February 9th, 2023 – South San Francisco, CA
Submitted by Henry Lowman
OCEÁNICA BALLET PRESENTS EVOLUTION
Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, South San Francisco
Friday, March 10th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 11th at 4pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, March 12th at 4 pm
Tickets: $30
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA–Oceánica Ballet presents EVOLUTION, a showcase of new and returning choreographic works by five San Francisco Bay Area choreographers delving into themes of growth and transformation. Andrea Salazar’s “Shaped” explores how we grow and evolve based on experiences that shape the way we perceive our world and live our lives. Connolly Strombeck’s “Bloom” is a neoclassical celebration of personal growth and discovery, in which each movement examines the beauty of a different type of flower. Vinnie Jones reimagines Swan Lake’s white swan pas de deux with two women. Also featuring Vinnie Jones’s “Il Purgatorio,” Edgar Lepe’s “A Soul’s Dream,” and Robert Burns Lowman’s “Echoes.”
EVOLUTION will be performed in person in Bay Area Ballet Conservatory’s Studio One at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 10th; at 4 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, March 11th; and at 4 pm on Sunday, March 12th.
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, 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 directed PBT’s annual Dance Makers choreography showcase from 2016-2019 and was PBT Artistic Assistant from 2018-2020. Robert has also performed with em(body) dance project and currently teaches ballet at Shoreline Dance Academy and Bay Area Ballet Conservatory.
EVOLUTION Featured Choreographers
Vinnie Jones grew up in Maine and attended the University of Utah on a dance scholarship. She has danced with San Diego Ballet, Ballet Tucson, LaMov Compañia de Danza of Spain, Menlowe Ballet, Marika Brussel, and Peninsula Ballet Theatre. As a choreographer she has presented works in Chicago, Mexico, Spain, Tucson, and locally. In 2019 she started em(body) dance project, where she presents her choreography. She also collaborates with JonesPro Photo & Film to create screendance works, which have been accepted at the Taking Up Space Festival and the Big Muddy Dance Screendance Fest. Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Andi Salazar is a choreographer and dance educator living in the Bay Area since 2017. She founded Kazé Dance Company in Santiago. Andi obtained her
MFA in Dance and Choreography from Mills College and has performed with Joe Landini and Dancers, Kara Davis, Molissa Fenley, and Victor Talledos. She is the Artistic Director of A Pulso Dance Project, showing work in California festivals and venues. She is a Faculty member at Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet Community program “HeART with Lines.”
Connolly Strombeck, a Bay Area native, trained at the 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 been designated a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
CALENDAR LISTING
Dance, Theater, Performance
WHO/WHAT: Oceánica Ballet presents EVOLUTION
WHEN: Friday March 10th at 7:30pm; Saturday March 11th at 4pm and 7:30pm; Sunday March 12th at 4 pm
WHERE: Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, 275 Wattis Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080
TICKETS: $30 at the following link: https://oceanicaballet.org/performances
For more information visit https://oceanicaballet.org