Dates
Feb 14: Workshop - Poetics of Action
by Cass Tunick & Shinichi Iova-Koga
Event Concluded
Feb 15: The Smallest Country
by Cass Tunick & Shinichi Iova-Koga
Event Concluded
RAWdance
Feb 22, 2026 - 3-4pm
RAWdance will be using the residency time to explore the early seeds of a brand new work, “Echo,” a dance installation project that will premiere in fall 2026 through a residency commission from San Francisco’s 836M Gallery. The work draws its inspiration from the tragic Greco-Roman myth of Narcissus and Echo, in which the cursed Echo is able only to repeat the last words uttered to her, and the beautiful Narcissus dies after becoming obsessed with his own reflection. The tale feels freshly resonant in our current era of proliferating reflective technologies, from social media algorithms to AI feedback loops, that center a user’s data, patterns, belief systems, and desires. “Echo” asks: how do these multiplying reflections and refractions shape the way we see ourselves and each other? In this initial phase at Jane St. Art, the company will begin playing and exploring ideas, working towards honing the direction of the fall’s creative process.
RAWdance is an award-winning, bicoastal, contemporary dance company that transforms theaters and public spaces through a mix of performance, collaboration, production, and film. Since its founding in 2004, the company has been led by Co-Artistic Directors Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein, who have been described by Fjord Review as “dance partners with a wonderfully extroverted impulse to weave dance into civic and social life.” Working in both San Francisco and in New York’s Hudson Valley, the company’s activities include both the creation and performance of original work as well as community-focused programming, production, a fellowship program, and teaching.
SF Chronicle has described RAWdance as ”witty, whip-smart, and beautiful to watch.” Critical Dance called it a “rare treasure” that “combines choreographic excellence, innovative structures, groundbreaking concepts and impeccable performances.” RAWdance held the title of “Best Dance Company” in the SF Bay Guardian/48 Hills “Best of the Bay” from 2019 through 2024. In 2025, RAWdance was honored with a Sustained Achievement “Izzie” (Isadora Duncan Dance Award) for outstanding and sustained performance.
A Home Company of San Francisco’s ODC Theater, RAWdance’s innovative, original works for the stage have been presented across the U.S. and in Asia by The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 62’ Center for Theatre and Dance, Dance St. Louis, Redflag Theater (China), Singapore Fringe Festival, and more. Site specific and alternative works have been presented by Art Omi, the Clark Institute, ACLU of Northern California, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and others. The company’s short dance films have been screened in festivals on four continents. Development of the company’s artistic process has been supported by national residencies at institutions such as Djerassi, Marble House Project, National Center for Choreography in Akron, and Ucross, as well as local spaces such as Zaccho Dance Theatre, 836M Gallery, DZINE, and CounterPulse.
RAWdance prioritizes nontraditional venues as well as the theater, placing dance in the public sphere to bring different communities together and weave dance into everyday life. The company has created free, accessible, performances for parks, libraries, restaurants, civic spaces, galleries, retail storefronts, the top of San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower, and more.
In addition to creating and performing original work, RAWdance focuses many of its resources on producing platforms for the dance community, including the ever popular CONCEPT series salon (ongoing) and its curation of Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest (2017-2022). In 2021, RAWdance launched its Radiate Fellowship program. RAWdance’s Co-Directors have been commissioned to teach and set work in schools across the country, as well as professional companies including MADCO, Ziru Dance, and Sacramento Opera.
Clouds from a Crumbling giant
inkBoat
Mar 1, 2026 - 3-4pm
Clouds from a Crumbling Giant lingers in the spaces of time between human incarnations, the broken and boundless bodies. Within the waiting room of the afterlife, consciousness folds in upon itself as a group of wandering souls re-enact their corporeal memories.
inkBoat, founded in 1998, continually invites in the collaborative voices of artists who meet in uncertain territories. The company brings together disparate backgrounds in Noh Theater, Corporeal Mime, Butoh Dance, Physical Theater, and unconventional orchestrations involving acoustic instruments, sound design and nostalgic wonderment.
Shinichi Iova-Koga directs this rumination on being and non-being in collaboration with Dana Iova-Koga, Jubilith Moore, Elke Luyten, Cass Tunick, Dan Cantrell, Adria Otte and Shahzad Ismaily.
This showing is part of a development process that will premiere in San Francisco this April 30 - May 3, 2026.
About the Artists
For over three decades Jubilith has been on a quest to embody the essences of beauty and grace. Nohgaku has been her greatest teacher. With its inherent, time-tested and unique principles she is learning how to be, both on stage and in life.
Elke emerges from Corporeal Mime, a French codified theatre technique based upon placing geometry and resistance in the body; following a kind of unified field theory, physical forces in the body then translate into the metaphysical.
Cass is a lineage-holder, senior teacher and organizational director for Action Theater. She directs, creates and performs theater works that invite collaborations across media – film, music, modern dance, Butoh and Aikido.
Shinichi’s 35-year history with Butoh lurks within his presence, while his commitment to the art of improvisation unearth actions not beholden to a particular tradition. A lifetime in the martial arts and his deep investigation into the Daoist internal arts deeply inform his concepts of body, energy and motion.
Dana has been deeply investigating the intersection of dance and biological life, starting with her time on Min Tanaka’s farm several decades ago. Her movement research centers around the cultivation of an evolving, responsive, and animate practice.
Shahzad is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly as a bass guitar player, and record producer. He is a member of Marc Ribot's trio Ceramic Dog since its formation in 2006. He also plays with Secret Chiefs 3 and Cosa Brava.
Dan is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw.
Adria Otte is a musician, composer, sound engineer, and educator that has a passion for using music technology to expand the possibilities of live performance. Her eclectic musical background includes classical violin studies, electric guitar and bass in rock bands, traditional Korean drumming, free improvisation, and experimental electronic music.