With RAWdance\u2019s latest home season, San Francisco continues to prove itself as a treasure trove of exciting dance talent. RAWdance, a contemporary dance company based in both San Francisco and Hudson Valley, New York, showcased its 2026 repertoire with \u201cThere and Back\u201d at the ODC theater in Mission District.<\/p>\n
Featuring the Bay Area premiere of three stunning works, co-artistic directors Wendy Rein and Ryan T. Smith display an absolute mastery of contemporary dance technique, movement and partnering in their layered choreography. The intricate details of each piece surfaced beautifully in ODC\u2019s smaller venue, making for a riveting performance experience.<\/p>\n
The opening ensemble piece, titled \u201cArt is a Guarantee of Sanity,\u201d burned into audience members\u2019 memories with its stark lighting, white flowing costumes and atmospheric music. The piece seemingly reflects its inspirations, namely Louise Bourgeois\u2019 artworks, \u201cArch of Hysteria\u201d and \u201c10 am is When You Come to Me,\u201d alongside Susannah Cahalan\u2019s memoir \u201cBrain on Fire.\u201d Bourgeois\u2019 artworks specifically come into focus between the arched backs and reaching hands of Rein and Smith\u2019s choreography. Additionally, Bourgeois\u2019 sculpture \u201cArt is a Guarantee of Sanity,\u201d besides being the titular inspiration for the number, is also the name of a spider-web patterned, mirrored sculpture presented in 2006 at the Phoenix Convention Center.<\/p>\n
Rein and Smith seemed to reflect the sculptures\u2019 fractured, thought-provoking reflection in the intricate staging of their piece, with dancers\u2019 bodies shifting patterns across the stage. Recurring floorwork was another highlight of this piece, managing to be impressive and dynamic each time while still not being overused. Repetition in the choreography became an effective tool to convey the piece\u2019s themes of hysteria, art and identity. The piece overall didn\u2019t subvert contemporary dance norms or stretch itself into a realm of discomfort, but it did use that contemporary technique to its fullest potential.<\/p>\n
The second dance, \u201cTime Passed,\u201d was an absolute highlight of the show \u2014 one that had the entire audience gasping and muttering once it ended. This piece, performed by Rein and Smith, showcases a veteran partnership that hasn\u2019t graced a Bay Area stage since 2019 \u2014 and what a partnership it is. The skill of their lifts is to be commended, but what is most enchanting is the pure trust that is visible in their interactions. They rely on each other, their bodies telling a story of an evolving connection through tangled limbs.<\/p>\n
The work played out like a vignette, the lighting changing as the picturesque choreography morphed from one stunning moment to the next. The technique is impeccable; both dancers formed truly beautiful lines through their clear strength and precision. The music swelled with an emotive delicacy, and Rein and Smith\u2019s facial expressions reflected the tenderness of both the composition and their physical entanglement. It was a singular, beautiful piece that tells the story of two people, of the subtle joys of love and vulnerability.<\/p>\n
After a brief intermission, RAWdance continued to highlight their partnering skills with the vigorous \u201cVeneer,\u201d another ensemble piece to close out the show. The name \u201cVeneer\u201d gestures to a protective sheen, and this piece investigates the angst and complex emotions underlying the surface of daily life. Long tables were used as props to frame key moments, a smart use of an everyday object that unsettles any feeling of familiarity. The dancers matched the intensity of the varying choreography, with several partnering moments that proved the entire cast \u2014 not just Rein and Smith \u2014 can pull off complex lifts with strong technique. There was a gravity to all the movements that carried through the smooth transitions between dance sections. The music fluctuated from groovy to ominous to even silence as the dancers all yelled across the table at each other in a musical theater-esque juncture. \u201cVeneer\u201d left everything out on the table, making sure to leave an impression.<\/p>\n
RAWdance proves there is still more to discover from the Bay Area dance scene, with new, exciting works that display a wide range of human experiences, while managing to be aesthetically beautiful at each literal and figurative turn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With RAWdance\u2019s latest home season, San Francisco continues to prove itself as a treasure trove of exciting dance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[89274,89273,89272,89275,89276,1472,89270,2399,7512,89277,89268,89267,101,103,102,104,106,105,89269,89271,89278,89279,89266],"class_list":{"0":"post-190135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-10-am-is-when-you-come-to-me","9":"tag-arch-of-hysteria","10":"tag-art-is-a-guarantee-of-sanity","11":"tag-brain-on-fire","12":"tag-contemporary-dance","13":"tag-dance","14":"tag-louise-bourgeois","15":"tag-mission-district","16":"tag-odc-theater","17":"tag-phoenix-convention-center","18":"tag-rawdance","19":"tag-ryan-t-smith","20":"tag-san-francisco","21":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","22":"tag-san-francisco-news","23":"tag-sf","24":"tag-sf-headlines","25":"tag-sf-news","26":"tag-susannah-cahalan","27":"tag-there-and-back","28":"tag-time-passed","29":"tag-veneer","30":"tag-wendy-rein"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}