DAVID HERRERA PERFORMANCE COMPANY
Celebrating 17 years of innovative, thought-provoking dance;
Promoting Latinx Voices via modern American Movement
2007 -2024
Best Modern Dance Company, Runner-up 2024, "Bestie" Bay Area Reporter
Best Dance Company, Runner-up 2022 by "Best of the Bay"
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Photos: Alexa "LexMex" Treviño
ÓRALE!
Co-presented by Z Space
September 7-9, 2023
Z Space
San Francisco, CA
Featuring the choreography by leading national Latinx dance artists Alfonso Cervera (Los Angeles & Ohio), Eric Garcia (San Francisco), David Herrera (San Francisco), Stephanie Martinez (Chicago, IL), Gabriel Mata (Washington D.C.), and Yvonne Montoya (Tucson, AZ) and the
live music by Chicano living legend El Vez (Robert Lopez) and the Memphis Mariachis, DHPCo. creates a magical and explosive contemporary dance experience of Latinx/e celebration! Rambunctious, lucid, and celebratory, a mix between dream and reality, encompassing all things Latinx! Part dance, part rock concert, part cabaret, part circus....its a spectacle of grandiosity. Touching on the lived realities and complexities of a diverse Latinx/e community in a multi-cultural U.S. society, from Immigrants to "Pochos" , and everyone in between, Órale is sure to bring a smile to your face, make you want to groove in your seat, and brings you closer to understanding the vibrancy and richness Latinx/e communities bring to American culture!
Órale! also features a multi-cultural cast of 10 of the Bay Area's best dancers.
Órale you are invited to the Fiesta!
Artistic Director: David Herrera
Live Music: El VEZ and the Memphis Mariachis
Guest Choreography:
Alfonso Cervera
Eric Garcia
Stephanie Martinez
Gabriel Mata
Yvonne Montoya
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Choreographic Collaborators/Dancers:
Nico Maimon, Edgar Aguirre, Bianca Cabrera, Fabiana Santiago, Emily Hansel,
Brooke Terry, Madi McGain, Valerie Mendez, Angel Velez, and Juan Ruiz
Other Contributing Collaborators: Katie Florez and Maya Diaz-Vallalta
Rehearsal Director: Leesha Zieber
Ass. Rehearsal Director: Yayoi Kambara
Light Design: Ray Oppenheimer
Ass. Light Design: Victoria Langlands
Scenic Design: Rogelio Lopez
Costumes Design: Ismael Acosta
Sound Design: Michael Creason
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Órale! was partially funded by:
California Arts Council, Zellerbach Family Foundation,
San Francisco Arts Commission, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and
Erna and Laura Clifford Charitable Fund.
Supported by: Dancers Group and Z Space
David was recently interviewed by Olivia Horton for KRON Channel 4's "Live! In the Bay". Hear him speak about all things ÓRALE!, the Latinx community in dance, and more. WATCH HERE then go reserve your tickets to the show!
David Herrera Performance Company
Co-Curates the Yerba Buena Gardens Choreofest September 2023
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest, orignally programmed by RAWdance, opens a new chapter co-curated by David Herrera Performance Company (Artistic Director David Herrera) and PUSH Dance Company (Artistic Director Raissa Simpson and Associate Artistic Director Ashley Gayle). The two-weekend festival of site-specific work set for Fall 2023 showcases the extravagant creativity, diversity and vibrancy of the Bay Area dance scene.
The new co-curators lay the groundwork for a dance festival promoting and presenting contemporary, modern hip hop and global dance forms. Together, DHPCo. and PUSH Dance Company have designed the sixth annual YBG ChoreoFest with extraordinary performances throughout the Gardens’ lawns and architecture by an array of distinguished local dance companies.
Photo: Amal Bisharat
In addition to co-curating the festival, DHPCo. will also premiere a new site-specific work in the gardens.
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Saturday September 30, 2023
1pm-3pm
Yerba Buena Gardens
San Francisco, CA
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Cast:
Nico Maimon
Fabiana Santiago
Jenelle Gaerlen
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Full Festival:
Saturday September 23 & 30, 2023
Featuring
DHPCo.
PUSH Dance Company
Noorani Dance
Fullstop Dance
Mix'd Ingredients
Turfeinz
Snowflake Calvert
Lily Cai Dance Company
March 30 - April 2, 2022
Z Space, San Francisco
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Thank You For Joining DHPCo. for a Sold Out Run!
Keep a look out for the Encore Virtual Presentation Coming Soon!
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DHPCo's. anticipated return to the live dance performance, The Tip of My Tongue explores how non-English or mixed-English minority communities in the United States use language and communication practices as tools for cultural visibility, perseverance, and connection to other cultures. The work also challenges the "This is America, Speak English!" mindset held by a dominant English speaking culture set on assimilation and erasure of non-English languages.
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Director David Herrera, guest choreographer Antoine Hunter, and the 6 dancers all represent multi-lingual, bi-lingual, minority, and immigrant communities. This includes Latinx, Black, Japanese, Mixed-Race, Indigineous, Immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and Deaf individuals. Associated languages within the artistic team include Spanish, Portuguese, ASL, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanglish, and English. Featuring original musical composition by D. Riley Nicholson.
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Extrapolating from their real life experiences and referencing the visible increase of language violence, the team addressed the following questions in creating this new work:
How do differentiating views come to an understanding when words are taken away and our bodies are the only source of communication? How is language instrumental in self-determination and community building? In the U.S., where and how does language, history, and identity intersect?
Artistic Director: David Herrera
Choreographic Collaborators/Dancers: Katie Florez, Erik Debono,
Olivia Caldeira Holston, Nicole Maimon, Sawako Gannon, Brandon Graham
Guest Choreography by: Antoine Hunter
Light Design: Ray Oppenheimer
Music: D. Riley Nicholson
Media & Set : Olivia Ting and Annette Janotta
Costumes: Ismael Acosta
Vocalist: Amy Foote
Other Choreographic collaborators: Vincent Chavez & Samuel Melecio-Zambrano
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$30 General
$50 Supporter
$75 VIP Patron of the Arts
Financial hardship and artist discount
please email us at admin@dhperformance.org for code
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The Tip of My Tongue was partially funded by:
Zellerbach Family Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission,
Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and CA$H Grant
Supported by: Dancers' Group and Z Space
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Photo: Lara Kaur