Roar Shack Live!
Roar Shack Live!
A creative laboratory in the heart of San Francisco’s Mid-Market
Up Next: Koollooꓘ
Babatunji (movement)
Travis Andrews (guitar)
Andy Meyerson (percussion)
January 28 19 6:45 - 9:30pm PDT
34 7th Street, SF, CA
Led by legendary movement artist Babatunji, Koollooꓘ is a performance trio comprised of Babatunji and the musicians of The Living Earth Show (Travis Andrews and Andy Meyerson) exploring the boundaries of sound, movement, theater, and performance.
In its premiere incarnation, Koollooꓘ has built a site-specific work for The Roar Shack, using physical space as a character for Babatunji's choreography and movement, The Living Earth Show's new music and sounds, and the trio's shared exploration of the boundaries of what live performance can do.
We're honored to give the keys of The Roar Shack over to Babatunji this month. He's made something amazing that we've never seen before, and we're really excited to share it with you.
Capacity for this show is EXTREMELY LIMITED (since a variety of the spaces that have been used for seating need to be reserved for movement), so make sure to get a ticket ASAP!
Babatunji is a dance artist, choreographer, and creative innovator based out of Oakland. Though never formally trained as a child, Babatunji was always moving his body to the beat. At the age of 15, he discovered the art of hip hop. Following this epiphany of love, he grew up through his teens breaking and popping on street corners in Hilo, Hawai’i. After being “discovered” by a local dance instructor, he began his formal training in various styles of dance, including ballet. This would inevitably lead him to Lines Ballet’s Training Program, and from there, into the company.
For over a decade he has worked with one of the greatest American choreographers, Alonzo King. As a freelance dancer, Babatunji has worked with Post:ballet, Ishida Dance Company, SFDanceworks, tinypistol, Ballare Carmel; as well as performed works by choreographers and artist such as Adji Cissoko, Yue Yin, Danielle Rowe, Brett Conway, Rich and Tone Talauega, David Harvey, Mike Tyus, Vân-Ánh Võ. Additionally, his work for film includes features in Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs’ Blindspotting on Starz, as well as Misty Copeland’s short art film Flower.
Over the past 8 years, Babatunji has developed a unique movement language, blending his background in ballet, contemporary, breaking, and hip hop. He has choreographed for Berkeley Ballet Theater, Boston Dance Theater, Post:ballet, Trolley Dance, SFDanceworks, ZiRu Dance, among other Bay Area companies. As a solo artist, Babatunji has performed internationally, collaborating with visual, sound, and technical artists of countless genres. His work has been seen at Museum of Dance, Lion’s Jaw performance + dance festival, København Danser, and SFJazz in collaboration with Terri Lyne Carrington. In 2015, he was awarded a Princess Grace Award, as well as a Chris Hellman Award for his outstanding achievements and promise in the world of dance.
“The Roar Shack represents our attempt to provide an affirmative vision for how we as artists and for how we as a city can tackle these existential problems.”
~ Andy Meyerson, The Living Earth Show
Press for Roar Shack
“The beauty of a development incubator is that folks can experience work at an intimate, vulnerable scale, and hopefully find work and practices they can relate to and feel like they’re part of.”
“ ‘These guys are dynamic and excited and a little crazy in all the right ways,” Max Young said of TLES. “It’s been a long haul to get anyone back in there. Slowly but surely we’re starting to see some sprouts of life in the Mid-Market area.’ ”
“It felt like a way to tell a story of place, and be part of space together in a way that a performance here will be very different from a performance anywhere else in the world. (Andy Meyerson) ”
“We’re harnessing the district’s raw energy to craft boundary-pushing, multisensory experiences that could only emerge from San Francisco,” he went on. “Our aim is to show that San Francisco is a place where culture is created, not just consumed. (Andy Meyerson)”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARKET STREET ARTS TRANSFORMS VACANT BAR INTO EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC HUB THROUGH NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LIVING EARTH SHOW
SAN FRANCISCO (August 20, 2024)—Market Street Arts and The Living Earth Show announce an innovative partnership that will turn a vacant bar into an experimental music hub. The 2024-25 series, Roar Shack Live!, will breathe new life into 34-7th Street, the former home of renowned cocktail lounge Mr. Smith's, turning it into a dynamic venue for experimental chamber music and multidisciplinary performances.
