Opening Night Gala: Circus Exquisitus
Special Event

Thursday, January 13

Doors open at 8 PM. Performance and Party 8:30 PM to Midnight. $25 includes a pass for one other evening of the festival.

Join us for CIRCUS EXQUISITUS at Dance Mission on opening night. Dance, make merry and partake in sumptuous international food and drink. Travel into a den of creative, bawdy and sacred energy. There will be live music and dj's, delicious performances and interactive installations with the WOW5 festival performers as your guides. This fundraiser will include a silent auction and a raffle, so please bring your checkbook!

Performers:
Jade Blue Eclipse		Bekka's Frogland Orchestra		Rococo Risque
Mina Liccione		Erica Rose Jeffrey		Chanteuse
Karen Goldstein		Hot Pink Feathers		Diamond Daggers
The Kook Troupe		MC, Carolyn King		Aruna Dance
HummingbirdWORKS		Magician Christian Cagigal		Hilary Bryan
Media Void		XENO		Ariela Morgenstern
Aerialists:
Emily Leap
Sonya Smith & Christopher Love
Amanda Starr & cellist Alex Kelly
Lauren Steiner & Eat Cake Productions
Susan Voyticky

Donations are encouraged. If you can't make the benefit on opening night, you can still make a tax-deductible contribution. Please make your check payable to Footloose and mail to P.O. Box 885393, San Francisco, CA 94188.

Women of the World
All Ages Family Fun Night!

Sunday, January 16


Bring the whole family for an around-the-world party! This all-ages show will feature a party at 6:00 PM and an international performance line-up at 7:00 PM.

Adults: $15- 20 Children: $8-10 sliding scale.

Performers:

M.C. Christina Lewis of The Clown School

Chelle! and Friends, Joyful ancestral noise

NATyA, dance and storytelling from India

Akat Dance Troupe from West Papua

Taiko Ren, Japanese drumming

Davalos Dance Company, modern ballet folklorico from Mexico

Shahrzad Dance Company, Persian classical and contemporary dance

Tango con Fusion, Argentine tango dance

Zoetrope

Thur. Jan. 20; Sat. Jan. 22; Fri. Jan. 28; Sat. Jan. 29

Element Dance Theater; Choreographed by Kristin Heavey

Animation design by Chris Lanier; Music composed by Ralph Carney and Kid Koala.
Performed by Christina Goodney, Kristen Quok, Anne-Lise Reusswig, Patric Cashman and Stacz Sadowski.

Animation and dance theater collide in this startling collaboration where media design integrates with a defined sense of theater and athletic movement. Old time superheroes, Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, and Betty Boop mix with a panoply of original effects, images and text. Choreographer Heavey has a strong spine of movement to hang vaudeville and physical humor onto the exaggerated animation. Dancers will interact with projected images of themselves in "virtual" duets. Element is a popular San Francisco dance company that has performed at venues including Cowell Theater, ODC, Dance Mission and Venue 9.

"...powerful dancers (ballet, rock climbing, gymnastics, martial arts)... respond to recent world events." - SF Bay Guardian

Della Pancha

Fri. Jan. 14; Sun. Jan. 23; Fri. Jan. 28

Written and Performed by Mina Liccione;
Directorial Assistance by Paul Delbene and Dwayne Calizo.

Della Pancha means "from the gut" where all the fears, desires, hunger, love (or lack thereof) reside. This one-woman, comedic play incorporates song, dance, stories, tap and body percussion. Mina explodes on stage, thrilling audiences with her insightful, funny, personal and clever observations that expose the truth beneath the jest as the varied characters follow their guts in their quests for happiness. Her eclectic career encompasses 4 years touring with STOMP, film and stage work, plus the cabaret and circus circuit. Mina is a graduate of the SF School of Circus Arts Clown Conservatory and holds a MA from the Experimental Performance Institute at New College.

In Mourning

Fri. Jan. 21; Sat. Jan. 22; Sun. Jan. 23; Thurs. Jan. 27

Dance-Is-It; Choreographed by Karin Cabello-Moriarty

Directorial assistance by Mary Alice Fry.
Music editing by Steve Moriarty and Roberto Barrueto
Slide projection/camera work by Ben Thomasian
Prop assistance by Elgin Lee and Alan Moser
Performed by Roberto Barrueto-Cabello, Felipe Barrueto-Cabello, Karin Cabello-Moriarty, Valentina Emeri, Jaime Eredia, Dawn Gillis, Collin Hussey, Dharam Kaur Khalsa, Elgin Lee, Claire McGibeny, Alan Moser, Isabel Moriarty.

