In the wake of pandemic-induced venue closures, San Francisco’s dance scene has been meandering toward its former vibrancy. Fast forward to August 1, 2024, on the sunlit sidewalk along the ODC Theater, where a bubbly street-party vibe builds as the exiting audience of the first show greets new arrivals with hugs and squeals of delighted surprise. It’s the first evening of State of Play, ODC Theater’s summer dance festival, with three separately ticketed world premieres occurring successively at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. The crowd is vibrant and intergenerational. Some patrons are making a night of it, waiting to re-enter after the brief stage turnaround, while others have come to see a single performance.
This year’s festival, now in its 12th year, will feature four days of activities across ODC’s campus, including fully staged theatrical premiere performances, work-in-progress studio showings, movement workshops, discussions and fundraising bash Revelry. The festival is supported with contributions of space and resources from partnering organizations, Counterpulse and San Francisco Ballet. The nascent collegial connections between this trio of performance presenters and producers bode well for a more stable dance ecosystem in the coming years.
The festival, curated by ODC Theater’s Creative Director Chloë L. Zimberg and Resident Curator, Marya Kerr, offers works in three categories: Risk Takers: Evening Length Performances; Curious Creators: Short Form Performances; and Experimenters: Works in Progress. Day 1 opens with two successive short form performances reviewed here. The evening length piece by Randee Paufve and Paufve Dance which closes Day 1 is reviewed separately.
Setting a very high bar for the festival, we begin with established and esteemed artists David Harvey and Babatunji performing their virtuosic duet, Chimera (world premiere). Harvey and Babatunji are longtime friends and collaborators with a well-developed and enduring connection with one another. Chimera is the first major duet they have created for public viewing and its intimacy, honesty, and vulnerability is captivating.
A line-drawing of a ghostly hooded sweatshirt fall-floats down the otherwise dark, rear screen. As it lands, lights come up on Babatunji standing, a discarded hoodie at his feet. Harvey crawls on, naked but for a pair of shorts, his ribs starkly defined. Insistently pushing his head into Babatunji’s dangling palm, he is a dog nuzzling a friendly but distracted human. Babatunji is occupied with a self-exploration which begins with a studied articulation of fingers and expands to a brushing palm’s inventory of his own face, neck, and chest. Folding to explore the textures of his feet and legs, Babatunji’s hands encounter Harvey’s on a similar tactile survey. Their twining limbs magically merge the two men into one. We marvel as four arms extend from one body, as twenty fingers fan out from joined wrists.
Chimera progresses in segments, separated by Harvey’s charming black and white videos featuring drawings of swopping airborne balaclava, a twisting clump of multitudinous wrestling silhouettes, or disconnected body parts working to reassemble themselves. As Harvey and Babatunji explore a shared identity, each new section finds the pair dressed anew. Sweaty shirts are swapped or replaced atop omnipresent side-striped athletic pants which may be worn at the ankles or more traditionally their waists.
David Harvey & Babatunji bow after the world premiere of their collaboration "Chimera'' Photo J. Norris
Harvey and Babatunji complete each other physically the way longtime spouses complete each other’s sentences, or anticipate another’s need. Rolling, belly crawling, maintaining contact, their edges blur. A slow simmering grappling unfolds with the momentum shifting as they tumble together. Supported by one arm, Babatunji arches deeply, his pate glancing the floor as he reaches his other arm up to tenderly stroke Harvey’s face. With one head high and the other low, they form the mythological multi-species monster of a chimera, for which the piece is named.
Humor and surprise are part of this duo’s DNA. Harvey teasingly sticks out his tongue, only to have Babatunji grab its end and pull it sharply, extending it amazingly far, before it snaps loudly leaving only his thumb, which looks like a torn lingua.
In bejeweled ski masks within a purply blacklight glow (Lighting: Jim French), the pair perform masterful unison floorwork. The men lie on their backs with their straight legs jutting skyward. Undergoing a delightfully swift axial change, their legs swing down hinging upright torsos and sparkling masked-heads into view. Kneeling with supplicant hands joined under chins, they drag their arms downward to draw all into a long-limbed horizontal roll. The richness of their imaginations and their fearless physicality make this deeply relational duet so satisfying. Their lack of pretense is refreshing. We hope this is the first of many public showings and collaborations between Harvey and Babatunji.
Audrey Johnson’s For A Moment/No Longer (world premiere) is a further development of her land/body/memory which she performed with collaborator Laila Shabazz in a studio-showing at State of Play 2023. At the time I reflected that, “breath and space are characters in their worshipful dance. Arms and chests rise skyward and then fall gently back toward the sacred land. Responding to, moving toward, in unison with each other, we feel their deep abiding connection and observe their awareness of the environment.” Theatrically staged, lengthened, and expanded to become a trio, For A Moment/No Longer now has a more dynamic emotional arc.
As we enter, sprigs of rosemary and lavender are bundled alongside full-bloom pastel roses. We are encouraged to take a flower or plant from the altar. A short preface finds the trio standing in community, facing each other. Madre Guía’s soundscore offers framing words and phrases: memory, the heart, the call, the possible, the place, the hands reaching, the hands in soil. Tide beneath our feet, pressed to the earth, something opens?
We begin anew. From darkness, a golden sidelight reveals the dancers in flowing red tops and black bottoms. Barefoot, eyes closed, their arms drift gently, rising and falling. Their motions’ gradual expansion triggers twisting and finally locomotion. Wandering around and weaving through each other, their forcefields keep them separate but spiritually connected. One’s arms trace giant circles in the air, while another rubs palms together, as if sowing seeds.
Performer-collaborators Audrey Johnson, Tessa Nebrida, and brooke terry each bring their unique energy to the work. Johnson’s energy is foundationally pacific and deeply connected to the earth. Nebrida moves in flowing, sinuous forms, simmering with an undercurrent of joy. Assured, terry carves through space with directness, their gaze conveying a depth of purpose.
Performer-collaborators Audrey Johnson, brooke terry & Tessa Nebrida (L to R) bow after 'For A Moment/No Longer' Photo: J. Norris
Touch is introduced as dancers press forward with hands or shoulders to support one another. Standing side by side, Johnson vocalizes a humming birdcall ooo-ooo. Repeating it after a short pause, the others join, creating a chorus. A stunning effect is created when all from a prone position create arching synchronous body waves across the floor.
Energy is building. Choreographer Johnson and her dramaturgical collaborator Shabazz bring a sense of ritual to the work, while also crafting a trajectory toward a hopeful place of possibilities The dancers smile, seeing each other fully. A heavy pulsing musical beat leads into a grooving dance as they roll alternating hips forward and then back, following scooping arms. Rising with chest and faces skyward, their circular arm-strokes push the bad energy away and gather the positive inward.
Review by Jen Norris, published August 3, 2024
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Production Credits:
David Harvey and Babatunji Chimera (world premiere)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 6 PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 7 PM
CREATED BY David Harvey with Babatunji
LIGHTING DESIGN Jim French
MUSIC Andrew JS, Rosie Lowe & Duval Timothy
STAGE MANAGER Byron Roman II
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Audrey Johnson For A Moment / No Longer (world premiere)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 7 PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 4 PM
CHOREOGRAPHIC DIRECTION & CONCEPT Audrey Johnson
PERFORMANCE & COLLABORATION Audrey Johnson, Tessa Nebrida, and brooke terry
UNDERSTUDY Cauveri Suresh
SOUNDSCORE Madre Guía (also known as Stephanie Hewett) featuring a sampled sound by The Lijadu Sisters, 1979
DRAMATURGY & CREATIVE COLLABORATION Laila Shabazz
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