Wanda's Picks Radio Show

1. Byb Chanel Bibene, director, Kiadanda Dance Theater, joins us to talk about his latest work, "Oyo Biso-Spirits of the Garden at EastSide Arts Theatre, Nov. 7-8, 8 p.m. Oyo is a part of Nava Dance Theatre, the theme: Artists in Reponse to State Violence and Gentrification. 

Bibene is a choreographer and performer working in theater and contemporary dance. His work often includes a sense of actual place and/or performed on location. An excerpted Oyo premiered, Sept. 2015, as a part of SF Trolley Dances. Bibene says the Nava version has the same vocabulary, with different music, added poetry and another dancer.  It is going to be interesting to see how the work is adapted and expanded to fit an enclosed space. How does one's garden grow philosophically when the plain is disappeared or evaporating or just too small to hold the concept?

In San Francisco, the setting was a large community garden smack in the middle of Bayview Hunter's Point, (Third & Palou), the corner a busy thoroughfare. Yet, when we stepped into the sanctuary all was suspended. Bibene's technical and aesthetic sensibility, rooted in the culture and dances of his country of origin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, are evident. Africa travels with him aesthetically as iconic references of the transport and dislocations -- both physicially and spiritually, show up in the soil of his movement, memories carried within the bodies of his company dancers, who, specifically in "Oyo" move and are moved in surprising ways. The inclusion of silences within the landscape also allow spirit to hover just within reach. It was pretty amazing, as will be its re-visioning this weekend. Visit http://www.kiandanda-dance.com/about/byb-chanel-bibene

2. From the Archives: Artist, Bryan Keith Thomas Visit http://museumca.org/exhibit/rituals-remembrance