The Year Ahead – Ready to Work

I am fired up. I have been sad. I feel the remnant weights of loss. I have felt small and quiet. And, I am fired up. I am excited to create.

Maybe every time period feels like it’s the one most desperately in need of art, but it does seem urgent and important now. Through Sarah Bush Dance Project’s values — Feminism, Diversity, Excellence, Authenticity, Accessibility, Empowerment, Versatility and Innovation — we re-commit to our mission of bringing people together in service of community and to our art as the conduit for reflection, conversation, and action.

This year we mark the 10th Anniversary of SBDP and celebrate a decade of dance that pushed boundaries, embraced diversity, warmed hearts, and reflected back the holiness of human experience. I hope you’ll join me and share your SBDP memories. Where have you seen us perform? What moments from our work touched you, stayed with you?

2017 will be a celebration of past works AND new movements.
Mark your calendars! Here is a taste of what’s to come:

January

• Jan 13-14th Sarah performs with Dance Brigade in their 40th Anniversary show at YBCA–Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco
• Sarah guest teaches for Tremors Ice Skating team
• Jan 21st Sarah meets up with feminist colleagues from across the country for the Women’s March on Washington in DC
• Jan 29th Sarah and dancers perform in the 11:15am worship service at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley

February

• Feb 3-11th SBDP joins the incredible line-up of artists as we perform Rocked By Women on Olivia Travel’s “Festival at Sea” cruise
• Feb 15th Sarah resumes her weekly adult drop-in technique class Wednesdays 6-7:30pm at Studio Azul in Berkeley
• Feb 25-26th Sarah performs with Dance Brigade in Jennifer Berezan’s Song For All Beings at the Marin Center – Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium

March

• Sarah starts rehearsals with dancers to explore new movement inspired by the election and by Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run With The Wolves
• Sarah guest teaches at Mona Khan Dance Company

April

• Sarah travels to Kansas City to choreograph and film a dance video to Kristie Stremel’s powerful song “Orlando (Keep Dancing)” to be released on the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy

May

• May 31st, June 2nd & 4th SBDP performs Rocked By Women in the San Francisco International Dance Festival at Fort Mason (tickets go on sale March 1st)
• Sarah and New Style Motherlode’s Corey Action lead a 6-week LGBTQ performance workshop leading up to SF Pride

June

• Sarah spends the Spring semester with Linda Carr and the Berkeley High Dance Production class to create a dance theater piece exploring “femininity” and “identity”, to be performed the first weekend of June
• Sarah teaches at San Ramon Valley Dance Academy’s summer training program June 12-16th

July

• Sarah and dancers continue work in the studio creating new material

August-November

• The company rehearses for the holiday show

December

• SBDP presents a new holiday show based on the company’s repertory piece (In the Wake of) HOME. Bay Area dates and location TBA

And even with all of that there’s room for more! We want to bring SBDP workshops and performances to YOUR area. Please connect me with representatives from your schools, churches, communities, and festivals so that we might participate in cultural exchanges in more places this year and in years to come.

Make sure to follow us on all the social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo) so we can stay connected through this celebratory year. We’ll be releasing old videos, posting about more events as they get added and giving you sneak-peaks into the creative process.

I pledge to keep doing my best to make dance, that in both process & performance, pushes the world toward justice and understanding, that inspires movement, that bridges divides and fosters empathy.

Thank you for all the ways you support this work and for being part of our SBDP journey.

With energy, enthusiasm, and always, Gratitude,
Sarah

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