Fort Mason Center Of Arts Announces A PIROUTTE TO TO ASIA, 6/3-4

In 2009 US President Barack Obama announced "A Pivot to Asia" causing ruffled feathers and raised eyebrows in some countries on that side of the world. In developing a Pirouette with Asia, SFIAF sought to take the phrase and make it more of a joint exercise in mutual appreciation and deploy a different set of troupes. This program is the first manifestation of that idea.

Modern and post modern dance is as nuanced and varied in East Asia as it is in other parts of the world. Even within the parameters of duets and very small ensemble work there is a rich variety of ideas and styles that differs by culture and individual artist vision.

SFIAF presents two programs that represent the yin and yang of contemporary Asian dance, the light and the dark, the humorous and the reflective, hard and soft, male and female, male, female.

Power dynamics and play, reclusiveness, sensuality, levity and humor are all represented within the space of two-one hour programs, where the only constant is virtuosity.

Program 1
Gu Jiani (China), Right & Left (2014, West Coast Premiere)
Saturday June 3 8:00pm, Sunday June 4 5:30pm, Cowell Theater
Right & Left is a haunting tribute to symmetry and its dissolution, ominous and beautiful in equal measure. Gu Jiani fuses incredible precision with an arresting mix of projection and light offering a jaw-dropping perspective on our oldest questions: Why do we love, and how do we stop it from destroying who we are?

Program 2
JJBro (South Korea), Jimmy and Jack (2015, West Coast Premiere, West Coast Debut)
Victor Fung Dance (Hong Kong), From the Top (2015, US Premiere, US Debut)
Scarabe (Japan), Sell Our Body (2014, US Premiere, US Debut)

A triple bill that explores different approaches to evoking humor in Asian post modern dance performance.

Jimmy & Jack won the prize for best choreography by unanimous agreement at the Seoul Dance Collection in 2014. The piece is dedicated to people who are hidden and afraid of coming forward, simply because they are different from others. It features the unique wit and characteristic philosophy of the two dancers and co-creators Jun Heung-ryeol and Pyo Sang-man.

From the Top is a dance work that explores the power relations between performers and dance makers. The action on-stage is juxtaposed with voiceovers and supertitles to reveal the politics between the ever-demanding choreographer and the dancers who continuously attempt to fulfill the choreographer's artistic "vision".

Kansai based Scarabe (Fujii Izumi, Yukio Miyahara and Mikiko Shinohara) perform their signature work Sell Our Body. The title expresses the artists' intent to present their world view by channeling their full creativity through the body. It is an intimate piece that employs swift development at close range. Sell Our Bodyevokes the emotions of the audience ... comically, seriously, dreamily, and wholly.

Calendar Editors please note
Who: Gu Jiani, JJBro, Victor Fung Dance, Scarabe
What: A Pirouette with Asia
Where: Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
When: Saturday June 3 8:00pm and 9:30pm, Sunday June 4 5:30pm and 7:00p
Tickets: General Admission: $25.00. Discounts available for students, seniors and children
Box Office and More Information: www.sfiaf.org or call 415-399-9554

About Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Decommissioned by the U.S. Army in 1962 and converted from a military installation into a nonprofit cultural center and national park site in 1977, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture has long been host to a lively mix of arts, educational and cultural programming on San Francisco's northern waterfront. Each year, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture provides over $2 million in support to local arts organizations, enabling groups to produce diverse and innovative art works at the historic waterfront campus. With a nearly four-decade history as an arts and culture destination, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture is now focused on reinvigorating its programming and amenities to better serve and engage the evolving and dynamic Bay Area creative community. Central to this new vision is the commissioning and presentation of adventurous and unconventional art works best realized in nontraditional or historic settings.

In addition to strengthening its artistic programming, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture has recently completed a $21 million renovation of Pier 2. Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture is also currently working with the San Francisco Art Institute to move its graduate program to the pier, which will open in June 2017.

Funders
The 2017 San Francisco International Arts Festival is supported in part by: National Endowment for the Arts, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Koret Foundation, French American Cultural Exchange Foundation, Western Arts Federation, China International Culture Association, Korea Arts Management Services, Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Prohelvetia-the Swiss Arts Council, Ministry of Culture of Taiwan and the Bernard Osher Foundation.

(Photo Credit: Victor Fung Dance)