RAWdance's CONCEPT Series to Welcome First-Ever Guest Curator
Performances at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center will include ASL interpretation.
RAWdance's CONCEPT series has offered one of the best samplings of the Bay Area's vibrant and diverse dance scene for almost two decades. The 35th round, coming up on September 12 & 13, brings guest artists Melí Gómez and Annalise Carrillo Constantz, Gabriele Christian, Helen Wicks, REYES Dance, and Bellwether Dance Project to the SF War Memorial Green Room alongside RAWdance.
This round of the series has an exciting new addition: RAWdance's first ever Guest Curator! We're thrilled to share that Jocelyn Reyes will inaugurate the role, taking on curation for both the September 2026 and February 2027 rounds. Jocelyn is the director of REYES Dance, a contemporary dance company based in San Francisco, and a vibrant member of the Bay Area dance community. Jocelyn was one of RAWdance's pilot Radiate Fellows and was also a guest artist in the digital edition of the CONCEPT series in 2020. Rein shares: 'Bringing in a guest curator will help continue to broaden CONCEPT's artistic reach, bringing artists from different corners of the local contemporary dance community into the series.' Smith adds: 'It's amazing to be able to expand CONCEPT in this way and, in particular, to have Jocelyn in the role. She is already so invested in the community and she's an experienced curator through her Dance Thrillfest series. It's an exciting new chapter. But don't worry, we're not giving up our snack-serving duties. Wendy and I will continue to do seat-side popcorn delivery!'
The CONCEPT series is a staple of the Bay Area dance calendar and has shared the work of almost 200 local dance makers over the past 19 years. Buoyantly hosted by RAWdance's popcorn-&-cookie-slinging Co-Artistic Directors Wendy Rein and Ryan T. Smith, the series provides an intimate glimpse into the creative process for audiences. The series is curated by artist, not by piece. Guest artists are encouraged to share work at any point in the creative process, from works-in-progress straight from the studio to existing repertory, revisited for the approachable event.
On the cusp of the CONCEPT series' 20th anniversary, this marks the first time a Guest Curator will take the reins, while continuing to uphold the vision of sharing bite-sized works by a diverse range of local contemporary dance-makers. The CONCEPT series was started in 2007 by RAWdance's Co-Artistic Directors Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein, who have curated and produced over 40 rounds of the series. Megan Kurashige has served as co-curator of the San Francisco series alongside Wendy and Ryan for the last six years. Just as the CONCEPT series has always provided valuable opportunities to dance-makers, the new Guest Curator role will also offer artists the rare opportunity to curate dance without the burden of production. In turn, each Guest Curator will help to broaden the range of artistic voices supported by the CONCEPT series.
For the CONCEPT series: 35, Melí Gómez and Annalise Carrillo Constantz are expanding on a work HOMBRES X that explores machismo and queerness is Chicanx culture. Gabriele Christian is sharing a new work-in-progress solo in a beekeeper suit called nectarine, setting off extensive research into Black outmigration from San Francisco and bee population decline (both native and 'trafficked,' or 'kept' bees). Helen Wicks shares part of her current body of work, Radio Vision, referencing 1930s musical shorts, film scores, historical performances, and the influence of Yiddish theater and vaudeville on pop culture. REYES Dance is sharing a reworked excerpt of BZB, commissioned and first presented by Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest. BZB examines busy-ness, interruption, and fear. Rounding out the program will be Amy Foley's Bellwether Dance Project, which makes works with the goal of increasing dialogue, inspiration, and appreciation of the art form. For its part, RAWdance will be expanding on a short duet from its archives.
ABOUT RAWDANCE
RAWdance creates adventurous, thoughtful, and welcoming programming that challenges what contemporary dance is, where it happens, who it includes, and the role it plays in our lives. Based in San Francisco and in NY's Hudson Valley, the company transforms theaters and public spaces through performance, curation, and collaboration. RAWdance's charged and nuanced works have been presented by The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow, YBCA, Dance St. Louis, ODC Theater, the Singapore Fringe, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, '62 Center for Theatre and Dance, and more throughout the U.S. and in Asia. RAWdance has presented works by almost 200 artists through its CONCEPT series salon since 2007, and over 40 additional site-specific works through its curation of YBG ChoreoFest between 2017 and 2022. In 2021, the company launched Radiate, a fellowship program for early-career Bay Area dance makers. From 2019 to 2024, RAWdance was voted 'Best Dance Company' by 48 Hills and the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay. In 2025, RAWdance was honored with a Sustained Achievement Izzie Award for outstanding and sustained performance.
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