Fresh from performances in the South Bay where audiences were moved to tears, this riveting dance theater piece tackles human rights issues in a personal story of one family's courage to find justice. One year ago, the Cabello family witnessed the first successful jury verdict of this type in the USA. A federal court found the lieutenant of Agusto Pinochet liable for the 1973 murder of Winston Cabello, Karin's brother. Remembered by his two sisters, In Mourning is a holographic portrait of the beautiful and horrific landscape of Winston's life before and after democratically elected President Allende was assassinated in Chile. The Cabello's story reverberates with the emotional awakening and compassion the whole world is feeling presently for victims of repression.

"When the tragedy began 30 years ago, Karin Cabello-Moriarty picked up a broom and started sweeping -- a sweeping that today is part of a dance drama about life, murder and triumph." - San Mateo County Times

Reconnaissance

Sat. Jan. 15; Thur. Jan. 20; Fri. Jan. 28; Sun. Jan.30

Rococo Risque: Red Gate Performance Collective Project; www.rococorisque.com

Directed by Elisabeth Millican and Ben Flax.
Live Music Composed and Arranged by Rob Reich with Pat Moran and Sam Ospovat.
Performed by Bill Bowles, Ben Flax, Kelly Garten, Jean Johnstone, Cameron McHenry, Ariela Morgenstern, Sam Ospovat, Erik Pearson, Natalie Saibel, Joyful Simpson, Jaime Talley and Teresa Weirzbianska.

Anchored in the tradition of a U.S.O show with satirical commentary and observations about current times, this ensemble driven, multi-faceted performance is full of ferocious magic and highly contagious ballyhoo. Famous for their energetic and highly participatory mix, Rococo Risque transports its audiences back to vaudeville, burlesque, cabaret and Commedia dell'arte, and pushes them forward into theatrical provocation.

"Wildly talented..." - SF Weekly

War n' the Worms

Sat. Jan. 15; Thur. Jan. 20; Fri. Jan. 28; Sun. Jan. 30

Bekka's Frogland Orchestra; www.bekkasfrogland.com

Written and Performed by Bekka Fink, Sheryl Mebane, Bobby Akash, Belinda Catalona, Atiim Chenzira, Ariane Cap, Laura Boytz, Liana Young, and special guests.

This elemental collaboration of instruments and voices will open the shows for Rococo Risque. Bekka's Frogland Orchestra will take a tribal avant funk excursion into a sacred village of Mother Earth's creatures, and attempt an answer to all the destruction.

The East/West Canvases: Questioning Beauty

Fri. Jan. 21; Thur. Jan. 27; Sat. Jan. 29

Facing East Dance & Music; www.fedm.org
Choreographed and performed by Sue Li Jue.
Visual Art designed by Richard Jue, Media Art designed by Tommy Wong Sound Collage by Ryan Drury.

Award-winning choreographer Sue Li Jue and her collaborators craft a multi-media event balancing solo dance, paintings, projections, music and text. Beauty practices of Chinese women past and present evoke the flawed and painful road to achieving acceptance in society. This 5-year old company has been presented at local venues including UC Berkeley, Julia Morgan Theater and Summerfest. They have garnered multiple Isadora Duncan Dance award nominations and an "Izzie" for Outstanding Ensemble Performance (2001). Sue Li Jue is the recipient of numerous prestigious grants. She teaches at UC Berkeley and has performed with renowned choreographers including Alonzo King, June Watanabe, Kimi Okada, Krissy Keefer, Priscilla Regalado, Joan Lazarus and Kim Epifano.

"Few choreographers make dances with the profound sensibility and lucid, earth-laden grace as Chinese American Sue Li Ju." - Asian Week

"...expertly balancing language and movement, music and storytelling." - SF Bay Guardian

"...saturated with visual and acoustic energy." - Tea Party Magazine

tearher and Obstructing Sidewalk Traffic

Fri. Jan. 14; Sat. Jan. 22; Thur. Jan. 27; Sat. Jan. 29

Counterpointe; Choreographed by Erica Rose Jeffrey

Music by Frangiz Ali-Zade, Sussan Deyhim, Bulgarian Women's Choir.
Performed by Gabrielle Thompson, Laura Rutledge, Erica Rose Jeffrey and Naomi Martisius.

Counterpointe is a young company translating new ideas into a ballet-based form. Set against a visually stunning backdrop of suspended ropes and red sheer fabric, tearher conveys the qualities of living in a war zone or a state of terror, either personal and political.

