no quarter by larry arrington

january 2020 at ODC Theatre

photos by robbie sweeny

VORTEX by sara shelton mann

january 2020 at the joe goode annex

photos by robbie sweeny

love in the time of piñatas by baruch porras-hernandez

brought to you by epic party theatre
December 2019 at Z Below, SF

photos by robbie sweeny

to become other than dust

by jose e abad, malia byrne, and gaybriel christian
premiered April 2019 at the joe goode annex, sf
photos by robbie sweeny

MAGOS by reyes dance

premiered april 2019 at the joe goode annex

photos by jocelyn reyes

SINK by Keith Hennessy

ECHO by sara shelton mann

featuring jesse zarrit & anya cloud
april 2018 at the joe goode annex
photos by robbie sweeny

Sara (the Smuggler) by Circo Zero

April 2016 at counterpulse, sf
For this production, I listened to recorded interviews between Sara and keith. I made it a part of my process to draw from my deck of i-ching tarot cards as i listened in to this super intimate conversation. From this process of pulling cards, I realized a few themes: orbs of warmth, egg symbology, and light from above. In laying out the cards and noting their similarities, I drew from them a rich texture and color palate.

We celebrate Sara Shelton Mann, a dancer, teacher, healer and her 70 years of story on earth.

photos by robbie sweeny

y basta ya!

a collaboration by NAKA dance theatre and Mujeres Unidas y Activas

June 2019 at the Woman’s Building in the Mission District of SF, CA

Mothership, a series by PUSH Dance Company

Mothership

THE PAST – M1 was born out of questions surrounding national identity, race & xenophobia. Through the lens of Afrofuturism, the 10-min performances challenges traditional notions of race and gender. Most of the queries are rooted in the African diaspora with constant play in shifting viewpoints on historical context of slaveownership and the revisionist theory of the Founding Fathers.

PREMIERED SEPT. 23, 2016

MOTHERSHIP II @ ODC

THE FUTURE – M2 centers on speculative fiction and anti-colonialism to transport the viewer into a world filled with ritual, spirituality and indigenous practices. Simpson’s multimedia design draws upon Afrofuturism as a social movement to utilize Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place,” quote to imagine a future free from racial and gendered harm.
PREMIERED SEPT 22, 2017

Mothership III Highlights

THE PRESENT – M3 is the Present Day. As Simpson explains, “I was particularly interested in Octavia E. Butler and her reasoning for writing stories for Black People in present day life. She was confronted with the question of why is it necessary to have Black Characters in her narratives even if extraterrestrials are omnipresent in science-fiction and made it a point to insert them into her futuristic stories.” M3 borrows from current events and social movements while interrogating actions around defamiliarizing what is socially familiar.

PREMIERED SEPT. 22, 2019