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Cowell Theater
It may not be strolling through the park this May, but it’s certainly dancing at the Cowell. Every weekend this month is filled with dance — from student performances to professional contemporary dance.
 Dance Esteem 9th Annual Dance Performance
May 6
A one-of-a-kind family event, DancEsteem brings its students, as young as three and as old as 14, to the stage. “Children are natural dancers,” said Takami Craddock, director. “They dance with imagination all the time. My mission for these young dancers is to develop their own identity and creativity through movements.” At this year’s performance, the students will perform with students from the Sanae Hara Modern Dance Academy in Japan and the Brazilian Peco Gomes Dance Company. For more information, see May 6 and visit www.mobudance.com/dancesteem.html.
 Ellen Bauer Dance
May 12 &13
Using a modern jazz vocabulary set to musical styles that range from Baroque to Rock ’n‘ Roll, Ellen Bauer explores universal themes of human experience. The five premieres on the Cowell program showcase choreography that takes advantage of what each individual dancer brings to movement. Bauer’s work celebrates the power available to everyone through the act of surrendering to self-expression. For information, check May 12 or call (415) 383-7724.
 School of the Arts 24th Annual Spring Dance Concert
May 19-21
Under the direction of Elvia Marta, the San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) presents students with extraordinary talent and artists-in-residence Graciela Acedo, Lynn Brilhante, Lee-Wei Chao, Alena Cawthorne, and Gregory Dawson in a dance concert that highlights diverse styles. SOTA, devoted to teaching arts to high school students, also offers classes in music, theater, film and video, writing, and visual arts. For tickets, call (415) 345-7575. For information, see May 19 and visit www.sfsota.org.
 A Journey to China
May 28
Not only dance, the Chinese Youth Arts Festival brings “A Journey to China” to the Cowell stage. It features music and performing arts students from the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School in San Francisco. Check out opera, percussion, folk dance, brush painting, martial arts, and lion dancing. With a backdrop of film footage shot by eighth-graders and colorful sets, the goal is to raise cultural awareness and build tolerance and respect for different cultures and peoples of the world. The Festival is produced by Door Dog Music Productions in association with the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School, the Asian Art Museum, the Fort Mason Foundation (FMF), and a grant from FMF and the Shulte Grants for the Arts & Crafts. For more information, see May 28 or visit www.doordog.org.
— Ronald Tierney
Photo Credits: From top – Kana Tanaka, Patrick Carney,
Andy Mogg & Jim Block
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