California DanceMaker Grants

2001 Grantee Profile: Jo Kreiter
MISSION WALL DANCES: Something there is that doesn't love a wall

This interdisciplinary public art project, directed by Jo Kreiter, was an ambitious collaboration intended not just to enliven a street with music and dance, but to memorialize decades of dislocation and rebirth in the Mission District in San Francisco. Displacement, evictions and cultural shredding have scarred the neighborhood over the last five years, but have also brought about coalition building and a soul-deep unity among threatened populations in the Mission. It is in this spirit of resistance that the project paid tribute.

MISSION WALL DANCES: Something there is that doesn't love a wall involved a mural, a three dimensional sculpture bolted to the mural wall, seven dancers in varied states of flight and balance, a variety of aerial apparatus, and a score that invoked rhythm, vocal beauty, and a touch of oral history. Performances took place on the North Wall of the William B. Scott Facility, a three-story parking garage. A block-long mural depicted the Gartland Apartments on fire (the 1975 arson that destroyed the Gartland was identified as an attack on the neighborhood); a dancer flying in on a spinning steel umbrella; steel doors of an idealized home swung open and closed by two dancers; a lover's duet on a tilted fire-escape; a dancer flying with a suitcase; a rooftop dancer pacing through smoke; and an original sound score by Pamela Z, derived in part from interviews of neighborhood residents. To the artist's knowledge, no permanent outdoor mural has ever before been commissioned by a dance company to serve as a set.

An estimated 300–500 people attended each show over an eight-day period between September 14 and 22, 2002.

This project served as both a tribute to the endurance of local artists and a reminder of the harsh reality of displacement for many.

Jo Kreiter's Remarks

"I believe that this project touched the heart and imagination of the city as only art can do. In combining a historical act of tragedy with a through line of displacement conflict, we struck a nerve in the neighborhood. We received incredible praise and appreciation for creating a three-dimensional monument to Mission history. We also managed an exquisite sense of fantasy, poetry and excitement in the mural, the sound score, the choreography, and the performances. As producers, collaborators, cast and crew, we are very proud of the work.

"I am grateful for the faith (and money) that more than one funder put into this project. I am frightened that I will never again be able to gather the resources to work on this scale, and I am inspired to believe even more deeply that art can truly create cohesion and transcendence in a wounded community."