SKETCH 5 | stirred
July 16-19, 2015

World premiere by KT Nelson & Amy Seiwert , ODC Theater

With SKETCH 5 | Stirred,IMAGERY is mixing it up. Seiwert will be collaborating with ODC co-artistic director KT Nelsonon a new work. The artists will be editing each other’s work and interrupting each other’sprocess, in hopes of discovering something entirely new. This type of collaboration is extremely rare in ballet, and completely new to Seiwert.

During an intensive creative process in residence at Zaccho Studio, Seiwert and Nelson will work together on creating a series of solos that explore the theme of isolation. The choreographers will be addressing questions such as: How does one consider the idea of isolation when not in isolation? How does it feel to be isolated in community? Finally, given thechoreographers’ different working styles and aesthetics, an inherent focus of the project will bethe relationship between process and content. The five-week residency will culminate in a public performance co-presented by ODC Theater. Also on the program, Seiwert's premiere of “Back To,” set to the recordings of bluegrass artist Gillian Welch, and the West Coast premiere of “Traveling Alone,” created for Colorado Ballet in 2011.

Opportunities for pure choreographic exploration and development are almost non-existent in the ballet world, and rarely do they come with the freedom or resources that choreographers need to truly experiment. The SKETCH series was created specifically as a resource for choreographers to abandon their comfort zones. Along with the four public performances at ODC Theater in San Francisco July 16-19, there will be an open rehearsal with a facilitated Q&A on June 27 at the Joe Goode Performance Group Annex, an opening night reception on July 16 at ODC, and a post-show “talk-back” on July 18.

The impact of SKETCH on both artists and audiences is significant. For the choreographers, it is a chance to revel in possibility and creative ambition. For the dancers, it is an opportunity to participate directly in creation. After SKETCH, these artists will go on to other creative pursuits with changed perspectives that alter the way they work, creating a butterfly effect and having an impact on countless artistic institutions. For audiences, SKETCH provides access to the creative process. The works-in-progress showings, performance talk-backs and receptions allow for a deep exchange between the audience and artists.

After the four shows at ODC, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery will make its New York debut, stepping on to the stage of The Joyce Theater in New York for performances on August 15 and 16.

PRESS

"architectural acuity" - New York Times, Emery LeCrone Dance and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery Balance Elements, New York Times, August 16, 2015     

"Amy Seiwert, a San Francisco-based choreographer, is gifted. For the last several years, she has held the position of Choreographer in Residence at Smuin Ballet, where she has arguably surpassed her mentor, the troupe’s founding father, Michael Smuin, in choreographic talent. But it is her own troupe – Amy Seiwert’s Imagery – that came brandishing her wares this summer at the tail end of the Joyce’s Ballet Festival". -

"Although Seiwert’s dances are ubiquitous these days, her own Imagery company interprets them in wondrous ways that are hard to define but easy to spot." - Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Chronicle

"One of the most satisfying performances I have seen in a long time" - Arts Funder

VIDEO

STIRRED

Choreography:
Amy Seiwert
KT Nelson

Dancers:
Brandon “Private” Freeman
Sarah Cecilia
Rachel Furst
Annali Rose
James Gilmer
Danielle Bausinger
Liang Fu
Richard Walters
Dana Benton

Starting Over at the End (2015)
KT Nelson & Amy Seiwert
Music: Franz Schubert
Lighting: Jim French
 

Traveling Alone (2012)
Amy Seiwert
Music: Max Richter
Costumes: Christine Darch
Lighting: Jim French after the original design by Elisha Griego

Back To (2015)
Choreography: Amy Seiwert
Music: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Lighting: Jim French
Costumes: Christine Darch