There’s no doubt Kim Epifano is proud of her work with San Francisco Trolley Dances, which she’s overseen for 20 years. She’s been instrumental in not only choosing the paths of the experience, in which patrons board a Muni trolley to witness dance troupes at various stops, but also in gathering an array of eclectic dancers. Yet the founder of Epiphany Dance Theater is quite modest about her troupe’s most famous show (spun off from an original San Diego incarnation).
“This popular free event is not driven by one lead artist but a group of artists from around the Bay Area and neighborhoods we are traveling to and connecting with. The artists are empowered to be inspired by the city, community, environment, architecture, history and abstract ideas that just come from being in a site and experiencing it. In this way everyone is a lead artist of their site. We believe each artist’s voice is as important as another’s. SFTD is known for representing all genres of dance.”
To mark the 20th anniversary of Trolley Dances, Epifano is returning the show this weekend to the Muni F-line where it all began, keeping the event free and accessible to all.
How does one come up with the idea “make San Francisco trolleys stop so people can watch us dance,” let alone keep it going for 20 years?
The trains and buses don’t stop wherever we are. We use the route and stops they already use in all different neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. We work with each neighborhood we go to. Each place is unto itself and amazing to work with: artists, community centers, art centers, schools, alleys, streets, museums, parks, walls, fountains, bridges, swimming pools and more. For 20 years partnering with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has allowed us to really meet who works and lives in the neighborhoods we go to. Many lasting and precious relationships have been made. Working with SFMTA has been a gift all these years. I think we put a smile on their faces. We appreciate how they make the city move and know it is a huge responsibility.
What’s changed the most about your work in all that time?
The biggest change in my work was that it got bigger and better every year as more and more people kept coming to see it. We could create more wonderful opportunities for artists to share their work in unusual places all over the city. COVID changed how we worked and instigated the online version we still do today even with live performances back on.
You return to the Muni F-Line this year. Was that specifically for the anniversary or was that part of a larger plan?
This year I wanted to go along the water to celebrate and honor the Bay and the environment that surrounds it. We want to nurture the places we dance in and share with people. I realized the city was struggling coming out of COVID and I wanted to help activate downtown and out to Fisherman’s Wharf along the Embarcadero. When I talked with Muni about the route I wanted to take, they said “you hit the nail on the head! The city and port of San Francisco are trying to activate those areas.” It has been so great to work with the Downtown SF and Fisherman’s Wharf Community benefit districts, the Port of San Francisco, SFMTA and the Exploratorium, which I have also wanted to work with for many years.
Are this year’s troupes returning from previous years or do they lean more toward new participants?
Only on a rare occasion has a dance group done more than one year of SFTD. Every year I invite new companies from all different backgrounds and genres.
What often surprises audiences the most about the tour?
That they discover new places they’ve never been to or considered ever going to. They learn new histories about the city they love and discover a wide range of live art that blows their mind, all for free, riding the train to see the performances.
Trolley Dances were among notable Bay Area performances to be staged in 2020, despite COVID lockdowns. Three-and-a-half years into the pandemic, do you find the Trolley Dances more malleable than other performance media?
Choreographers and dancers are resilient; it is not an easy thing to do and do well. You have to not give up. We were working on Zoom, dancers in their rooms with beds on their sides so we could rehearse online. To translate the physical information without being in person was a whole new way to work. Wearing a mask and dancing full out is an amazing feat! So many groups were doing this. Pretty impressive how malleable dance is. For us it is a necessity of life to move and move with others.
Many current headlines about San Francisco paint it as a desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland. Is that what you see as you tour the city?
I always say, “If my shoes could talk.” I have taken public transportation and walked all over this beautiful city! Yes, there are hardships that only have gotten more pronounced in some areas. There is still so much beauty in San Francisco. I feel we are responsible to show up for a city that I grew up in as an artist for the last 40 years. San Francisco provided for me when I was a young artist, as the city was so full of life, people and dancers from all over the world. Back then we protested at City Hall and in the streets about what we felt we were losing in the city that was of great value to the artistic community. San Francisco Trolley Dances is a way to celebrate this incredible place and keep it for the people!
Have you or the dancers ever felt unsafe during a tour?
We stick together and have volunteers and know where we need to change our walking route if it feels we are intruding in where someone is living. We really strive to make it safe for all, the people in the neighborhoods we are in and the people we bring there to see the performances. I think street wisdom is always good and de-escalating a situation is important. We train our staff and artists to be conscious of how to be safe and protect themselves and avoid dangerous situations.
Though the tour goes through well-known San Francisco sites, the dancers and troupes seem to be from neighborhoods (like The Mission) that sometimes are not regarded as go-to spots for out-of-towners. Are audiences often surprised that the art scene is this diverse?
Our audiences love the diversity and styles of dance, and comment on it every year! [It’s] the amazing journey in the city that you have never been to before, or maybe walk by every day and only take notice of this place once you have seen it blossom with dancers. The performance groups hired are from all over the Bay Area – from the city to the South Bay, and from the East Bay to the North Bay – not just the Mission.
Do you see your position at Epiphany as indefinite? Have you ever considered handing the reins over to someone else one day?
I am an artist and will always make art. The evolution of Epiphany is still yet to be seen. Leaving a legacy of how to do outdoor festivals well in a way that connects artists, audiences and neighborhoods, and that model has inspired many others to try outdoor performance and dare to bring the theater outdoors and accessible to the streets.
What do you hope to see over the next 20 years of dancing?
To keep moving and collaborating with other artists and communities. What excites me as an artist is when I am somewhere in San Francisco at a site, for example Fisherman’s Wharf and the Seamen’s Chapel, looking out over the water with old fishing boats and the bell is ringing and I am dancing in this beautiful historic spot and what a gift that is! It inspires me to move and tell that story with other performers. Education has been something dear bo my heart! So, I’m hoping to share more dances with more audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
San Francisco Trolley Dances begin at 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 1 p.m. Oct. 21-22 at 1 Bush St., San Francisco. Admission is free. Reservations are full, but there may be space on a waiting list. For a map of the route, and more information, including streaming the event in November, go to https://www.epiphanydance.org/san-francisco-trolley-dances.
Charles Lewis III is a San Francisco-born journalist and performing artist. He has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, San Francisco Examiner and more. Dodgy evidence of this can be found at The Thinking Man’s Idiot.