Company Wayne McGregor plans West Coast Premiere

Members of Company Wayne McGregor (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)

The second of the two offerings in the San Francisco Performances (SFP) Dance Series will present the fourth appearance by Company Wayne McGregor. The British choreographer has created an uninterrupted 80-minute composition entitled “Autobiography,” which was first performed at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London on October 7, 2017. Created for his company of ten dancers, McGregor’s piece will be given its West Coast premiere by virtue of his visit to SFP.

The title refers to the fact that the dance has been structured around 23 influences, artifacts, and/or memories that have played an important role in the choreographer’s life. Most readers will probably recognize 23 as the number of chromosomes that form the human genome. One may thus call Autobiography a choreographic study that explores relationships between heredity and environment. The dance will be performed to a tape music composition by electronic musician Jlin, which mixes industrial sounds (Jlin is a former steel worker from Gary, Indiana), birdsongs, and recorded music.

This piece will be given three performances, beginning at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, March 8, Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10. These will take place in the YBCA Theater, which is located in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) at 700 Howard Street, on the northwest corner of Third Street. Ticket prices are $65, $55, and $40. For advice purchase online, YCBA has created an event page with a pull-down menu for selecting the specific date. This includes an interactive seating plan, which shows which seats are available at which prices and which seats are wheelchair accessible.

In addition, McGregor and his dancers will host the next SFP Family Matinee Series event. The programs in this series have been conceived to engage young audiences, and McGregor will select appropriate excerpts of his work for the occasion. This event will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10; and it will also take place at the YBCA Theatre. Children are admitted for $15 with a $25 charge for accompanying adults. The pull-down menu on the aforementioned event page also includes an option for ordering tickets for this performance.