Baobab to Make United States Debut with STEAMROLLER

The San Francisco International Arts Festival is honored to host two energetic, interpretive, individualistic ensembles as part of an international dance double bill; Baobab from Japan making their US debut with a piece titled Laughing Frame and San Francisco based STEAMROLLER who will present the world premiere of Loserville.

Both groups commenting on freedom and pushing the same message of human rights. They recognize how classes of people were strained through contemporary and interpretive dance. They portray the struggles of being confined by society and breaking away from these constructs that people still struggle through today.

Laughing Frame merges diverse expressions of classic, modern, jazz, and street dance ("krumping," in particular), Baobab dancers burst with exuberant energy "to get out of the frame, laughing, talking, singing, and crying" for liberation. Utilizing a mixture of genres including Hip Hop, Jazz, and Contemporary dance, director Wataru Kitao has created his own style for Baobab. The strong energy witnessed on their their stage is depicted through bodily movement as well as human character.

Loserville is a queering of one of the seminal films of director John Hughes, The Breakfast Club. Scenes from this iconic movie are embodied by the performers who play with gender and race using timing and comedic physicality to challenge the heteronormative terrain of this cinematic genre. Loserville questions how media affects perceptions of race and sexuality and links the idea of the loser with the experiences of marginalized communities (LGBTQ, people of color) in order to subvert what is considered a position of weakness into one where the possibility of change can occur.

A Pirouette with Asia
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. The 2018 program features Baobab from Japan along with STEAMROLLER Dance Company and Ambiguous Dance from South Korea. The performances use humour to comment on different manifestations of breaking free from barriers and societal constraints.

Baobab
Director/lead dancer of Baobab, Wataru Kitao, won the best dancers award at the prestigious Yokohama Dance Collection Competition in February 2018. Originally from Hyogo Prefecture, Kitao has experienced and incorporated a variety of dance genres since early childhood then eventually moved on to study with Kisanuki Kuniko at J.F. Oberlin University. He has guest performed in works by Kondo Ryohei and Yamamoto Suguru as well as choreographed extensively for theater, commercials, and films. He also holds workshops and engages in outreach activities. Kitao received the 2012 Audience Award at the Toyota Choreography Award and the third Elsur Foundation New Face Award for Contemporary Dance. We are honored to have them for their international debut!

STEAMROLLER
Artistic Director, jesselito Bie moved to the Bay Area in 1992 to dance with the High Risk Group and has since performed with many local companies such as Scott Wells and Dancers, Stephen Pelton Dance Company, Cid Perlman/Nesting Dolls, Kulintang Arts, Erika Shurch Performance Project, Jerome Bel, Krista DeNio/ETS, Joe Landini and Kim Epifano/Epiphany Productions. He has also received awards for his choreography from the SF Bay Gurardian, the 360 Award from CSUEB for all around Outstanding and Outrageous Queer Dance Work and the Tobie from Bay Area Dance Watch for Best Male Solo. He was also a participant in ODC Theater's Sandbox residency program. He is currently a lead artist at Safehouse Arts.

In 1993, a loosely knit group of artists came together to create guerrilla performances to address the spread of HIV/AIDS to other communities (women, people of color). the company is currently under the direction of founding member Jesselito Bie. In addition to various SF parking lots, Steamroller has also presented work in Bay Area Dance Festival, the 1996-2000 In the Street Festivals, the 1996-2001 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Dance Festivals, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Festival of Bay Area Dance, Asian American Dance Performances and Highways Performances Space in Santa Monica.

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