bringing “Reshape” to Chlo & Co’s showcase at Little Boxes Theater, SF
• Presenting “Reach” at ODC Theater as part of Summer Performance Festival 9 (SPF9)
• Traveling our Rocked By Women show to the National Women’s Music Festival in Middleton, WI
Collaboration
• Receiving a commission to create a new contemporary dance piece for the Mona Khan Company’s show Awaaz at ODC Theater – “377” 3 simultaneous duets illustrating loving committed relationships between women as protest to the section of the Indian Penal Code that deems homosexuality illegal
• Dancing in a music video for Venetia’s “Scream”, part of The Glo Trilogy
• Choreographing for Berkeley High School’s Dance Production
• Dancing with the band Skip The Needle in their show at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley
• Choreographing the flashmob and dance video for Saint Harridan’s “Saint Swagger” campaign
Teaching
• Presenting a movement workshop at National Women’s Music Festival
• Teaching an all-ages workshop following our performance at Oakland Museum of California
• Providing expressive movement exercise for audience after our “Recreate” performance at Lake Merritt
• Instructing weekly Contemporary Dance classes at New Style Motherlode studio and Studio Azul
• Leading Chabot Elementary students in a THIS LAND workshop, studying their outdoor environment and creating dance which celebrates it
Community
• Curating the dance portion of “For the Healing of the World: Interrupting cultural and racial ignorance with the alchemy of curiosity, courage and the arts”, accompanied by percussionist, Carolyn Brandy
• Participating in Save The Bay clean-up day at Martin Luther King Junior Regional Shoreline
• Outreach and instruction for “Break The Chain” flashmob, part of One Billion Rising’s global movement to end violence against women
• Sarah being interviewed by college students from two different universities about her work related to Feminist Dance
• Choreographing “Rise Up” and organizing groups of women to perform it at events encouraging voter participation
Recognition
• Receiving an Artist Residency at SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts in SF
• Having “Reach” and our THIS LAND series featured in a video piece for KQED Arts
• Discussing “Reach” with David Latulippe on KALW’s Open Air radio show
• Receiving a Critic’s Choice nomination for “Best Premiere in 2016”, Dance Europe magazine
Support
• City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program
• The Blum Family Foundation
• The Zellerbach Family Foundation, The Clorox Company Foundation, and many individual donors
• New Style Motherlode dance studio and our fiscal sponsor, Dance Brigade
And…
YOU!
Thank you for your support of Sarah Bush Dance Project’s work and vision. We are grateful for YOU!
(Photo credits: Marissa Bergmann, Bill Hamilton-Holway, Lisa Harding)
Sarah Bush Dance Project 