Zaccho Dance Theatre presents
scenes from
Io and Her and the Trouble with Him
a dance opera
The myth of Io. Ancient spirits. Magic spells. A sinister monster.
Written by Ione
Composed by Pauline Oliveros
Choreography by Joanna Haigood
Set Design by Wayne Campbell
APRIL 21-22, 2006 at 8:00 pm
ZACCHO DANCE THEATRE
1777 Yosemite Ave #330
San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $15
For more information/Reservations: (415) 822-6744
Io and Her and the Trouble with Him retells the Greek myth of Io from a matriarchal perspective. Io, Argivian priestess of HER, dwelling in a world that has not yet discovered the magic of vowels, is transformed into a cow by a terrible spell after an encounter with HIM. Dazed and tormented, she roams the world, encountering terrifying archetypal beings along the way. While enduring entrapment by Argus, the terrible monster, she is befriended by the mercurial BIRD who helps her discover the key to her freedom: the vowels that emerge from her mooing throat. After many perilous adventures, she arrives in Ancient Egypt where she emerges from her spell. The true meaning of her journey comes clear as she remembers her original connection to HER and assumes her form as the Great Mother, Isis.
Io and Her and the Trouble with Him originally premiered at the Union Theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001. Zaccho Dance Theatre presents selected scenes from the original dance opera redesigned for Zaccho’s intimate studio atmosphere. Io and Her and the Trouble with Him features performances by noted Bay Area dancers Amara Tabor Smith, Suzanne Gallo, Susan Voyticky, Sheila Lopez, and Sonya Smith.
“The fluid elegance of the aerial choreography is spellbinding.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
Also on the program: Pauline Oliveros and Ione perform Dreamless Sleep.
Accordion by Pauline Oliveros. Text and Sonic Vocals by Ione.
Dreamless Sleep was premiered by Oliveros and Ione at Site Santa Fe August 5, 2005 and subsequently performed at the Kanazawa 21Century Museum of Art, Kanazawa Japan in November 2005 and at Greenwhich House School of Music in February 2006.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Ione is an author, playwright, director, and Spoken Word performer whose seminal work, Pride of Family; Four Generations of American Women of Color, (a New York Times Notable Book) was published in a classic edition by Doubleday/Broadway Books. (October 2004). Recorded Books published the audio book of Pride of Family in 2006. Other publications include, Listening in Dreams and This is a Dream, Deep Listening Publications, 2005. She is the Playwright and Director of the play Njinga the Queen King, and the Dance Opera Io and Her and the Trouble With Him, both with music and sound design by Pauline Oliveros. Both works are soon to be released on DVD by Deep Listening Publications. As a Spoken Word and Sound Artist she has collaborated with artists in numerous locations throughout the world. She sent her text and voice to the surface of the moon in 1998 as a part of composer Pauline Oliveros’ Echoes from the Moon. She is a practicing psychotherapist who directs international programs for women through the Ministry of Maat, Inc. Ione is also the Artistic Director of Deep Listening Institute, Ltd.
Pauline Oliveros is widely recognized as one of America's most important composers of the 20th century. A leader of the avant-garde and a pioneer of improvisatory music, alternate tuning systems, contemporary accordion playing, electronics and multi-media events, Oliveros continues to be a vital force through continuing performances, and through Deep Listening(r), a lifetime practice fundamental to her work. She has been celebrated worldwide. During the 1960's John Rockwell named her work Bye Bye Butterfly as one of the most significant of that decade. In the 70's she represented the U.S. at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan; during the 80's she was honored with a retrospective at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., and the 1990's began with a letter of distinction from the American Music Center presented at Lincoln Center in New York. Since 2000 the 50th anniversary of her work was celebrated at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors with the performance of her Lunar Opera: Deep Listening For_tunes and in San Francisco with Sounding the Margins: a forty year retrospective. Most recently she received an honorary membership in the Society for American Music and an honorary Doctor of Music from Mills College. Oliveros work is available on more than 30 recordings produced by companies internationally. She is Distinguished Research Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY, Darius Milhaud Artist-in-residence at Mills College, Oakland CA and president of Deep Listening Institute, Ltd. in Kingston NY.
Joanna Haigood has received many honors for her work including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Irvine Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New Langton Arts, and the W.A. Gerbode Foundation. She has been also been honored with a Bay Guardian Local Discovery (GOLDIE) Award, with three Isadora Duncan Dance Awards for performance and visual design and with a Cal Arts/Alpert Award in recognition of her contribution to the field of dance. As Artistic Director of Zaccho Dance Theatre, her creative work focuses on making dances that use natural, architectural and cultural environments as a point of departure for movement exploration and narrative. Haigood's work typically integrates aerial flight and suspension as a way of expanding the dancers' spatial and dynamic range. Her work has been commissioned by leading arts presenters both nationally and internationally including the National Black Arts Festival, Festival d'Avignon and Festival d'Arles in France, the Exploratorium, Capp Street Project, Dancing in the Streets, the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and the McColl Center for Visual Art. In addition, her choreography has also been commissioned by Alonzo King's Lines Contemporary Ballet, Robert Moses’ Kin, Axis Dance Company and is in the repertory of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
As a visual artist working in the Bay Area and nationally for thirty years, Wayne Campbell has participated in a wide variety of creative endeavors including furniture design, set design and large-scale architectural and sculptural installations. He has shown his work in New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. He is the designer and builder of over one hundred artificial rock climbing facilities in the U.S., including Mission Cliffs in San Francisco. He has provided technical rigging services for Zaccho Dance Theatre including Invisible Wings in 1998 at Fort Point in San Francisco, CA, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Beckett, MA; Picture Powderhorn in 2000 in Minneapolis, MN. He has provided set design in addition to rigging for Zaccho's Arena at the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in Tivoli, NY, Bella at the Tryon Center for Visual Art in Carlotte, NY, and for Invisible Wings staged in a forest near Avignon, France; also for View from Here, Defining Ground, Inverted States, in San Francisco and Picture Redhook in Brooklyn New York. He is a recent recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation MAP grant.
Cost: $15.00