Autumn is for the arts, and there's absolutely no shortage of ways to get your culture fix in the Bay Area. We've plucked 69 creative events from a seemingly endless roster of options; we hope you enjoy the show.
DANCE
From left: Carina Ho, Julie Crothers, Lani Dickinson.
(Courtesy of Axis Dance Company)
Velveteen Rabbit, ODC Dance
For its 31st season, ODC Dance will present one of its most successful and viewed dance shows. Margery Williams' Velveteen Rabbit will unveil the sweet relationship between a young boy and a stuffed rabbit come to life. It's one of the classic performance that defines the holidays and a must-see for families. // Nov. 25–Dec. 10, 2017; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street (SoMa); odc.dance
RawDance, Transform Fest
The popular Bay Area dance company will be performing as part of the Transform Fest, one of the most acclaimed events in the city that combines movement and visual arts. This year, all the artists involved had to develop and compose a choreography around the topic "Why Citizenship?" The troupe will investigate, through an intriguing and dynamic dance, the subtle battle between the power structures and the freedom of critical thinking. // Sep. 15-23, 2017; Yerba Buena Center for The Arts, 701 Mission Street (SoMa); ybca.org
The Right To Be Believed, Flyaway Productions
In this free show, Flyaway Productions, the Bay Area aerial dance company, will occupy the intersection at 1100 Broadway Street and 12th Street in downtown Oakland for a site-specific performance. The Right to Be Believed is new choreography by artistic director Jo Knetter that plays with gravity to explore the challenges that every woman has when she stands up for herself and have a voice in our society. // Oct. 6-7, 2017; 8pm and 9pm; 1100 Broadway Street (Oakland); flyawayproductions.com
Moses(es), Zellerbach Hall
Inspired by Zora Neale Huston's Moses, the choreographer Reggie Wilson and his Fist and Heel Performance Group has designed a dance show that explores North African folklore: their culture, their migration and the spiritual tradition. // Sep. 23, 2017, 8pm; Sep. 24, 2017, 3pm; 101 Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley); calperformances.org
Marksman, ODC Theater
How are our bodies, minds and personalities shaped by the relationship with others? This is one of the topics explored through provocative and intense movement by Kate Weare Company. Inspired by Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery, the show is a close up on how we use our intuition to survive. // Oct. 5-7, 2017, 8pm; ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street (Mission); odc.dance
PushFest, Push Dance Company
For its annual festival, PUSH Dance Company will bring on stage a series of performances featuring local artists. Among the shows there will be the world premier of Mothership (II) by artistic director Raissa Simpson, Mary Carbonara from Dancers' Performance Project with new works, and other contributions like The Anata Project, Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble, and Soulskin. // September 22-24, 2017, ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street (Mission); odc.dance
Vulnerability, Acrobatic Storytelling Company
Let's face it, no one likes to be vulnerable and, most of all, no one likes to be out there when emotions are too overwhelming. Acrobatic Storytelling Company challenges us through impactful dance movement and narratives to deal with our own inner fragilities. The dancers highlight the risk, the uncertainty, the fear, and the relief we experience when we expose our vulnerabilities. // Sep. 16, 2017, 8pm; Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th Street (Mission); brava.org
Smuin Contemporary American Ballet @ Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts is a lovely spot for a ballet. This October, Smuin Contemporary American Ballet will put its fresh spin on nine classic Frank Sinatra songs in the special tribute show, Fly Me to the Moon. // Sept. 29 through Oct. 7, Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St. (Marina); tickets ($32-$79) are available at smuinballet.org.
San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Fest @ Palace of Fine Arts
Embrace your inner back-up dancer at the 19th iteration of the SF International Hip Hop Dance Fest, where you can catch some of the most energetic and culturally attuned dance groups from across the world. Last year's groups—organized and approved by Bay Area's own hip-hop extraordinaire Micaya—included such acts as the Vietnamese S.I.N.E. Crew. // Nov. 17-19, Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St. (Marina); tickets ($40-$75) are available at cityboxoffice.com; lineup to be released at sfhiphopdancefest.com.
Alonzo King Lines Ballet
The fall home season of Alonzo King's Lines Ballet is always two things: absolutely major, and entirely too short. This fall, look for the return of The Propelled Heart, starring Grammy Award–winning vocalist Lisa Fischer, who has shared the stage with such headliners as Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and Beyoncé. The dance, as ever, explores the body as an instrument; the entire piece is a journey. // Nov. 15-19, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 701 Mission St. (SoMa); for tickets and info, go to linesballet.org.
AXIS Dance Company
One of the country's most celebrated dance companies to integrate dancers with and without disabilities, Axis stages its much anticipated 2017 home season with the debut of Radical Impact, a new work created and produced by new artistic director Marc Brew, in collaboration with JooWan Kim, artistic director of Oakland-based hip-hop orchestra, Ensemble Mik Nawooj. At 20 years of age, while enjoying a blossoming professional dance career, Brew was injured in a head-on car collision while dancing with PACT Ballet in South Africa that left him paralyzed from the chest down with a spinal cord injury and using a wheelchair. "But" as he recently told the BBC Arts, "I was still a dancer. I couldn't just stop because I couldn't walk anymore." // Oct. 26-29, 1428 Alice St., Suite 200
(Oakland); tickets are $30 in advance at axisdance.org/performances.
