South San Francisco, CA September 30, 2021 Submitted by Oceánica Ballet
OCEÁNICA BALLET PRESENTS
HARVEST MOON
Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, South San Francisco
Saturday October 16th, 2021 at 7pm
Sunday October 17th, 2021 at 1pm & 4pm
Tickets: $30
Oceánica Ballet is proud to present Harvest Moon. Five San Francisco Bay Area choreographers present ballets of elegance, whimsy, and contemplation in a showcase of world premieres.
Featured choreographers include Oceánica Ballet Artistic Co-Directors Edgar Lepe and Robert Burns Lowman, along with returning choreographer Jessica Woodman and guest choreographers Isabelle Sjahsam and Connolly Strombeck. Intrigued by the depiction of the marriage ceremony in classical performance, Isabelle Sjahsam draws from Nijinska’s Les Noces, Shakespeare, and traditional pas de deux to create a joyful queer reclaiming of the “wedding scene.” Jessica Woodman presents an exploration of individuality through five solos choreographed around the personalities of the dancers performing them. Connolly Strombeck’s work explores the struggles we all experience dealing with change and accepting when the time has come to make changes for the better. Strombeck’s work asks what we need to let go of to move forward, and how do we find the courage to break our self-destructive patterns? Edgar Lepe’s An Autumn Gala harkens to the romantic era of ballet with dances to music by Alexander Glazunov, Joseph Lanner, and Johann Strauss I. Robert Burns Lowman’s Game Night! turns tabletop games into a mod 1960’s dance romp.
Harvest Moon will be performed in-person in Bay Area Ballet Conservatory’s Studio One at 7pm on Saturday October 16th, 2021; and at 1pm and 4pm on Sunday October 17th, 2021. All members of Oceánica Ballet have presented proof of COVID-19 immunization and will be masked. All audience members are required to be masked.
About Artistic Co-Director Edgar Lepe
Trained in Folklorico Ballet throughout his youth, Edgar Lepe began studying classical ballet in 2008 at the San Francisco Academy of Ballet under the direction of ballet masters Richard Gibson and Zory Karah.
Edgar has performed in Mexico and the United States with Collage West Ensemble, Compañia Mexico Danza, Ensembles Ballet Folklorico of San Francisco, as well as Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Presidio Dance Theatre, Bay Pointe Ballet, and Oakland Ballet. Edgar has choreographed for Bay Pointe Ballet, Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and San Jose Dance International. Edgar currently teaches at Bay Area Ballet Conservatory.
About Artistic Co-Director Robert Burns Lowman
Robert Burns Lowman trained at Susan Hayward School of Dancing and holds B.A.s in Dance and Theater & Performance Studies from U.C. Berkeley. He is a recipient of the Mask and Dagger Memorial Prize (2012) and the Rosalyn Schneider Eisner Prize (2013).
Robert has danced in works by Gregory Amato, Marit Brook-Kothlow, Carlos Carvajal, Ron Cunningham, Katie Faulkner, Edgar Lepe, Rosalia Lerner, Constanza Murphy, Becky Robinson-Leviton, Chloé Watson, Jessica Woodman, and Scott Wells. At Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Robert performed principal roles in Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Carmen Suite; and was featured as a soloist in the virtual release of The Chrysalis Project. In addition to performing, Robert was PBT Artistic Assistant from 2018-2020 and directed PBT’s annual Dance Makers choreography showcase from 2016-2019. Robert currently teaches ballet at Susan Hayward School of Dancing.
Harvest Moon Featured Choreographers
Isabelle Sjahsam has performed with SF Renaissance Dancers, Em Space Dance, 13th Floor Dance Theater, Dance Elixir, Zari Le’on Dance Theater, Moving Arts Dance, and Menlowe Ballet. Passion for choreography has led her to present work at Counterpulse, Temescal Arts Center, Cal Arts Electronic Music Festival, West Wave Dance Festival, in Tabor, Czech Republic, and in film festivals internationally. Currently she is resident choreographer for Ehlers Art Society and a company teacher with Oceánica Ballet.
Born and raised in San Jose, Jessica Woodman is a multi-disciplinary dancer, teacher, and choreographer with over 10 years of professional experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts and is certified in the GYROKINESIS® & GYROTONIC® methods, Pilates, and American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. As a guest artist, she has performed both Soloist and Principal roles with: Bay Pointe Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Menlowe Ballet, Western Ballet, and The Milissa Payne Project. Jessica is currently owner and director of ShadowOfaDancer and Ballet Master of Nor Cal Dance Arts.
Connolly Strombeck, a Bay Area native, trained at Academy of Ballet in SF and danced leading roles with Oakland Ballet, Company C Contemporary Ballet, and many others in the Bay and elsewhere. He currently teaches full time at the Academy as well as directing his own project-based contemporary dance company, Trivial Motion.
About Oceánica Ballet
Oceánica Ballet is a group of dynamic artists curated from the Bay Area’s diverse classical dance scene. Oceánica Ballet was formed in 2021 to unite people through the shared experience of dance performance as a reflection of our complex and diverse collective humanity. Our mission is to enliven the San Francisco Bay Area cultural landscape by making professional-level ballet performances accessible and relatable to Bay Area audiences. We enrich the artistic careers of locally-based, professionally trained dance artists of diverse ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, and body types. We create innovative new ballet-based dance works, and interpret classics in fresh and exciting ways.
Oceánica Ballet, Inc. has incorporated as a charitable nonprofit corporation and has applied to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status, which it expects to receive.
CALENDAR LISTING
Dance, Theater, Performance
WHO/WHAT: Oceánica Ballet presents Harvest Moon
WHEN: Saturday October 16th, 2021 at 7pm; Sunday October 17th, 2021 at 1pm and 4pm
WHERE: Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, 275 Wattis Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080
TICKETS: $30 at the following link:
For more information visit https://oceanicaballet.org