Event

The Consumption Series

FACT/SF PREMIERES The Consumption Series. FACT/SF debuts the world premiere of The Consumption Series, an evening-length dance-theatre piece, made specifically for Mama Calizo's Voice Factory (MCVF). Conceived by Artistic Director Charles Slender, this work, in collaboration with the company members, is the culmination of two years of research, experimentation and performance, investigating the relationships between consumers and consumables. The Consumption Series looks at how humans can be both consumers of products, food, etc., while sometimes simultaneously being consumed themselves by desire, diseases and emotionally hysterical states, amongst others. The work will be performed on May 6-8 and 13-15 at Mama Calizo's Voice Factory (1519 Mission @ 11th, SF) by company members Justin Andrews, Erin Kraemer, Catherine Newman, and Charles Slender. The piece features costumes by Melissa Castaneda, and music by Frédéric Chopin, Arvo Pärt, Dandy Warhols, Lady Gaga, Aphex Twin, and Frog Pocket.

This work will be familiar yet entirely new, pulling together the raw material developed over the past two years and presenting it in a context and aesthetic informed by postmodern dance-theatre, German Expressionism and contemporary ballet. Stricken, Slender's first work for FACT/SF, marked the beginning of The Consumption Series investigations and was described as bringing "a leathery glamour to the Bay Area dance scene [with] a movement vocabulary that is whip smart and sinuously stealth". The entire project, which began in summer 2008, has been supported by a DIY Residency at MCVF, two residencies at The Garage, generous support from both the Zellerbach Family Foundation and Theatre Bay Area/Dancers' Group CA$H Grants, and has additionally included a 173 location tour to every Wal-Mart in California.