Program - Precarious Pod
November 15-24, 2019
Joe Goode Annex, SF
Choreography: Nina Haft with the Dancers
Dancers: Rose Huey, Jennifer Twilley Jerum, Rogelio Lopez, Mallory Markham, Andrew Merrell, Rebecca Morris, Jesse Wiener
Video Design: Ian Winters
Scenic Design: Lauren Elder
Sound Design: Gretchen Jude
Lighting Design: Rogelio Lopez
Costume Design: Andrew Merrell
Multimedia Engineer: David Coll
Production Stage Manager: Jessi Barber
____________________________________
Action Circle Community Partners
Friday Nov. 15
Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center
Saturday Nov. 16
Sunday Nov. 17
Friday Nov. 22
Saturday Nov. 23
Sunday Nov. 24
Wander
Wind in the Bones
Lupercalia
Leaving
Director's Note:
A few years ago, I noticed a change in the birds that pass through my backyard. What was once a convivial hub for diverse avian migration patterns has become, in just a few years, the territory of just a handful of species. The crows are the most vocal of them all.
What can we do as dance artists about climate change and the current great mass extinction? If we train our movement choices to respond to subtle changes around us, couldn’t we also explore our habits and impulses to become more connected to the environment? What do other animals notice, and how do they respond? Could we learn from them about our own survival?
Precarious Pod began by moving and imagining our way into the lives of other animals that - much like us - negotiate choice and instinct in an effort to survive and thrive. It is an experiment in radical empathy with animals, a new way of engaging in instead of opting out of mutuality with other living creatures.
Crows - among the most intelligent of birds - are winning at the extinction game, thriving even more among humans in cities than they do in the wild. With modest protections, wolves make profoundly beneficial impacts on their riparian ecosystems as apex predators, yet are still vilified and hunted to near extinction. Vaquitas are the most endangered marine mammal on earth. They are not dying of coastal wetland degradation, so much as from greed; drowning in illegal fishing nets that bring fish of a similar size to the lucrative black market. There are fewer than ten of these delicate harbor porpoises now living on our planet, and they resist our efforts to preserve them in captivity.
Precarious Pod started as an effort to channel my despair about death, loss and extinction into action. It has become a communal, life-affirming practice. Join us here.
- Nina Haft
Tonight’s performances of PRECARIOUS POD are dedicated to Frank Shawl and Leon Haft.
Thank you to my collaborators for your talent, trust and moxie.
Special thanks: John Cowan, Gitty Duncab, Pak Han, Emi Kabasawa, Nancy Fishman, Erin Gottwald, Merlin Coleman, Jill Randall, Rebecca Johnson, Greta Hadley, Randee Paufve, Margaret Jenkins, Risa Jaroslow, Diane Frank, Wendy Rogers, Ellen Webb, Valerie Gutwirth, Sima Belmar, Seth Eisen, Mugwumpin, Erika Chong Shuch, Crystaldawn Bell, Claire Calalo Berry, Douglas Berry, Molly Rose Williams, Tanya Chianese Best, Ronja Ver, Suzanne Beahrs, Sarah Chenoweth, Jessi Barber, Wendy Jones, Sam Parker, Angela Demmel, Edward Moyer, Mira Katz, Chris McCrum, Sally Piccioto, Lisa Tenorio, Ann DiFruscia, Cathy Fischer, Anne Diedrich, Lisa Domitrovich, Kate Hobbs, Qilo Matzen, Paige Sorvillo, Adrienne DePonte, Marylynn Morales, Kim Zitzow, Jonah Kagan and Megan Andrews.
Joe Goode Annex: Crew: Ashley Munday, Venue Manager: Grisel Torres, Artist Coordinator: Nicole Maimon.
Bios
Nina Haft & Company is an Oakland-based contemporary dance company that investigates the deep nature of place. Founded in 2000 with the premiere of The Making of Americans (based on Gertrude Stein’s novel), the company is known for their cultural commentary and site-specific works, as well as dances for the camera.
Program - Precarious Pod
Precarious Pod is made possible with support from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Lighting Artists in Dance Award and CA$H Grant (programs of Dancers’ Group), CSUEB Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Anonymous Foundation, and generous individuals.
INDIVIDUAL DONORS:
Anonymous
Patricia Banchik
Claire Calalo Berry
Kristin Damrow
Ann DiFruscia
Lisa Domitrovich
Lucie Faulknor
Cathy Fischer
Nancy Fishman
Risa Jaroslow
Rebecca Johnson
Wendy Jones
Peiling Kao
Mina Karimabadi
Aileen Kim
Mo Miner
Kate Mitchell
Cindy Ohama
Sally Piccioto
Linda Randolph
Barney Rickenbacker
Carole Roberts
Robert Schout and Leandro Viana
Ruth Sergel
Kathryn Joy Stevens
Katie Wong
Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible contribution. NH&Co is fiscally sponsored by Shawl-Anderson Dance Center.