Deborah Slater Dance Theater's 'Men Think They Are Better Than Grass' April 30, 2010

Fri, April 30th, 8pm; Sat, May 1st, 8pm; Sun, May 2nd, 5pm; Thur-Sat, May 6th-8th, 8pm; Sun, May 9th, 5pm

Deborah Slater Dance Theater celebrates 20 years of viscerally powerful, visually stunning and theatrically innovative work with the world premiere of "Men Think They Are Better Than Grass" in seven performances April 30-May 9 at Z Space at Theater Artaud in San Francisco. The large-scale, evening-length work is inspired by the beauty and fragility of the natural world and W. S. Merwin's poetry (from which it takes its title) and explores the interrelationship between humanity and the environment. Choreographed and directed by Deborah Slater with co-director and dramaturge Jayne Wenger, "Men Think They Are Better Than Grass" incorporates text, animation, visual design, an original score and video. The work uses interactive technology to create a stage environment that changes over time, through a web component that will be uniquely different from performance to performance. This reciprocity between art, technology, and the stage--artistically innovative, participatory and solution-oriented--is at the heart of "Men Think They Are Better Than Grass" and will shape the creative process and the performance experience for artists and audiences alike.

Slater has assembled an award-winning creative team for the premiere that includes composers Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi and Thom Blum, webmaster Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang, stage designer Mikiko Uesugi, lighting designer Allen Willner, dramaturge and co-director Jayne Wenger; and DSDT's nine-member performance ensemble. "Men Think They Are Better Than Grass" is produced in association with Z Space at Theater Artaud.

Official Website: http://deborahslater.org