Counterpointe; Obstructing Sidewalk Traffic;

Music Performed by Singer Gina Green; Fabric sculpture by Soo-Hwa Yuan.
Performed by Sarah Clagett-Marcus, Rosie Ueng, Gabrielle Thompson & Emily Pope Backman.

This abstract contemporary ballet characterizes current struggles for the right to vote by reflecting on events in 1917 when a group of American suffragists were imprisoned and tortured.

"... the young, ebullient dancers were committed to their movement..., which was joyful in its execution." - Voice of Dance

Eddy

Fri. Jan. 14; and Sat. Jan. 15 TWO NIGHTS ONLY!

Company Mécanique Dance Theater; Choreographed by Sara Shelton-Mann

Music composed by Daniel Berkman; Text by James Kass.
Performed by Patric Cashman, Phil Halbert, Jenna Marshall, Alisa Michelle, Anne-Lise Reusswig and Michelle Winchell.

Created by acclaimed choreographer, Sara Shelton-Mann for Company Mécanique, this masterful work is accompanied by James Kass' powerful poem that rallies the viewer to the reality: "It's the time of the season, it's supposed to be peaceful by now." Momentum is the key in this continuous spiral of patterns that shift, change and repeat as quickly as it was wound.

"...just one degree shy of boiling over." - rachelhoward.com

Handful of Dust

Fri. Jan. 21; Sat. Sun. Jan. 23; Sun. Jan. 30

Xeno; www.xenodrome.com

Choreographed and performed by Danielle Hooper, Tiffany Parish, Janine Fondiller, Billy Conti and Richard Szpegiel.
Original music compositions performed by Scott Sterling, Austin Lewis and Cooper Hazen, featuring special guest, Janayassa.

Dynamic aerial dance combines with compelling characters in this heightened theatrical reality that is both mythological and personal. Xeno's radical hybrid style of modern dance fuses aerial acts, video projection, and fireplay with an original musical score.

"...mind-blowing, extraordinary...fantastic." - SF Examiner

"...feats of acrobatic, dance, aerialism...impossible to top." - SF Chronicle

Second Kiss

Fri. Jan. 14; Sat. Jan. 15; Fri. Jan. 21; Sun. Jan. 23

Fresh Meat Productions; www.freshmeatproductions.org

Written and Choreographed by Sean Dorsey; Performed by Sean Dorsey and Mair Culbreth.

The meat of this honest, funny portrait of a 4th grade genderqueer's adrenaline-filled plunge into first love is that inner truth doesn't always match schoolyard politics. Transgender choreographer, Sean Dorsey is also a trailblazing dance artist and producer of trans performance.

"...stunning dance" - Bay Times

"...beautiful" - Bay Area Reporter

Bearing Fruit

Sat. Jan. 15; Fri. Jan. 21; Sun. Jan. 23; Sun. Jan. 30

Jenice Acosta Movers; Choreographed by Jenice Acosta

Music composed by Matthew Peterson.
PPerformed by Jennifer Perfilio, Jody Pettle, Bronwen Healy, Sitver and Laura Putnam.

It's nature vs. nurture in this collection of physical commentaries addressing questions of intellect, instinct, belief and meaning in the life of the human animal.

Jenice Acosta arrived in the Bay Area 6 years ago and began presenting work at Venue 9, ODC, 848 Community Space and Dance Mission.

"...fast paced." - SF Bay Guardian

Time Remaining

Fri. Jan. 14; Sat. Jan. 15; Fri. Jan. 21; Sun. Jan. 30

Frank and Bryan Dance; Choreography by Hilary Bryan; www.hilarybryan.com

Performed by Hilary Bryan, Josh B. Bryan, Jose Navarrete, Meadow Leys and Jenny Shaffer.

The biological clock chimes and it's time for online dating in this dance theater romp. Dancers sing, manipulate clocks, and scream at their lovers on cell phones as time passes and is gone. Hilary Bryan, a movement analyst and teacher, has been touring internationally for 13 years and is still single.

"exceptional force and clarity" - Los Angeles Times

"poignant...unpretentious" - SF Bay Guardian

The Arrangement


Angelina Nicole's Imaginary Friends; Choreographed by Angelina Nicole

Performed by Dena Bermann, Aviana Edwards, Rebecca Gilbert, Pauline Jennings, Jez Lee, Mica Miro, Angelina Nicole and Amy Nielson.

Ironic, somber and comical all describe this story of five women struggling with death, isolation and an overwhelming desire to connect. The main characters are laughable in their tragedy. Stagehands control and deliberately expose the women to the audience.

"...stood out for its eccentric partnering..." - Voice of Dance