FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Kimberly Verde | kv@FRAMEWORKsf.com
Laura Jaye Cramer | ljc@FRAMEWORKsf.com
TERRAIN
A Multimedia Performance Celebrating Parallels Between Naturally Occurring Landscapes and the Aging Female Form
“Why is an ancient tree magnificent and an aging woman expendable?”
- Kate Mitchell, Artistic Director
(L) Eye Wrinkles. Image: Alessandra Mello (R) image of Sahara Desert terrain for reference
Friday and Saturday, November 18-19, 2016
Tickets: $28/ $22 general admission, students and seniors
$45, performance and gala reception (Saturday, November 19 ONLY)
ODC Theater 3153 17th St, San Francisco
More info and tickets.
October 3, 2016 [San Francisco, CA] – TERRAIN is a collaborative performance and exhibition project spearheaded by Oakland-based artist and choreographer Kate Mitchell. Mitchell recently roused female-consumer consciousness with her performance piece and book, Fashioning Women, which offered its viewers fearless commentary on the absurdity of the beauty and fashion industries. Continuing this dialogue on the societal perception of women, TERRAIN delves into the world of aging bodies, acknowledging the often-occurring marginalization while celebrating the texture and patterns of the female form -- both drawing parallels between the landscapes of age and how those shapes mirror naturally occurring topography. The show incorporates contemporary dance, an exhibition of photography, and a collection of original costumes. The 50 minute performance will run on Friday, November 18th and Saturday, November 19th at the ODC Theater.
 On the creation of TERRAIN, Mitchell says,
“A few years ago, I started to notice a lot of changes on my body, like sags and wrinkles, and despite my best efforts, I was horrified. At the same time, I’ve also recognized an ageist bias against women. I have a passionate need to refute this perspective of revulsion, and that is how TERRAIN began.
The first thing I did was to really look at photographic images (taken by Alessandra Mello) of my wrinkles and bones. This experiment was a freak-out. But the images were so abstract as to be just weird textures and patterns. Being outside in different places, I also noticed totally convergent patterns and textures in things like trees, rocks, water, sand. Wow - what a revelation! The photos were liberating, even beautiful, and making sculptural garments took off with all kinds of varied “terrain” that for me, is compelling and complex - totally reframing the concept of a woman’s body, and by extension, her entire self and its trajectory, as an organic evolution of intriguing beauty, rather than revulsion.”
The collaborative piece will feature the work of local choreographers Bianca Cabrera, Brittany Ceres, and Claudia Anata Hubiak; an original score by composer Ben Juodvalkis; photography by Alessandra Mello; and costumes by Kate Mitchell.
About Kate Mitchell:
Kate Mitchell is a “faux couture” artist, collagist, dancer and choreographer, and the author of Fashioning Women. Kate danced professionally in New York, and later founded Kate Mitchell & Dancers in San Francisco. Since then, she has presented collage and couture collections in Oakland and San Francisco. She is a graduate of New York’s High School of Performing Arts, holds a BA in American Studies from Yale University, and an MA in Dance from UCLA. All of her projects are connected by a passion for color and texture, contradictions and incongruities, beauty and strangeness, and the expressive power of the human body. The San Francisco Examiner wrote, “If designer Jean Paul Gaultier and feminist leader Gloria Steinem had a lovechild - wrap your head around that one for a moment - she might have turned out like Kate Mitchell."
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