Amy Seiwert Artist in Residence

July is a very special time here at Zaccho Studio! For the past four summers, we have had the immense pleasure of hosting AIR Amy Seiwert and her Imagery Dancers during the creation of their SKETCH series. The SKETCH series was launched in 2011 as a platform for experimentation and innovation in ballet based choreography. Each choreographer self identifies a risk and uses that as their departure point for creation. Opportunities for pure choreographic exploration and development are almost non-existent in the ballet world, and rarely do they come with the freedom or resources that choreographers need to truly experiment. The SKETCH series was created specifically as a resource for choreographers to abandon their comfort zone. Each year the series has a theme. For 2014, that theme will be the relationship between music and dance.  

SKETCH 4 | Music Mirror is an exploration of how two very different ballet choreographers interpret the same piece of original music by composer Kevin Keller. The commissioned music will be performed live by Amy Seiwert's Imagery (ASI), where Choreographers Seiwert and Adam Hougland will collaborate with Keller in the creation of new works, culminating in public performances at ODC Theater. 

The impact of SKETCH on both artists and audiences is significant. For the composer and choreographers, it is a chance to revel in possibility and creative ambition; for the dancers, it is an opportunity to participate directly in creation; for audiences, SKETCH provides access to the creative process. The works-in-process showings that take place at Zaccho Studio, as well as performances at ODC Theater (in San Francisco July 24-27 2014) with talk-backs and receptions happening at ODC on July 26th 2014, allow for a deep exchange between the audience and artists.

Amy Seiwert  serves as the Artistic Director and primary choreographer of Imagery. Her collaborations with artists of other disciplines and commitment to experimental work from a classical base make her a unique voice in the SF dance community. She is honored to be the Choreographer in Residence for Smuin Ballet as well as an Artist in Residence at the ODC Theater and Zaccho Studio.