After more than a year of preparation, a live multimedia performance, centered around the immense changes sweeping through Mid-Market and the Tenderloin, will debut this weekend.
Titled #SFPublicCanvas, the performance is a collaboration between media artist Jonathan Rowe, owner of Mid-Market private events venue The Village; Rowe's company Madrone Studios, a creative agency that develops immersive events for corporations at The Village; BANDALOOP, a troupe of vertical dancers known worldwide for rappelling from iconic structures to awe audiences with site-specific pieces; and Illuminate, the public art organization behind the Bay Lights display on the Bay Bridge.
Last April, the team took to Demonstration Gardens (333 Golden Gate Ave.) to conduct a public dress rehearsal, treating neighbors sprawled out on the blacktop to an advance look at the video created by Rowe and his team at Madrone Studios, which showcases the diverse community's thoughts on the issues impacting the neighborhood.
Projected on the wall of the neighboring UC Hastings building, the video served as a canvas for BANDALOOP's dancers, who rappelled from the building, bringing the images captured in the video to life through choreography.
After recent performances in Boston and Oakland and a scouting mission in China, BANDALOOP is returning to Demonstration Gardens this weekend for the "world premiere" of #SFPublicCanvas.
The free show will be performed at 9pm this Thursday through Sunday. Combining audio, projected visuals and live dance, it reflects on the "rapid socio-economic changes occurring in San Francisco's Central Market district ... the work is about the human possibilities, the cost of urban change brought on by a growing technology industry, and the voice of communities impacted by the change."
It incorporates perspectives from a diverse group of people who live and work in the area, captured via social media and community workshops held over the past few months at the Tenderloin Museum, Boeddeker Park and Demonstration Gardens, as well as with clients of local nonprofits like Skywatchers and Larkin Street Youth Services. Artists from Youth Speaks and Campo Santo have also been invited to weave their live spoken word poetry into the multi-sensory performance.
"We saw this project as a 'many-to-many' conversation using various means of storytelling,” Rowe said in a press release. “By using art and technology to bring a diverse set of opinions and voices to light, we can show that there are ideas and solutions out there to ultimately give people some hope."
As the performance is free and open in the urban garden, guests are encouraged to bring their own seating. However, a limited number of seats can be reserved for $35.
For more details on the performance and this weekend's shows, visit sfpubliccanvas.org, and keep an eye on BANDALOOP's Facebook page.
