about see. think. dance.

see. think. dance. is a boutique performing arts organization which identifies artists + communities in urban settings + narrows the divide between them. Serving as a bridge between artists + resources as well as between artists + audiences, see. think. dance. creates a context for dance + movement beyond the concert stage. Acting as both producer + community outreach, see. think. dance. supports work that encourages experimentation + embraces challenge in order to create tangible emotional experiences that live on for both the artist + the audience.

For the 2008-2009 year, and in collaboration with Todd Brown and the Red Poppy's Street-Level Curating Program, see. think. dance. produced "Truth + Beauty", "Word. Warrior. Music. Movement.", "Urban Art Sessions", and the first performance installment of The Intimacy Project.

In May 2008, see. think. dance. formed The Intimacy Project with key collaborator Rashad Pridgen as an ongoing creative approach to social change around issues of intimacy for those who were once property. The Intimacy Project presented "Interludes to Intimacy" as a co-production between see. think. dance. and Pridgen's Motif Performance Group which premiered at the Black Choreographers' Festival 2009. "Interludes to Intimacy" was invited to present at the 24th Annual Empowering Women of Color Conference at the of University of California-Berkeley as an exploration of the theme, "Revolutionary Love: from "me" to "we, Redefining Intimacy and Activism".

In search of a larger venue and a wider community to to engage in the creative process behind choreography, see. think. dance. partnered with MoAD to form DANCEfirst! in the Fall of 2009. All see. think. dance. productions thus far have been supported by the donations of individuals and event admissions.

As part of the Fall 2009 DANCEfirst! series, see. think. dance. & MoAD presented "Grounding the Past", "Living the Present", and "Visioning the Future".

"Grounding the Past" (September 2009) brought together the threads of Congolese dance and music and featured local artists Latanya Tigner, Muisi-kongo Malonga, Kiazi Malonga, and Boima Tucker and visiting artist, Maimouna Coulibaly. Tigner's untitled work-in progress highlighted the bonds between the individual and her village when faced with great loss. Tigner will premeire the full-length piece in the Black Choreographers' Festival 2010. The brother and sister Malongas shared their legacy as a lecture-demonstration, taking the audience through the history of traditional Congolese movement and sound. Choreographer/playwright, Coulibaly, presented a preview of her upcoming show at Dance Mission Theatre, Hééé Mariamou and successfully had the whole audience, ranging in age from 7-57, on their feet learning the hottest dance moves from Paris.

“Living the Present” (October 2009) followed the migration of movement and music into and out of the jazz tradition with artists Raissa Simpson (with Valerie Troutt), Jacinta Vlach (with Howard Wiley), and Sheena Johnson (with Marshall Trammell). Simpson premiered "As Eternal as Life" in collaboration with singer/songwriter Valerie Troutt - a tribute to a mutual friend and fellow artist. Vlach teamed up with saxophonist Howard Wiley to offer us a glimpse of "The Fillmore Project", a multi-disciplinary piece illuminating the varied and tangled histories of San Francisco's Fillmore district. The Fillmore Project is scheduled to premiere a full-evening piece in the Summer of 2010. Artist/Activist and MFA Candidate Sheena Johnson embraced working with creative percussionist, Marshall Trammell and explored the body as instrument. In the Q&A which followed, audience members posed many questions on the art of improvisation - from the perspective of both the dancers and musicians. The last piece of the timeline,

"Visioning the Future" (December 2009) focused on the global phenomenon of House music and its varied entry points for local urban artists. Pairing dancers with DJs, "Visioning the Future" highlighted the movement vocabularies of Jocquese Whitfield, Lauren Benjamin, and Rashad Pridgen, and the music of DJs Andre, Neil Tagnia, and Damon Bell. Establishing urban dance as a distinct and codified set of choreography of its own, each "Visioning the Future" artist took a particular step or series of steps and made it their own. Whitfield chose the drama and geometry of vogue, Benjamin captured the organic flow of waacking and jacking, and Pridgen borrowed the poses and posturing of the b-boy with a more contemporary spin. An open dance cipher hosted by DJ fflood, allowed the audience to jump in and dance with the artists directly.