SFDanceworks’ mission has been about celebrating the past, present and future of dance since the troupe’s inception in 2014, and it’s evolved since Dana Genshaft became artistic director in 2021.
“There’s always been this nod to our past in terms of pioneers of contemporary dance, and that was something that founder James Sofranko always intended to do and pushed for,” says former co-artistic director and company dancer Brett Conway. “Dana has served the mission and is bringing in new voices of today.”
The representation of new voices will be dominant during the company’s Season Nine, presenting Nov. 4-7 at San Francisco’s Z Space. On the program are two world premieres: an opus by Conway and another piece by Los Angeles choreographer Jermaine Maurice Spivey. Also on tap is a collection of three solos from Merce Cunningham’s “Scenario,” “Ocean” and “Enter” performed by former Merce Cunningham Dance Company dancer Silas Riener and a reprise of Yue Yin’s 2022 work “A Measurable Existence.”
Conway began his dancing career in 2002 with San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet and was a company member of Nederlands Dans Theater from 2010 to 2015. He returned to AKLB for one more season then started dancing in some San Francisco Opera productions. He joined SFDanceworks in 2017 and choreographed his first work “The Bedroom” for the troupe.
Although Conway still dances, mostly in operas — San Francisco Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal” is a notable recent example — he’s been choreographing more often, including Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” for the Merola Opera Program.
In his newest work, which is set on a trio of returning company artists — Isaac Bates-Vinueza, Sarah Chou and Emily Hansel — Conway wanted to explore the bonds of friendship but also express their individuality. He says his original inspiration for the piece has developed since he began and is expressed through a series of little vignettes.
“I see in these three people a close bond, a shared history, and the piece is a moment in time, of being in this liminal state of contemplating where are we going from here,” explains Conway, who cites Alonzo King and Jiri Kylian among his mentors as a choreographer. “Can they coexist moving forward or is there the sense of pushing something away, or saying maybe this is time to step away from this aspect of my life or this person in my life and then go our separate ways.”
Conway’s as-yet unnamed piece is set to music by Bryce Dessner, a Paris-based American composer, guitarist and member of rock band The National. It’s also set to music by Mexican filmmaker and composer Alejandro Iñárritu and Mexican pianist, composer and bandleader Juan García Esquivel.
“He’s kind of a space age pop, 1950s Latin crooner with a very lounge-y, wacky, bizarre kind of vibe,” Conway says of Esquivel, who is often known simply as “Esquivel!”
Making his SFDanceworks debut, Spivey was a longtime member of Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot. He cites Pite, Willam Forsythe and his time at the Baltimore School for the Arts as the most important influences on his career as a choreographer.
Spivey says Pite taught him much about what can be achieved through dedication and discipline, with an attention to the details of creation, whether it be choreography, lighting, sound, scenery, wardrobe, written text, spoken word or audience sightlines during a particular moment in a work.
“I have watched her organize, dance, create and will her way through fatigue, setbacks, uncertainty and doubt, all while continuing to choose grace and respect,” Spivey says. “Sixteen years of participating in the result of that level of dedication, craftsmanship and humanity coming together really showed me that choreography and a choreographer are much more than just making moves.”
Spivey has received commissions from several companies including Sacramento Ballet, SALT Contemporary Dance, Rambert2, L.A. Dance Project, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Nederlands Dans Theater and others. His unnamed new piece is set on a quintet and inspired by relationships among people.
“I started this new work by reflecting on what it takes for any number of people to work together,” he says. “What does it take to be ‘in society’? What is the rhythm of group work and how does the rhythm shift over time? Does participation always require being seen or heard? Working together can be complicated, monotonous or seem unproductive at times, and in those moments how do we respond? The work isn’t really answering anything or making a statement, it’s a depiction.”
Lighting, costumes and sound are especially important to Spivey, who says the three artistic elements should always be their own players in the work as if they are three additional performers in the cast.
The work features lighting design by Cassie Barnes and costume design by Jarred Garza, with Spivey aiming to present layers of complexity.
“The dancers will be dressed in light colors and in clothing more so than dance costumes because I want them to appear as people and feel human in the work,” he says. “The lighting intends to counter the lightness/warmth of their clothing by creating more shadows and contrast between light and dark, visually giving the space its own essence and making the dancers sort of pop in the room.”
Spivey’s interest and skills in music and sound will be reflected in the piece.
“I am digitally composing a score that will mostly run independently from the dancing,” he says. “This gives the dancers the opportunity within the frame of the work to move between moments of set choreography and structured improvisation.”
Spivey hopes the piece will take audiences into their own thoughts, memories and senses.
“It’s not important to ‘understand’ the work as the only way to engage with it,” he says. “We need to get back in the habit of wonder and wondering, allowing ourselves to be in motion and not always focused on arriving.”
SFDanceworks presents Season Nine at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 and 8 p.m. Nov. 5-7 at Z Space, 450 Florida St., San Francisco. Tickets are $36-$130 at zspace.org/sfdanceworks-season-9.