Dance Accompanied by Live Music at Fort Mason

Four of the dancers in the Mark Foehringer Dance Project (from the Media Web page on the Mark Foehringer Dance Project Web site)

At the end of November in 2017, the audience in Herbst Theatre enjoyed a performance by choreographer Brian Brooks dancing with Wendy Whelan to present his one-hour composition Some of a Thousand Words. Unlike most dance concerts, this one involved music performed by the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, consisting of violinists Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violist Nicholas Cords, and cellist Michael Nicolas. They were situated at the rear of the stage on which Brooks and Whelan performed, making for a rare opportunity for the dancers to engage with the in-the-moment performance of the musicians.

Such “real-time” engagement between dance in music is, sadly, encountered all too rarely, at least once one progresses beyond the performances by the San Francisco Ballet in the War Memorial Opera House. Fortunately, an opportunity will arise next weekend in a program of four contemporary ballets created by Mark Foehringer. The Mark Foehringer Dance Project Ensemble will present a program entitled Like An OX On The Roof & Other Dances. The program will consist of two world premieres and a restaging of two audience favorites from the company’s repertory. All four of the offerings will be presented with live musical accompaniment.

Sadly (at least for the music lovers), specifics about the compositions themselves have not been announced. Fortunately, the Friction Quartet of violinists Otis Harriel and Kevin Rogers, violist Taija Warbelow, and cellist Doug Machiz has announced that they will be performing at this concert. They further announced that they will be playing Benjamin Britten’s Opus 4, which he called “Simple Symphony.” This was originally scored for string orchestra; but it has the ability to stand up reliably to one-to-a-part playing. According to Foehringer’s Web site, the other composers contributing to the program will be Franz Liszt, Darius Milhaud, and Ernest Bloch.

Like An OX On The Roof & Other Dances will be given two performances, both at 8 p.m., on March 22 and 23. The performances will take place in the Cowell Theater at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. The entrance to the Center is located in the Marina near East Harbor, where northbound Laguna Street ends and turns left into Beach Street. Ticket prices are $22.50, $32.50, and $42.50. Tickets for both concerts may be purchased from the same Web page, which has a pull-down menu for selecting the date.