Times Bones October 18, 2012

Oct. 18-20, at 8 pm, Oct. 21 at 7 pm

A cornerstone of the cultural fabric of San Francisco for almost four decades, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (MJDC) celebrates its 39th season with special preview performances of the new work, Times Bones, created by Margaret Jenkins in collaboration with her company of eight dancers, as well as long-time collaborators Michael Palmer, recipient of the 2006 Wallace Stevens award for poetry; Alexander V. Nichols, a prolific and critically acclaimed set, lighting and installation designer for opera, film, dance and theater; and Paul Dresher, Guggenheim Fellow and internationally celebrated composer.

Reflecting back over four decades of making dance, Times Bones explores Jenkins fascination with and examination of the "bones" of her past repertory to see what episodes resonate and suggest a new way to move forward. "What are the stories left untold...?" she asks, elaborating that, "This will not be a re-mounting of old work in a retrospective format. We are studying and learning older work in order to propel us to create new movement, a contemporary reflection and inquiry of my past in order to propose the questions of our future."

For Times Bones designer Alexander V. Nichols is utilizing Kanbar Hall, the 400 seat theater at the JCCSF, and the building's exquisite atrium in the performance. The dance will begin with a prelude in the Pottruck Family Atrium, a sweeping light-filled space spanning three floors. Mirroring Jenkins' own journey from her early site-specific work and studio-based projects into the traditional venues of her later evening-length works, the dancers and the audience will pass into the main theater of Kanbar Hall where an intricate moveable wall will grace the stage creating portals through which the dancers will move and be seen.

Official Website: http://www.mjdc.org