Garth Grimball
ODC Dance Stories Editor. Writer - Dance Media, SF Examiner.
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Articles by Garth Grimball
Tiit Helimets Steps Into Artistic Leadership at Sacramento Ballet
In 2011, Tiit Helimets organized a tour to his native Estonia. Calling the troupe “Tiit Helimets and Co.,” he planned the international tour from California, where he was a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet. The experience of delegation, decision-making, and directing—with the ensuing challenges each brought—hooked him. “I realized it brought me a lot of pleasure in working under pressure, making fast decisions, choosing repertory and dancers,” says Helimets.
Elim Chan Is Conducting the Future
Matthew Spivey, Priscilla B. “Prisca” Geeslin, Elim Chan, Eugene Izotov and Edward Stephan attend the San Francisco Symphony New Music Director Introduction on May 21 at San Francisco City Hall. Elim Chan walked out onto the Davies Symphony Hall stage and before she even reached the conductor’s podium, the sold-out audience had erupted into a standing ovation.
Pride Month Happenings Sizzle in San Francisco
The San Francisco Opera will celebrate Pride with a concert on June 26. Since the first Pride parade was held in New York City on June 28, 1970, in commemoration of the previous year’s Stonewall riots, Pride Month has contained a tension between jubilation and activism, between expressing sexual freedom and fighting to maintain it.
For His Latest LINES Ballet Premiere, Alonzo King Collaborates With Grammy Winner esperanza spalding
Alonzo King, artistic director of his LINES Ballet, choreographs dances that flow like water, constantly splashing into new ideas. His creative process prioritizes deep collaboration with dancers, designers, and musicians—an approach that will be on display as Alonzo King LINES Ballet continues its 44th home season. Running from April 11–19 at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the program honors two visionary female musicians.
Adji Cissoko is the new associate artistic director of Alonzo King LINES Ballet. In West Africa the name Cissoko is often associated with traditional griots, who are historians, storytellers and performers. Adji Cissoko, Alonzo King LINES Ballet dancer and, since January, associate artistic director, has been living up to her surname through dance her entire life.
The Masonic: A Modern Temple of Sight and Sound
Floating four stories above the top of Nob Hill is an all-seeing eye. Inside the grand lobby of The Masonic, also known as the California Masonic Memorial Temple, Emile Norman’s “endomosaic” window welcomes Masons, patrons and citizens to the venue and neighborhood.
Magnificent Manga
American comic books have dominated the film and television industries for the past 15 years since Marvel launched its cinematic universe and seemingly every major and minor character’s origin story is adapted from print to screen. But while the comic heroes of DC and Marvel may have reached global ubiquity, their comic book output is dwarfed by comics from Japan, or manga.
Immersive DIASPORADICA a journey through modern Black life
Editor's note: This article originally posted on the San Francisco Examiner. Click here for more culture reporting at sfexaminer.com When history is removed under the guise of restoration, what futures can be imagined? An immersive theatrical performance opening Friday at Fort Mason aims to answer that question.
Immersive DIASPORADICA a journey through modern Black life
When history is removed under the guise of restoration, what futures can be imagined? An immersive theatrical performance opening Friday at Fort Mason aims to answer that question. “DIASPORADICA” premieres at 7 p.m. at the Pier 3 Festival Pavilion, one of four performances over the next two weeks from the experiential performance collective Rupture in collaboration with the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture.
Immersive Pompeii makes participation easy for newcomers
I’m not one for surprise participation. If a performer asks for volunteers from the audience, you won’t see me raising my hand. My love for the unexpected sits at an excited remove from the action, like a cat watching baby birds learn to fly. But the feeding I crave is creative ingenuity, not fowl. I’ve learned over the years that a performance is billed as “immersive” does not equate to surprise participation but participation with surprises.
Immersive Pompeii makes participation easy for newcomers
Editor's note: This article originally posted on the San Francisco Examiner. Click here for more culture reporting at sfexaminer.com I’m not one for surprise participation. If a performer asks for volunteers from the audience, you won’t see me raising my hand. My love for the unexpected sits at an excited remove from the action, like a cat watching baby birds learn to fly. But the feeding I crave is creative ingenuity, not fowl.
