Flyaway Productions' World Premiere of GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT Begins Tonight

Flyaway Productions has announced the world premiere of GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT, a visually arresting aerial dance created by choreographer Jo Kreiter and visual designer Sean Riley. In an exploration of the meanings inherent in the idea of "going up," especially as seen through a feminist lens, GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT affirms the necessity of rising on one's own steam, rather than waiting for others to push or pull us up. GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT opens tonight, November 8, 2013 at the Joe Goode Annex in San Francisco, and runs through Saturday, November 16.

Performances will take place place at 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. each night. Tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and go on sale October 1. They may be purchased at flyawayproductions.com.

In GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT female self-determination is physicalized on multiple planes. Co-created by Kreiter and Riley, each taking part in the visual and movement design of the piece,Lift continues the duo's long-standing experiment in the relationship of space, ascension and velocity. Invented scenic elements using repurposed steel and suspended, dynamic lighting support an articulate off-the-ground movement vocabulary.

"Riley remains an invaluable partner in collaboration," says Kreiter. "But to the extent that he has created a design of moving lights -- something I've never worked with before -- light itself is a new creative partner on this project."

After a 2012 CHIME residency with Elizabeth Streb, Kreiter was inspired to strip down her work to its core, physical elements. "LIFT is, in many ways, a return to the formalist aesthetics that propelled me into dance when I started my company 18 years ago," explains Kreiter. "Myaim remains the same as it was then: to create a high water mark in innovation for off-the-ground movement. But that doesn't mean LIFT isn't politically charged. I remain committed to a hard-core, dance-based exploration that affirms ascent for women. For me, it is a process that is embodied by the female body's literal self-propelled upward dash. In LIFT, I am challenging myself to return to this metaphor and still find new physical invention."

Joining the creative team behind Lift is composer and vocalist Jewlia Eisenberg. Eisenberg's original score for LIFT will be the company's 20th commissioned score for a female composer since its founding in 1996.

Returning company members Jennifer Chien and Patricia Jiron join new dancersMaryStarr Hope, Lisa Fagan, Becca Dean and Christine Cali in LIFT.

The world premiere of GIVE A WOMAN A LIFT is made possible by the Rainin Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation, Zellerbach Foundation, Grants for the Arts, and Flyaway's generous individual donors.

Pictured: Christine Cali. Photo by Nathan Weyland.