Review: Sharp & Fine perform STORIES AND DREAMS, Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco, November 4 & 5, 2025

Free dance in a sublime open-air setting, on a perfect fall morning, is literally what dreams are made of, if you are me.  

 As I cross the wooden entry bridge into Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Garden, my senses are enlivened. I am here, on this first Tuesday in November for the 10:15 a.m. showing of Sharp and Fine’s Stories and Dreams.  I am curious to see what working in an outdoor public space with a shortened development phase has inspired from Co-Directors Megan and Shannon Kurashige, whose dance-theater works typically blend contemporary dance movement, story-telling, striking visual designs and original live music into unique evening-length tales.

From a half-page program featuring a graphic garden layout I discern that the show consists of bite-sized performances in various locations throughout the Tea Garden, performed in three rounds, the third of which is a finale group performance in Pagoda Plaza.  A quintet of dancers and four musicians, will perform the whole 20-minute cycle hourly at 10:15, 11:15, and 12:15.  

Viewers perch on rocks or low walls facing a soaring red and yellow pagoda, under which a drummer with drum kit and several saxophonists are assembled. A tall yellow-leaved Ginko stands guard, backed by puffy white clouds and a cheerful blue sky, as birds chirp and brooks babble nearby.  It is idyllic.

I am watching a child near the koi pond behind me, when the sound of a saxophone alerts me to the fact that, without introduction, a duet has begun. Charmaine Butcher and Ryan Rouland Smith weave through and around one another. They lunge and reach in tandem, their focus reflecting a shared goal.  Their movement is angular and well-grounded. They, and all the dancers, are dressed in pedestrian clothing and dark rubber-soled shoes, as if they were strolling through the park when the urge to express their experiences in movement overcame them.

Ryan Rouland Smith and Charmaine Butcher performing in Sharp and Fine’s Stories and Dreams. Photo: J. Norris

Behind me, the notes of a second saxophone draw me away from Butcher and Smith and toward the promise of another dance.  Just beyond a pond, I come upon Molly Levy and Hadassah Perry under a weathered wooden bridge.  Together, in the cool shadow of the span, they support one another, tenderly cupping each other’s head in their palm, as they support one’s twisting back bend and another’s slow ascension. Splitting, they expand, arms extended, chests thrust outward, absorbing the sunlight which awaits, beyond the overpass’s shadow.

A third distant horn urges me to continue. Over a knoll and through a gate, Eric Avery slinks and slides with an easy grace. His twinkling eyes are focused on a woman seated facing him, seemingly mesmerized.  Too soon an egg timer buzzes, causing the saxophonist and Avery to wind up their improvisational collaboration.  Avery thanks the woman for having a conversation with him and exits, taking an enigmatic pair of tin cans with him. 

For Round 2, I remain at the Hagiwara Gate and am rewarded with a gorgeous solo by Perry. As she moves purposely through space, arms carving paths into fresh stances, she verbalizes about the attributes and requirements of love.  How it is fun, but also difficult; requires listening and caring.  She and I are mostly alone, which means I feel less abashed when she approaches with open palms to ask me to dance.  Her welcoming smile and pink cheeks bely the chilliness of her hands as they touch mine.  Mirroring her movements our arms rise skyward. She guides me through a twirl and we smile at one another when I am able to mimic her cross steps across the deck.

The full Sharp and Fine company in the finale of Stories and Dreams. Photo: J. Norris

Performers and spectators alike reconvene at the Pagoda for Round 3, which builds into a stirring high energy synchronous dance for the quintet accompanied by the 4-piece band.  The dancers look hopeful, united as a community. And yet it ends enigmatically, as all having tossed their weighty cares to the gods, they sink slowly. Avery’s arms fold over his vulnerable bald pate and the five figures crouch in tight balls on the ground as if preparing for impending doom. Why this reversal of energy? Might this be a reflection on our current time, when feelings of abundance and rising equality have been unsparingly dashed by a new ruling party?  Who is to say?

The full Sharp and Fine company in the finale of Stories and Dreams. Photo: J. Norris

Stories and Dreams is a make your own adventure show. The concurrent dance locations mean no one can see it all, but I am sufficiently intrigued to stay for the 11:15 and 12:15 showings.  I come to understand that both Avery (Round 1 at the Gate) and Smith (Round 2 at the Bridge) create improvisational solos in response to verbal and movement prompts provided by an audience member with whom they speak through tin-can-and-string phones. Avery’s luxuriously loose shrugging dance, built in response to his audience mate’s explanation of flora-induced-relaxation, is delightful.  While Smith characterization of the joyfulness of children at play relayed by his partner, involves greedy, gathering arms.

Eric Avery performing with Saxophonist & a spectator in Sharp and Fine’s Stories and Dreams. Photo: J. Norris

Round 2 also features Avery and Levy in a hypnotic pairing on Pagoda Plaza.  Their magnetic attraction appears instantaneous. All cautious circling and attempts to maintain distance come to naught, as their fascination draws them so close their foreheads touch.  Ducking under and around each other, dropping to the ground and rising once more their heads for a time are inseparable.

Molly Levy and Eric Avery performing in Sharp and Fine’s Stories and Dreams. Photo: J. Norris

What a lovely experiment, these short improvisational dance interventions within the formal gardens, has been.  I hope the Gardens at Golden Gate Park continue to make dance a part of their artistic portfolio. While the dance inspired me to visit and appreciate a part of the park I hadn’t visited in several decades, I could also see the performances providing surprising new perspectives for unsuspecting guests.

Review by Jen Norris, published November 5, 2025

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Production Credits:

Stories and Dreams

Tuesday, November 4 + Wednesday, November 5

Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Performances November 4 & 5 at 10:15am, 11:15am, and 12:15pm

Each performance lasts approximately 20 minutes

Choreography and direction by Sharp & Fine Co-Directors Megan and Shannon Kurashige, in collaboration with performers Eric Avery, Charmaine Butcher, Molly Levy, Hadassah Perry, and Ryan Rouland Smith.

Music direction and performance by Jordan Glenn, in collaboration with musicians Raffi Garabedian, Beth Schenck, and Cory Wright.