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Consequence of [Sound]s
A music box performance, endangered alphabets, a Pride weekend film screening, and Saturday morning cartoons
Music is three-dimensional. I don’t know if everyone sees it this way, or even sees sound at all, but when I listen to a song, every note holds a place in space and time. When I close my eyes, I can track sound as it moves forwards and backwards; up and down; fast and slow. Part of why I love dance is that it gives sound a human form, with every movement breathing bodily life into each note. I’ve read my share of neurologist Oliver Sacks, but if none of this resonates, it may be high time I order myself Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. And maybe a brain scan.
Witness music physically captured in a box, dance alongside San Francisco Ballet, and bring endangered alphabets back from the brink of extinction, all this week in the Bay Area.
Other Dimensions In Sound: Sidney Chen
Category: Music
Date: Friday, June 27th @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Some of us spent the pandemic coaxing bacteria out of sourdough starters; Sidney Chen built music boxes. Singer-musician Chen has performed as a bass-baritone with ODC/Dance and vocal ensembles across SF and NY, but childlike curiosity got the better of him when he started tinkering with homemade music boxes. Chen now builds DIY music boxes to play anything from the Schitt’s Creek theme song to Bach and will be performing a variety of his music box works, including an arrangement-in-progress as part of Medicine for Nightmare’s Other Dimensions in Sound series.
Dress Rehearsal: Dance-Along with San Francisco Ballet
Category: Dance
Date: Saturday, June 28th @ 10am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Legion of Honor (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Because I can’t wait until Nutcracker to get my dose of San Francisco Ballet. SFB is leading a family-friendly dance workshop as part of the Legion of Honor’s Dress Rehearsal: The Art of Theatrical Design exhibition. The exhibition honors the museum’s roots, as Legion of Honor co-founder Alma de Bretteville Spreckels donated the collection of early 20th century Ballets Russes materials currently on display. The workshop is intended to bring the exhibition to life and make beauty of dance accessible to all; no pointe shoes or rhythm required.
Opening Reception | What Beauty Is For…
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, June 28th @ 5pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: SHOH Gallery (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: This opening reception is also a bittersweet closing celebration. SHOH Gallery has been serving the Bay Area for almost a decade, but What Beauty Is For… will be its final exhibition. The Gilman District gallery has focused its energies on connecting local collectors with artists from the Bay, and this last show will highlight some of their favorites artists from over the years. Raise a glass, grab a nibble, and cheer SHOH Gallery for all they’ve done to foster fine arts in the Bay.
Film Screening & Discussion | Assembly
Category: Film
Date: Friday, June 27th @ 5:45pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Herbst Theater (SF)
Price Range: $28
Why I Care: The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) may be temporarily closed for renovations, but that hasn’t stopped them from supporting events across San Francisco. Frameline49 and MoAD are screening Assembly, a new film by Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons that explores ballroom culture, music, and Afro-futurism in the age of AI. MoAD’s Cultural Critic-in-Residence, Dr. Artel Great, will lead a panel discussion with both directors, after which you can follow the crowd to Frameline’s Pride Kickoff Party for SF Pride Weekend.
A special shoutout to Theresa Brockett, fellow panel mate and art adventurer, for her recent appointment as Director of Development at MoAD. We’re so proud to be a part of your journey!
Indigenous Red Market
Category: Music & Dance
Date: Sunday, July 6th @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Native American Health Center (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Indigenous Red Market is back on the cal! The Native American Health Center first launched the event to foster healthcare accessibility in the Indigenous community, but the market has since evolved into a celebration of arts, music, and culture that is open to all. This coming event will include an Indigenous alt-rock band and a number of dance groups including Powwow and Apache Crown dancers.
Endangered Alphabets: Beyond the Borders of Writing
Category: Literary
Date: Tuesday, July 1st @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Letterform Archive - VIRTUAL (SF / Everywhere)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Only 3% of the world’s population speak 96% of our planet’s six-thousand plus languages; Tim Brookes is on a mission to prevent their linguistic extinction. The published author has toured educational institutions across the globe advocating for and exhibiting carvings of languages on the cusp of erasure. Brookes will lead Endangered Alphabets as part of Letterform Archive’s online lecture series to discuss his reasoning and strategy behind preserving marginalized written scripts.
Enjoy during that mythical reprieve called a lunch break before returning to jumbles of our own 26 characters on Slack.
Minnesota Street Project: Saturday Morning Cartoons
Category: Film & Art
Date: Saturday, June 28th @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Minnesota Street Project (SF)
Price Range: $20
Why I Care: A nostalgia for simpler times is in the air. Minnesota Street Project is upgrading your skim milk and sugary shamrocks to pastries, coffee, and mimosas for their Saturday Morning Cartoons series. This screening of vintage cartoons is in conjunction with Casemore Gallery’s You, the Performer exhibition and will include a discussion on the history of animation in relation to the works on display.
Interested in learning more on the history of animation? Check out
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Next Drop: Monday, July 7th
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