Kyle Casey Chu speaks her truth years after Drag Story Hour
For Kyle Casey Chu — aka Panda Dulce — telling stories is vital, a livelihood and, for those who wish to silence her, a threat. Since 2017, Chu has been a performer with Drag Story Hour, a youth-literacy program that brings drag performers to bookstores, museums, schools and public libraries to read children’s books to kids and their families. In 2022, Chu was invited to read at the San Lorenzo Public Library when far-right extremists stormed the event.
Inside Bravemaker's Seventh Film Festival
A week after the outdoor festivities of Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts, Redwood City welcomes filmmakers and film lovers for another important, if unofficial, staple of the season: summer at the movies. BraveMaker, the Silicon Valley–based film arts organization, is producing its seventh annual film festival across six venues in Redwood City on July 10–13.
Rebecca Rolfe departing SF LGBT Center with immense pride
Since Rebecca Rolfe first joined the San Francisco LGBT Center as deputy director in 2003, some of the greatest advancements in the history of LGBTQ rights and visibility have occurred: the repeals of the Defense of Marriage Act and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy; the legalization of same-sex marriage; and the availability of the HIV-prevention drug PrEP, to name a few.
Rebecca Rolfe Looks Back on More Than Two Decades of Leadership at the SF LGBT Center
Rebecca Rolfe is excited for the future of the San Francisco LGBT Center, from which she will retire as executive director in December. Since Rolfe first joined the center as deputy director in 2003, some of the greatest advancements in the history of LGBTQ+ rights and visibility have occurred: the repeals of the Defense of Marriage Act and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy; the legalization of same-sex marriage; and the availability of the HIV-prevention drug PrEP, to name a few.
Story Time With Author, Filmmaker and Drag Performer Kyle Casey Chu
For Kyle Casey Chu, also known as Panda Dulce, telling stories is vital, is a livelihood and is considered a threat by those who wish to silence her. Since 2017, Chu has been a performer with Drag Story Hour, a youth literacy program that brings drag performers to bookstores, museums, schools and public libraries to read children’s books to kids and their families. In 2022, Chu was invited to read at the San Lorenzo Public Library when far-right extremists stormed the event.
SFJazz: Thriving in the City
Editor's note: This article originally posted on Nob Hill Gazette. Click here for more culture reporting at nobhillgazette.com In 2023, SFJazz announced the biggest of all institutional transitions: leadership. Cofounder and Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline stepped down from the organization he created in 1983 and passed the baton to Grammy winner and Academy Award nominee Terence Blanchard.
SFJazz: Thriving in the City
In 2023, SFJazz announced the biggest of all institutional transitions: leadership. Cofounder, Executive Director and Artistic Director Randall Kline stepped down from the organization he created in 1983 and passed the baton to Grammy winner and Academy Award nominee Terence Blanchard. Companies and mission statements are founded daily, but for an organization to succeed as an institution, to be of its place and its people, requires it to survive past its founder and welcome new ideas.
Oakland Ballet’s Angel Island Project Shines a Light on the Immigrant Experience - Pointe Magazine
On March 22, Oakland Ballet dancers ferried to Angel Island to perform excerpts of their upcoming premiere, Angel Island Project, at the island’s historic Immigration Station. They danced at the water’s edge facing the detention barracks, with the bay at their backs, where nearly a century ago approximately 500,000 immigrants from 80 countries arrived and walked onto the same shoreline.
This month, for the first time, San Francisco Ballet will perform the choreography of its new artistic director, Tamara Rojo, as she brings her unique version of Raymonda — a classical story ballet by Marius Petipa that originated in 1898 St. Petersburg — to the War Memorial Opera House stage. Her adaptation of the ballet premiered in 2022 at the English National Ballet, where she was then artistic director.
Open-Water Swimming With San Francisco Ballet’s Jacob Seltzer
The water of the San Francisco Bay has an average temperature between 51 and 61 degrees Fahrenheit, can have currents as strong as six knots, and is home to herds of seals, with occasional great white shark sightings. For San Francisco Ballet corps member Jacob Seltzer, swimming in these active waters has become the perfect cross-training exercise. “When I was 12 or 13, I had a really intense swim coach. I half-drowned in his class every time,” Seltzer tells Pointe.
