{"id":34036,"date":"2024-05-29T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=34036"},"modified":"2024-05-29T13:03:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T20:03:23","slug":"letting-the-beautiful-light-of-s-f-s-tenderloin-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/29\/letting-the-beautiful-light-of-s-f-s-tenderloin-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Letting the \u2018beautiful light\u2019 of S.F.\u2019s Tenderloin shine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Rachel Howard May 28, 2024 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shanan Liu, left, and Chibueze Crouch during rehearsals on the set of \u201cTowards Opulence, the Opera,\u201d which features songs and dances derived from their personal writings and stories in San Francisco, on May 20.Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

News headlines tell one story of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin, painting a picture of a seedy enclave overrun with sidewalk tent encampments, crime and fentanyl where, on average, two people a day die from overdoses. But walk into Dance Mission Theater for a Skywatchers rehearsal and you\u2019d hear a very different story, delivered by the Tenderloin\u2019s own residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are a powerful people,\u201d the two-dozen Skywatchers cast members sang in rich unison during a recent rehearsal for the group\u2019s next production, \u201cTowards Opulence, the Opera,\u201d slated to open at Dance Mission on Friday, May 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the chorus quieted on this Monday afternoon, lead artist Shakiri stepped in, rearranging the ensemble, whose members are Black, white and Asian, and dressed in everything from purple yoga pants to a pirate hat.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake space when you\u2019ve got something to say, and give space when someone else has something to say,\u201d Shakiri said, as Skywatchers founder Anne Bluethenthal showed Lauren Swiger how to sweep up her castmate Lotus Miller and carry her lovingly across the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee it as a dance,\u201d Bluethenthal added, crouching and lifting Miller\u2019s trusting body. \u201cThis<\/em> is part of the dance.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot of embracing at a Skywatchers gathering, both in rehearsal and after, but there\u2019s ample fierce defiance too. Performers deliver lines like, \u201cI call bull\u2014, \u201d calling out gaslighters who deny what the show calls \u201cthe root system of our essential opulence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re walking a line, not running away from what is difficult, but also not exploiting or pandering or presenting all the images of the Tenderloin people are used to seeing,\u201d Bluethenthal told the Chronicle after rehearsal. \u201cWithout denying the conditions of life in the Tenderloin, \u2018Towards Opulence\u2019 is an act of resistance because we\u2019re imagining our richest lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As cast member Dorian Brockington put it, just before catching a bus back to his Tenderloin apartment: \u201cThere\u2019s a beautiful light in the Tenderloin if you open your eyes to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bluethenthal learned this firsthand by spending more than a dozen years immersed in the downtown neighborhood. She founded Skywatchers in 2011, driven by \u201can existential crisis\u201d about her three decades of making dance on political themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people who were most directly affected by the subjects I was passionate about \u2014 those people weren\u2019t author to the work, they weren\u2019t performing the work and they weren\u2019t witnessing the work,\u201d Bluethenthal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searching for a sustainable combination of political art and community, Bluethenthal visited the Tenderloin National Forest, a former so-called crack alley on the 500 block of Ellis Street that was turned into a green space in 1989 and is anchored by a redwood now six-stories tall. As she began meeting neighborhood residents, the richness of their stories compelled her to keep returning. One such resident of the Senator Hotel told Bluethenthal, \u201cI\u2019m a skywatcher because I live on the top floor, I look out my window and I see the children.\u201d That\u2019s how the budding theater community got its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTowards Opulence, the Opera\u201d: <\/strong>Skywatchers. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 31-June 1, and 5 p.m. Sunday, June 2. $20-$100, sliding scale. Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., S.F. www.dancemissiontheater.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Skywatchers performance used recorded interviews as a soundtrack, with residents of the SROs dancing alongside. After that show, weekly Skywatchers meetings spread from one SRO to another, with the group\u2019s circle now held at the Kelly Cullen Community Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Skywatchers has produced or collaborated on more than 20 works, including 2017\u2019s \u201cI Got a Truth to Tell\u201d and 2019\u2019s \u201cCame Here to Live: Resilience and Resistance in the Containment Zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2019, Joel Yates walked into the circle, while recovering from renal failure. Staying sober \u201cwas just really isolating,\u201d he recalled. His first entrance to the group was intimidating, but \u201cthen they opened up with freewriting, and that was my comfort level.\u201d Eventually, Yates became one of the group\u2019s six lead artists, a paid position. (All cast members are also paid hourly for rehearsal and performance time.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A committed father and passionate poet, Yates styled himself as \u201cThe Eternal Elegist\u201d for the series of self-portraits titled \u201cTowards Opulence\u201d that led to this opera, with his life-size photo adorning a Muni bus terminal. His voice rings clear and strong as he sings \u201cWe are truth tellers, we are love warriors\u201d at the show\u2019s close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis McCauley\u2019s voice may be fainter, but his testimony to the group\u2019s power is no less striking. A resident of the Tenderloin for 10 years, he joined Skywatchers two years ago when a longtime member brought him in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to be around positive people, positive energy,\u201d McCauley said, noting that he was homeless for three and a half years. \u201cI was on drugs, and now I\u2019m clean and sober because of Skywatchers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead songwriter Melanie DeMore said she knows that \u201cSkywatchers is a lifeline for many of our members.\u201d An original member of Linda Tillery\u2019s legendary Cultural Heritage Choir, DeMore travels the country leading workshops at universities, but when she\u2019s home in the Bay Area, she spends Tuesdays in the Tenderloin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe ask the community members, \u2018How would you like to be known, and how would you like to be seen and heard?\u2019 \u201d DeMore said. \u201cMy job is to help them put that into the song only they can write. It doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. It just has to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Howard is a freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/entertainment\/article\/skywatcher-opulence-opera-tenderloin-19456181.php?utm_content=cta&sid=53b8a5219dbcd4db6500018b&ss=P&st_rid=null&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rachel Howard May 28, 2024 (SFChronicle.com) Shanan Liu, left, and Chibueze Crouch during rehearsals on the set of \u201cTowards Opulence, the Opera,\u201d which features songs and dances derived from their personal writings and stories in San Francisco, on May 20.Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle News headlines tell one story of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin,… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34036"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34039,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036\/revisions\/34039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}