World Premiere of Hope Mohr's HORIZON STANZAS A Feminist Exploration Of Poetry & Dance, April 27, 29, 30

Bay Area choreographer Hope Mohr announces the world premiere of her latest evening-length dance work Horizon Stanzas, April 27, 29, & 30 at Joe Goode Annex. Mohr was inspired to create this new dance theater work by Alice Notley's haunting feminist epic poem, "The Descent of Alette."

Alice Notley is widely considered one of America's greatest living poets. "She has long written in narrative and epic and genre-bending modes to discover new ways to explore the nature of the self and the social and cultural importance of disobedience." (Poetry Foundation) Her poem "The Descent of Alette" describes the protagonist's journey through a dreamlike underworld to vanquish an archetypal tyrant. Horizon Stanzas is inspired by Notley's imagery and intentions, specifically the poem's attempt to disrupt literary forms historically dominated by men.

Mohr's choreography is marked by avant-garde verve and "conveys emotional and socio-political contents that just ride underneath the surface of a rigorous vocabulary."(Dance View Times) Her dances are often inspired by language, including extreme lyric I (2018) (inspired by Anne Carson's translations of Sappho) and Leaving the Atocha Station, inspired by Ben Lerner's novel of the same name, which won an "Izzie" for Outstanding Choreography in 2020.

This new work creates an immersive, theatrical world; the poem's intense imagery will manifest in emotionally charged movement tableaux paired with Mohr's live vocalizations of excerpts from Notley's evocative text. The staging and choreography is also informed by the form of the poem on the page, with stuttering and idiosyncratic movement phrasing that reflect Notley's grammar. Dancer/collaborators for Horizon Stanzas include Belinda He, Suzette Sagisi, and Tegan Schwab-Alavi; Mohr performs in the work as narrator. The design team includes Del Medoff (lighting), Teddy Hulsker (sound), and Ella Noe (masks).

"Horizon Stanzas springs from the somatic, emotional, and political work of decolonizing our bodies and our spirits," shares Hope Mohr. "I'm passionate about re-imagining forms that have been historically dominated by men, such as the lyric poem and the epic poem. Horizon Stanzas is the story of how a descent into formlessness can reveal our power to vanquish oppressive forms."

This is Mohr's first premiere following a key career transition. In 2007, she founded Hope Mohr Dance, now known as Bridge Live Arts (B.L.A.). B.L.A.'s mission is to create and support equity-driven live art that centers artists as agents of change. In 2020, she co-stewarded the organization's transition to a model of distributed leadership; two years later the organization changed its name to Bridge Live Arts. Hope has transitioned out of her Co-Director role and into Affiliated Artist status with B.L.A. to focus on her work as a choreographer.

Horizon Stanzas was made possible through the support of Zaccho Dance Theatre's Artist in Residency program, Bridge Live Arts, and generous individual donors.

Horizon Stanzas

Dates: April 27, 29, 30 at 7:30 PM (note: no Friday show)

Location: Joe Goode Annex, 401 Alabama St., San Francisco, CA

Tickets: available online choose-your-price $20-40

Length: 60 minutes, no intermission

The Annex requires audiences to be masked at all times. No concessions will be available. Proof of vaccination or a negative covid test dated within 72 hours of the event are required.

Hope Mohr's (she/her) choreography has been presented by 18th Street Arts Center, Baltimore Museum of Art, Highways Performance Space, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Gallery Wendi Norris, Moody Center for the Arts, SFMOMA, ODC Theater, San Francisco International Arts Festival, Movement Research at Judson Church, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

As a dancer, Mohr trained at S.F. Ballet School and on scholarship at the Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown Studios in New York City. She performed in the companies of dance pioneers Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown.

Her artist residencies have included Zaccho Dance Theater (2023), 836M Gallery (2022), National Center for Choreography-Akron (2019), Petronio Residency Center (2018), Stanford Arts Institute (2016), Bethany Arts Center (2019), ODC Theater (2012-15), Montalvo Arts Center (2010), and the Interdisciplinary Center for Art, Nature and Dance (2005).

Her choreographic awards include an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Choreography (2020); a nomination for the Herb Alpert Award (2019); and inclusion in the YBCA 100, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' annual nationwide list of artists posing important questions about contemporary culture (2015). In 2014, Dance Magazine editor-in-chief Wendy Perron named Mohr as one of the "women leaders" in dance.

Hope teaches contemporary dance technique, creative movement, movement for actors, and cross-disciplinary practice that puts dance in dialogue with visual arts. She has taught at PARTS (Brussels), the Trisha Brown Studio, Stanford University, American Conservatory Theater, Shawl-Anderson, ODC, and the Lines Ballet/Dominican B.F.A. program, among others. For more information visit hopemohr.org.

 

Photo credit: Belinda He, Suzette Sagisi, and Tegan Schwab-Alavi in Horizon Stanzas; photo by Robbie Sweeny