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 Best of the Bay 2009: Arts and Nightlife

                           EDITORS PICKS
                   Wednesday July 29, 2009

         BEST COMMUNITY CHOREOGRAPHERS

A collective howl went up in 1995 when it was announced
that the annual festival Black Choreographers: Moving
into the 21st Century at Theater Artaud was ending due
in part to lack of funding. But two East Bay dancers,
Laura Elaine Ellis and Kendra Kimbrough Barnes, actually
did something about it, working to ensure that African-
American dancers and dance-makers received attention
for the range and spirit of their work. It took 10 years,
but in 2005, Ellis and Kimbrough Barnes helped launch
Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now, which
takes place every February in San Francisco and
Oakland. The three-week event is a fabulous way for a
community to celebrate itself and to invite everyone to
the party. While the choreographers' range of talent
and imagination has been impressive — and getting
better every year — the performances are merely the
icing on the cake. Master classes, mentoring
opportunities for emerging artists, and a technical
theater-training program for local high school and
college students are building a dance infrastructure the
next generation can plug into.