Articles from the ‘Essays’ collection

A group of performers stand in rows outside on the street. They are blindfolded and bring a hand to their mouths. They are yelling.

Urgent Demands, Urgent Responses

Bay Area-based writer and dancer Marlena Gittleman shares her empowering experience at a workshop with Colectivo LASTESIS, the feminist Chilean performance art collective.

December 15, 2025  |  Read Article

A naked back and head in low light, the arms twisted around each other toward the head.

From Protection to Pleasure

Nikhita Winkler, a dancer, ritual artist, and coach based in Spain, reminds us of the need to unarmor our bodies and breathe deeply to find pleasure, presence, and power.

December 8, 2025  |  Read Article

A belly dancer stands on grass with her arms over her head holding a long sheer scarf trailing in the wind. The Golden Gate bridge is in the background.

The View From Here

Jill Randall catalogues how dance artists in the Bay Area are defying the current political climate by continuing to make relevant and dynamic work.

November 24, 2025  |  Read Article

One dancers lights another dancer who shoots their leg out to the side. They are wearing orange and a city scape rises behind them.

getting the wild light into my bones

Bay Area-based choreographer Bhumi B. Patel chronicles the inspiration behind her new work "wild light" using author Donna Haraway's speculative fiction, and her desire to put on-stage the worlds she wants to see off-stage.

November 17, 2025  |  Read Article

Lucy stands to the side and coaches four dancers looping their arms around each other.

Disappearing Dances

Arizona-based dance artist Yvonne Montoya highlights the work of Lucy Salazar, a New Mexican dancer and historian who is single handedly trying to save Los bailes de salón de Nuevo México from disappearing.

November 10, 2025  |  Read Article