The production will reimagine the General’s Residence as the covert meeting place for a queer secret society
The General’s Residence at Fort Mason is a venue in San Francisco that has entertained dignitaries such as General MacArthur and two U.S. presidents. But this weekend, it will be transformed by Detour Dance when they premiere “The Twilight Aristocracy,” an immersive theatrical experience combining drag, dance and storytelling. The production will reimagine the General’s Residence as the covert meeting place for a queer secret society.
The production will reimagine the General’s Residence as the covert meeting place for a queer secret society
The General’s Residence at Fort Mason is a venue in San Francisco that has entertained dignitaries such as General MacArthur and two U.S. presidents. But this weekend, it will be transformed by Detour Dance when they premiere “The Twilight Aristocracy,” an immersive theatrical experience combining drag, dance and storytelling. The production will reimagine the General’s Residence as the covert meeting place for a queer secret society.
Mary Lovelace O’Neal returns to SFMOMA after 45 years
The painter Mary Lovelace O’Neal has returned to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for the first time in 45 years. The solo exhibition “New Work: Mary Lovelace O’Neal” opens Saturday and runs through Oct. 20. The exhibition showcases new works made from 2021 through 2023 at her studio in Mérida, Mexico. The last time Lovelace O’Neal’s work was the subject of an exhibition at SFMOMA was in 1979, when her paintings were paired with works by the artist George C. Longfish.
Ballet to perform for first time in costumes by French couturier Christian Lacroix
The San Francisco Ballet is gearing up to perform its first full run of George Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” ballet in nearly 40 years. The costumes debuted in Paris in 2017 but have never before been seen on a North American stage. For the SF Ballet wardrobe department working with Lacroix’s dazzling costumes is more than just borrowing clothes. “A common method to evoke the presence of magic onstage is simply by adding visual sparkle,” said Wardrobe Workroom Lead Wesley Crain.
Robert Moses-led KIN dance company takes San Francisco stage
Composers and playwrights are teaming up with choreographers from San Francisco’s Robert Moses’ KIN dance company for three shows this month that focus on a growing global impulse toward educational suppression, caste restriction, and censorship. Moses created the “New Legacies” program as a way to bring groups of artists together to address contemporary issues through art-making and collaboration.
OYSTERKNIFE brings stories of Black faith to Grace Cathedral
On Friday, Chibueze Crouch and Gabriele Christian will premiere “mouf//full” at Grace Cathedral as part of their 2024 annual Spacious Grace Festival. Coproduced by Counterpulse, “mouf//full” is a large-scale, site specific, three-day performance event that honors Black faith across diaspora, secular and institutional, indigenous and inherited. Crouch and Christian began performing together in 2017.
San Francisco Ballet breaks barriers with Mere Mortals run
Tamara Rojo, previously the artistic director of English National Ballet, has taken on that job with the San Francisco Ballet, America’s oldest ballet company. She spent the 2023 season overseeing works that were programmed and commissioned by Helgi Tomasson, who was the artistic director for 37 years. Rojo's inaugural season programming for The City's ballet company began last weekend. “Mere Mortals,” choreographed by Aszure Barton, runs through Thursday night.
A Pandora’s Box of Ballet and AI: Aszure Barton’s Mere Mortals Premieres at San Francisco Ballet
“We need to know where we’re going to as we’re going.” Aszure Barton addresses this to 67 San Francisco Ballet dancers. It’s Halloween, the rehearsal time for her world premiere Mere Mortals is coming to an end, and camera crews are stationed in the studio’s corners to capture video footage for World Ballet Day. The flow of bodies resembles an airplane terminal as much as a ballet.
'Miriam And Esther Go To The Diamond District' comes to SF
A Bay Area theater director and producer who took a 26-year break from the stage will premiere a new play about two estranged sisters who meet to sort through their opera-singer mother’s belongings 45 years after her death. Gordon’s career as a theater director and producer began in 1983. But after years of professional success directing at theaters across California and becoming the co-artistic director at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, she had an epiphany, she said.
San Francisco Symphony showcases Beethoven and Shostakovich
Musical conducting is having a big pop culture moment. Last year the film “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett as the fictional conductor Lydia Tár, about abuse of power sparked think pieces — 3 in the New Yorker magazine alone--and hot takes across the internet, and garnered 6 Academy Awards nominations. And last month, the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” opened to a brief theatrical run before becoming available on Netflix.
Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change podcast live in SF
‘The Koch brothers did not make Coca-Cola!” howled Bob the Drag Queen at Monét X Change in a recent episode of their hit podcast when Monet confused the conservative, wealthy Koch family as the inventors of the soda. A conversation about famous things from Georgia (such as Coca-Cola) led to this tête-à-tête that is indicative of the podcast’s charm. Personal, political, and pop culture minutiae fuel the off-the-cuff banter for which “Sibling Rivalry” is known.
How the SF Ballet brought 'The Nutcracker' back to life
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How the SF Ballet brought 'The Nutcracker' back to life
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“Loving Still” is inspired by “Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s -1950s,”
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“Loving Still” is inspired by “Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s -1950s,”
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Pinkett Smith talks about new book, health struggles in SF
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This SF production is using Chat-GPT to choreograph dance
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Chesa Boudin doc focuses on professional and personal life
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Trolley Dances returns to San Francisco on Sunday
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How 5 SF Ballet dancers interpret their roles in 'Giselle'
The word “heartbreak” dates back to the 1570s. While the expression “break (someone’s) heart” is located closer to 1400. One would think it wouldn’t take 170 years to go from breaking hearts to heartbreak, but maybe everyone was healing, or practicing “self-love” as we say now, before naming the feeling. This weekend San Francisco Ballet brings the heartbreak story of ballet, “Giselle,” to the stage for the first time since their 2015 season.
Genre-defying Dawn Richard plays Portola Festival
Dawn Richard is one of those rare multi-talented artists. In the past two decades, the 39-year-old native of New Orleans has excelled as a musician, dancer, actor, film director, reality TV star and creative consultant for Adult Swim, the TV channel known for avant-garde animation. She even owns a vegan food truck “dedicated to supporting the local NOLA art community.” Richard is touring her sixth solo album, “Second Line,” a genre-defying sonic experience led by the character King Creole.
From BTS to Blackpink, Here’s How K-Pop Academies in South Korea Are Training the Next Generation of Stars
From BTS to Blackpink, Here’s How K-Pop Academies in South Korea Are Training the Next Generation of Stars For many young people in South Korea today, time spent studying English and math is almost equal to the time spent on polishing their dance moves and singing—all in the quest to become a future K-pop superstar someday.
Dance Teacher’s Top 10 Stories of 2021
What was your favorite story from Dance Teacher this year? Judging by our top-clicked articles and our most-talked-about social posts, dance teachers enjoyed reading about a wide range of topics. From figuring out what support they should and shouldn’t provide to their students to understanding what it means to dismantle racism on the competition stage, these timely and relevant stories made dance teachers all the more empowered to inspire and advance the next generation of dancers.
Decolonizing Dance: 3 Asian American Dance Educators Reflect on Their Community-Centered Pedagogy
Decolonizing Dance: 3 Asian American Dance Educators Reflect on Their Community-Centered Pedagogy On a cool September evening in Alameda, California, I and over a hundred Bay Area residents gathered in the parking lot of the Alameda Free Library. The innocuous space, seemingly universal in its purpose and design, was once part of a thriving tonarigumi—an historic Japantown neighborhood.
3 Lessons the New Bill T. Jones Documentary Offers Dance Educators Going Back to the Classroom
3 Lessons the New Bill T. Jones Documentary Offers Dance Educators Going Back to the Classroom “What are we desperate for?” Rosalynde LeBlanc stares at her cast of dancers waiting for an answer. It’s the final rehearsal for D-Man in the Waters. The first run of the piece showed the choreography but not the “why” of the movement. The dancers need to know, collectively, what makes the stakes so high. This scene centers the new documentary Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters.
3 Lessons the New Bill T. Jones Documentary Offers Dance Educators Going Back to the Classroom
"What are we desperate for?" Rosalynde LeBlanc stares at her cast of dancers waiting for an answer. It's the final rehearsal for D-Man in the Waters. The first run of the piece showed the choreography but not the "why" of the movement. The dancers need to know, collectively, what makes the stakes so high. This scene centers the new documentary Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters.
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