MISSION STATEMENT

The annual Dance IS Festival provides an East Bay home to dance artists, giving choreographers and dancers an opportunity to create and perform work in a supportive and enriching environment. A multi-generational festival, Dance IS strives to facilitate an ongoing conversation to answer the questions: What IS dance? Who IS creating quality work? and What IS the power of dance in the community?

ABOUT THE DANCE IS FESTIVAL

The 1990's saw a dislocation of arts groups, both large and small. When Dancers’ Group closed its doors in The Mission in San Francisco, it seemed that dance in the Bay Area was in a serious predicament. Dance groups needed a way to come together to share resources, space and audiences. We decided to meet with local dancers to see what the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts could do to become part of the dance community.

After much planning, we received more than 30 definite RSVPs from dancers for our September 11th, 2001 meeting.

One by one, on that terrifying day, more than half of the planned attendants called to see if the meeting was still taking place, each dancer wanting to do something passionate and meaningful. From that emotional meeting came the building blocks which eventually developed into this First Annual Dance IS Festival. It was so clear to all of us that in this time of uncertainty, what dancers have to say needed more than ever to be seen. Bringing together dance groups from high schools and colleges as well as professional dancers, we've shown the whole spectrum of what's happening in the East Bay Dance scene.

Our dance advisors asked many questions: Where can East Bay choreographers present their work? Could local college dance departments get together and perform together? How can more people see the vibrant work going on at the high school level? How can we grow a new audience for dance? How can we break down barriers between dancers and their supporters?

We wanted to create a new festival with new people and new angles to a Bay Area dance event and succeeded in including:
• high school, college, and professional groups performing together
• a unifying theme for each performance
• group sharings, several weeks before the performances to build community, share dances, and discuss our work
• an East Bay festival featuring East Bay groups (we all love San Francisco, but we make our homes over here for a reason)

We hope you enjoy the performance and discover what dance IS all about!

Bridget Frederick and Jill Randall,
Dance IS Festival Co-Chairs

About Us

Dance IS Festival 2007 Steering Committee

Reenie Charriere - Dancer, Dance Teaching Artist
Rebecca Johnson - Dancer, Freelance Dance Publicist, Grantwriter, Graphic Designer
Aileen Kim - Dancer, Independent Choreographer
Elizabeth Morales - Dancer
Sue Li-Jue - Dancer; Lecturer, UC Berkeley; Artistic Director, Facing East Dance and Music
Alisa Rasera - Choreographer and dancer; teaching artist, Luna Kids Dance
Laura Renaud-Wilson - Dancer, Retired Dance Professor, Cal State Hayward
Deborah Moss - School Principal, Berkeley Ballet Theater
Bret Hitchcock - Visual artist; dance enthusiast



Former Committee Members

Melissa Ball - dance enthusiast
Sabrina Klein - former Executive Director, Julia Morgan Center for the Arts
Eric Kupers - Co-Artistic Director, Dandelion Dance Theater
Emma Schain - Berkeley High School student
Laura Yeh - UC Berkeley dance major



Festival Co-Chairs

Jill Randall is a dancer, arts administrator, and teaching artist. She has performed with Nina Haft & Company for the past 9 years, as well as Paufve Dance, Martt Lawrence, Dana Lawton, and other Bay Area choreographers. Jill is the Assistant Director of Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley and teaches modern dance to children and teens. Active in the dance community, Jill serves on the board of Dancers' Group.

Bridget Frederick is a dancer and a performing artist. In addition to co-chairing the Dance IS Festival, she co-created and co-produces a monthly storytelling series, Tell it on Tuesday, which promotes the art of solo performance and storytelling.



Co-presenter: Dancers' Group

Dancers' Group is an artist-driven, nationally recognized, non-profit organization based in San Francisco. The organization works to advocate for dance in the Bay Area, and assist in the creation and production of engaging original dance. Dancers' Group serves artists at all stages in their careers, and assist dancers, choreographers, teachers, funders, dance companies, students, writers, critics, audiences, and others in the passionate pursuit and enjoyment of art. Dancers' Group publishes IN DANCE each month, and operates programs including Dancers' Group Presents, the Fiscal Sponsorship, the Parachute Fund, and the Summer Dance Intensives. Celebrating over 20 years of service, Dancers' Group offers the highest quality of service to the dance community: identifying and developing (financial and other) resources and creating new opportunities for artists.