Dancer, choreographer, and educator Daiane Lopes da Silva of Kinetech Arts was demonstrating how rice bounces on a metal plate as children crowded around her. The kids’ faces lit up with excitement as they took grains in their own hands to drop, witnessing the kinetic vibrations. Lopes da Silva was connecting them to natural movement, the way that gravity and momentum drives an object forward.
It was just one of the ways young people were engaging with the science and magic of dance at ODC’s “Family Matters” series, which launched in October. (The next two installments take place November 1 and December 13.)
“Family Matters” aims to provide “accessible and joyful entry points into dance” by combining exciting performances with behind the scenes experiences, discussions, and demonstrations for children and their parents—cultivating an early love of the art form and helping to ensure a new generation of arts supporters.
Offering this kind of family programming is nothing new for the revered dance company, whose wildly popular production of The Velveteen Rabbit has become a San Francisco holiday tradition. “That’s why we started the [Velveteen Rabbit] ballet 40 years ago, because we wanted high-end dancing to be available to young people in a form they could observe and enjoy,” said ODC Founder and Artistic Director Brenda Way “Believe me, their parents are learning, too!”
On October 4, surrounded by a group of families and their inquisitive youngsters, I took my seat in the ODC theater. Ezra Howlett, ODC’s theater event and outreach coordinator, stepped onto stage to serve as a guide for audience members through the proceeding program. Sitting there, listening to Howlett’s measured voice made me feel inwardly at ease, emotionally prepared, and open to experience.
This initial sense of comfort had been something ODC Theater Creative Director Chloe Zimburg has pushed to cultivate. “From the theater’s perspective, we often struggle with training the next generation of audiences. I think finding a way to literally hand-hold, to train families and kids how to go to the theater, and how to experience art that may be abstract, is part of our mission. We want to continue to have people come to support the artists making work.”
Kinetech Arts, an ODC home company championing dance and technology founded by Lopes da Silva and scientist Weidong Yang, performed for and engaged with the families in October. November’s “Family Matters,” features excerpts from The Velveteen Rabbit; December highlights the work of SEEDS, ODC’s teen hip-hop ensemble. Zimberg comments on this arrangement by acknowledging it as “the first time since I’ve been here that we have a series where you’re really going to get a taste of the entire breath of ODC. All these artistic programs in one go.”
In the theater, the lights dimmed, illuminating a long metal plate hooked up to two microphones, where Lopes da Silva stood, dropping beads and rice along it. The crunching vibrations emitted an eerie ambience from the plate, complimented by the dancers’ frivolous, swaying, and inter-relational movement.
One dancer poured an entire bag of rice around their counterparts, which concluded the dance and initiated the Q&A portion, led by Howlett and Lopes da Silva. The inquiries prompted the eager kids to speak about what they saw, what they thought about, and how they felt while perceiving Kinetech’s work. Some said they saw “spinning around,” “dancers catching each other,” and “hearts in the rice” as it was poured.
Some felt happy, reminiscent of love, even scared by the metal music. Those moments took me back to speaking with ODC School Director Kimi Okada, who explained the way kids interact with art creation: “Dance is about ideas which are about emotions which are about feelings. Kids have that on their sleeves in spades… It’s important to show kids the expressiveness and vitality dance has to the human experience.”
Besides directing the school, Okada runs the training program known as ODC Jam, and wears many more hats in the organization. She spoke from first-hand experience, coordinating programs that serve more than 16,000 students annually. She and Way described days in their respective roles as quintessential multitasking, sometimes jumping hierarchies, but most importantly taking time to connect personally with the people in the building.
Way and Okada have had a long professional relationship—from student and teacher, to administrative partners— and Way says she can always turn to Okada to work through problems that come up. For her part, Zimberg spoke about how she uses her knowledge of dance, passion to amplify other artists, and experience co-leading and curating dance company Chlo & Co. to effectively recruit artists and shape ODC’s performance program to emulate company values.
“What I really want to say is that what you are hearing is a description of a real feminist organization,” said Way. “It is the assumption that we can do it all, and that holistic touch is part of what gives it value. So the spirit of the place is really determined by our engagement at all of these levels.”
After the Kinetech Arts performance and Q&A, Lopes da Silva instructed the children to dance happily, twirl, shake like the rice, jump like the rice, and dance like the sound—all inspired by the answers given by the kids. This activity not only immersed the kids themselves in live art-making, but left a wholesome feeling in my chest, reminiscent of when I was that age taking my first steps into the world of theatre. A group photo at the end concluded this love letter to a future generation of dance-lovers.
“FAMILY MATTERS” continues November 1 and December 13 at ODC, SF. More info here.
