Review: ODC/Dance presents “Dance Downtown” March 5-8, 2026 Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco, CA

Don’t miss your chance to see Caught in the Act, part of a trio of fresh works in ODC Dance Downtown at the Blue Shield Theater of California, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, March 5-8, 2026.

The dancers of ODC/Dance morph in startling ways in the sparkling reality-warping premiere Caught in the Act, by guest choreographer Gypsy Snider, known to local audiences as the producer, co-writer and director/choreographer of Dear San Francisco (now in its 5^th year at North Beach’s famed Club Fugazi). 

Performers are people, but are people performers? The vibe is disco-casual.  The theatrics are beguiling. Snider and company invite us to be insiders, luring us into believing we know what comes next, only to defy expectations at each turn.

The contemporary choreography draws from numerous sources: devised theater, burlesque, circus, and acrobatics. Dancers walk backwards on their hands, cartwheel through each other’s arms, and throw off the occasional back- handspring. Colton Wall, with his deep background in gymnastics, tumbles daringly over his colleagues.  Snider relishes drawing the dancers outside their comfort zones, while also tempting us beyond our own.  I don’t want to risk spoiling the surprises with too many details. Suffice it to say, you should go!

Colton Wall, riding the wave, in Caught in the Act by Gypsy Snider. Photo by Natalia Roberts

Prompted by the 20^th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, After the Deluge, with choreography by Brenda Way, is relentless and bleak.  The dancers look small and inconsequential set against Video Designer RJ Muna’s abstract ariel close-ups of rocky terrain.  These images evolve from cool and icy, to warm and watery, to grey cracking mud flats, as the aftermath of the disaster proves more deadly than the event itself.

Despite the characters’ fervent efforts to survive as conditions degrade, they seem powerless to effect change.  Dragging prone bodies offstage by their feet, waving a shirt overhead in a plea for help, running desperately in circles, collapsing into sleeping piles, these humans struggle against each other and destiny.  The music is melancholic and unremitting, with the low piano notes of Max Ritcher’s “Infra 6” and the heavy bass and cello chords of Michael Gordon’s “Weather One,” setting an insistent meter.

As the landscape dries and desperation takes hold, Designer Kyo Yohena’s costumes gradually transform from silky satin nightclothes to mud encrusted cottons. The performers get ever grimier.

Near the end, a new character arrives in the form of Jenna Marie, dressed in a pristine skirt and sweater set. As the hopeful strains of Chad Lawson’s “Peludium in C Major” resonate, she finds Wall alone onstage. They dance, mirroring and supporting each other.  Righting him from his upturned shoulder-supported-crouch, Marie carries him slung sideways across her hip. It isn’t clear if she is a savior of sorts, as he seems to comfort her, as much as she him. When an explosion of dust fills the backdrop, obscuring the world, and darkness quickly falls upon the couple, hope seems elusive and foolhardy.

Joanne Kim in After the Deluge by Brenda Way. Photo by Natalia Roberts

Mia J. Chong’s Theories of Time (2025) looks amazing in this restaging on the large proscenium stage at YBCA. Those who, like I, missed this work when it premiered this past summer at ODC Theater, are in for a treat! Percussionist Andy Meyerson and guitarist Travis Andrews (both of The Living Earth Show) perform from a place of honor upstage right.  The music, arranged by Minna Choi (Magik*Magik Orchestra founder and Artistic Director) draws from the work of Luxembourgish jazz musician, composer, percussionist Pascal Schumacher, and German house and classical crossover producer/DJ Henrik Schwartz. Toying with time, through both strong consistent beats and escalating or decreasing tempi, the rhythms of the marimba set the stage for dancing which throbs with the barely contained pulses of twitching, twisting torsos, before surprising us with sharp explosive forays followed by contemplative sustained stillnesses.

There is a unique angularity in the dancers’ forms here.  Whether leaping, or spinning, being lifted or conveyed by others, arms and legs are held slightly bent. When working in pairs or interactive groups, the dancers’ body parts interact with their partners’ in sequential canon, conjuring human Rube Goldberg machines. The uniform color of the electric-blue mesh-paneled costumes by Christian Squires, doing double duty here as Costume Designer and dancer, lends itself to the idea of bodies as cogs in a machine.

Christian Squires in Theories of Time by Mia J. Chong. Photo by Natalia Roberts

There is a refreshing boldness in how Chong and her artistic team deploy their ideas. As a former company member, she knows her cast well, and adeptly uses their strengths to craft rapturous solos for each. Weaving the individual dances throughout the piece allows us time to narrow our focus before the large ensemble plunges in from the edges once more, with gusto and zest.

Facing away, Jaime Garcia Castilla lays writhing in a pool of light, the air filled with haze. In the shadows, the slight outline of a stationary group of people stands. There is something voyeuristic about watching Castilla’s vulnerability as he rises to dance in earnest, offering his chest to a heavenly light, slipping down into front splits, his hands tucked behind his back, before gaining confidence and gamely tossing and catching an imaginary ball en route to join the mysterious crowd.  Looping time back periodically, the ball tossing sequence reappears several times during the 20-minute dance.

Caitlin Hicks, center reaching up, in Theories of Time by Mia J. Chong. Photo by Natalia Roberts

Building on a unique history with ODC from student to dancer to staging director, and now, Co-Artistic Director, Theories of Time is Chong’s first choreographic work on ODC/Dance.  If the quality of this work, and her astute choices of top-notch collaborators, is a gauge of what we can expect from Chong, as she steps more fully into her artistic leadership role, ODC/Dance and San Francisco audiences are in good hands for many years to come.

Review by Jen Norris, published March 6, 2026

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Production Credits

ODC/Dance presents Dance Downtown

March 5-8, 2026 Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA

Theories of Time (2025)

Choreography: Mia J. Chong

Lighting Design: Thomas Bowersox

Costume Design: Christian Squires

Live Music: Andy Meyerson – Percussion & Travis Andrews - Guitar

Musical Arrangement & Production: Minna Choi

Music Credits: Prelude to Robert M (The Mudam Session) - Pascal Schumacher, Walk Music Four - Henrik Schwarz, Drops - Pascal Schumacher, & Unknown Touch - Henrik Schwarz

Dancers: Jeremy Bannon-Neches, Rachel Furst, Jaime Garcia Castilla, Christian Squires, Colton Wall, Joanne Kim, Addison Norman, Caitlin Hicks, & Ja’Moon Jones

Caught in the Act (World Premiere) 

Concept and Direction: Gypsy Snider

Assistant Choreographer: Mia J. Chong

Lighting and Scenic Design: Alexander V. Nichols

Costume Design: Jamielyn Duggan

Sound Design: Colin Gagné

Dancers: Jeremy Bannon-Neches, Rachel Furst, Jaime Garcia Castilla, Christian Squires, Colton Wall, Joanne Kim, Addison Norman, Caitlin Hicks, & Ja’Moon Jones

After the Deluge (World Premiere) 

Choreography: Brenda Way

Lighting Design: Alexander V. Nichols

Costume Design: Kyo Yohena

Video Design: RJ Muna

Music Credits: Said and Done - Nils Frahm, Infra 6 - Max Ritcher, Weather One - Michael Gordon, & Preludium in C Major - Chad Lawson

Dancers: Jeremy Bannon-Neches, Rachel Furst, Jaime Garcia Castilla, Christian Squires, Jenna Marie, Colton Wall, Joanne Kim, Addison Norman, Caitlin Hicks, Ja’Moon Jones, & Sarah Emmons*

*Guest Artist