Through the partnership, The Living Earth Show will present ten site-specific, immersive productions showcasing San Francisco's role as a center for cultural innovation. The series debuts on Friday, September 20, 2024, with Music For Hard Times, an ambient masterpiece and audiovisual love letter to San Francisco created by The Living Earth Show, composer Danny Clay, and visual artist Jon Fischer. To create accessible creative hubs in Mid-Market, all performances will be pay-what-you-can, ranging from $1–$100.
Tickets are available now for Music For Hard Times
Follow @MarketStreetArts and @LivingEarthShow on social media.
"This partnership exemplifies our vision for Mid-Market as a world-class arts and entertainment district in the heart of San Francisco," said Steve Gibson, Executive Director of Mid Market Foundation. "By transforming vacant spaces into dynamic cultural hubs, we're fostering an ecosystem that attracts visitors and bolsters local businesses. Our collaboration with The Living Earth Show, alongside other recent partnerships, strengthens the creative network in the area. The Busk it! and Make it! programs enliven the streets, weaving these diverse hubs together. These initiatives collectively reimagine Mid-Market as an innovative, creative destination that showcases San Francisco's pioneering spirit."
"Roar Shack Live! isn't just a performance series—it's a creative laboratory in the heart of Mid-Market,” said Andy Meyerson, co-founder and Artistic Director of The Living Earth Show. “We're harnessing the district's raw energy to craft boundary-pushing, multisensory experiences that could only emerge from San Francisco. Our aim is to show that San Francisco is a place where culture is created, not just consumed.”
"As an organization based in San Francisco—since we met as San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) graduate students—presenting these performances on Market Street allows us to bring the work that we tour around the world to audiences here at home. This location inspires us to push artistic boundaries while keeping our work accessible through our pay-what-you-can model,” adds Travis Andrews, co-founder and executive director of The Living Earth Show. “By refining our productions here before touring them globally, we're helping to transform Mid Market into an incubator for world-class art. It's about creating a ripple effect—from this historic thoroughfare to stages across the globe."
Music for Hard Times connects virtuosic classical instrumental practice to what it means to be a human being, crafting an enveloping coziness that draws the listener inwards. The piece allows anyone to experience the uncomplicated pleasure of making and listening to beautiful sounds. This act, the artists postulate, is both a practice and a resource to support and uplift the higher order needs for healing, solace, peace, comfort, and space.
“I am thrilled to have found the Living Earth Show crew and so excited to have life on the ground floor of our building,” said Max Young. “I believe it is a direct result of San Francisco finally realizing that providing basic safety and cleanliness will allow small business, and mid and big business, to grow. The work done by the Mid Market Foundation through their safety program and their arts advocacy is truly making an impact in a neighborhood that is the heartbeat of San Francisco.”
Young adds, “The Mid Market neighborhood is the intersection of so many parts of SF. It houses the most diverse group of neighbors I have ever experienced in the city, and it has more buildings and seats for arts and entertainment than any other neighborhood in SF, all intermixed with housing and offices for thousands of people. I loved running my business in the area and loved being a part of the first revival of Mid-Market from 2000 - 2015, and I am excited to see the next group of entrepreneurs bring their energy and passion to the Mid-Market area.”
The 2024-25 season will feature collaborations with acclaimed artists such as Samuel Carl Adams, Mark Applebaum, Sarah Hennies, M. Lamar, Honey Mahogany, Terry Riley, and Zachary James Watkins.
Tickets for Music For Hard Times are on sale today, August 20, 2024. For more information, visit thelivingearthshow.com/roarshacklive or follow @MarketStreetArts and @LivingEarthShow on social media.
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Roar Shack Live! is produced in collaboration with:
Market Street Arts
New Performance Traditions - Created by the Paul Dresher Ensemble
Monkeybrains
