the CONCEPT series: 18

Named the “Best Way to Sample S.F.’s Contemporary Dance Scene” by SF Weekly, the biannual CONCEPT series returns with its 18th round moving to the beautiful Green Room, located in the SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. Serving up some of the Bay Area’s most compelling veteran and emerging choreographic voices, CONCEPT series: 18 offers the work of five guest choreographers, including the “powerful and sinuous movement” (Dance Magazine) of Katharine Hawthorne; Oakland-based Facing East Dance and Music, whose director Sue Li-Jue has been making dances in the Bay Area since 1986; Manuelito Biag, who uses personal narratives and movement to investigate different facets of the human experience; Angela Dice Nguyen with her new collaborative venture, The MoveMessenger(s); and dawsondancesf/Gregory Dawson, former dancer with LINES Ballet. In the usual CONCEPT fashion, the series will be pay-what-you-can, and promises to fulfill your cravings for quality dance art while keeping your belly full of popcorn.

SF Weekly summed up the salon: “Dance aficionados and newbies find plenty to like in this semi-regular series, hosted and curated by choreographers Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein. You pay what you can to enter. There’s food. And the work is really good. Smith and Rein sometimes perform with their entrancing group RAWdance, bolstering this already-strong argument for mixed-bill style performances. And there’s this running joke they have with popcorn. Just go.” The CONCEPT series is all about making dance accessible without sacrificing the art. Choreographers are encouraged to share work at any point along the process of creation, from revisiting repertory to testing out a work-in-progress fresh from the studio. The series began in 2007 and has shared the work of 74 artists, companies, and collectives to date.