Episode 28: Presidio Dance Theatre

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A transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, follows.

Show Guests: Sherene Melania, the Executive Director and Artistic Director of Presidio Dance Theatre of San Francisco

Voices of the Community Introduction: Welcome to voices of the community which explores critical issues facing Northern California communities. We introduce you to the voices of community thought leaders and change makers who are working on solutions that face our fellow individual community members neighborhoods cities and our region. This is George Koster your host. 

Series Introduction: This episode is part of our series exploring COVID-19’s impact on nonprofits and small businesses in San Francisco. We started the series back in April 2020 during the height of the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic and the Shelter In Place requirements. Over these past nine months, the Covid-19 pandemic and economic meltdown have wiped out millions of jobs in both the nonprofit and small business sectors as well as shuttered tens of thousands of small business operations.

The goal of the series is to shine a spotlight on the nonprofits, small businesses, and their staff who are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on their operations, services and sustainability. The series of interviews we conducted features voices from a cross-section of organizations that make up the fabric of our community.  Each of them brings a unique perspective on how they and we are dealing with the issues facing our community during the global pandemic and economic depression.

Show Guest Sherene: I think dance, is just an amazing way of bringing people together and learning to communicate even you know, verbally you are not able to, you don't speak the same language, but there's a very powerful connector in dance. And I think that's something very important given the times that we're living in with this pandemic. 

Episode Intro - Show Host George: In this episode, our featured voice is Sherene Melania the Executive Director and Artistic Director of Presidio Dance Theatre of San Francisco. The Presidio Dance Theatre has a history of cultural and community engagement with a mission to use dance and the arts to educate, inspire, and forge connections between cultures.

For dance companies, December provides the opportunity to present the traditional holiday favorite The Nutcracker Ballet, and to generate a large percentage of their income. With Covid-19 closing down in-person live performances, dance companies have been forced to develop creative solutions to present their performances. I’ll let Sherene share with you how her team is presenting their annual holiday show.

Show Host George: I joined remotely via zoom by Sherene, Melania, the Executive Director and Artistic Director of the Presidio Dance Theater of San Francisco. Thanks for being here, Sherene

Show Guest Sherene: Thanks for having me George

Show Host George: Sherene, I think it would really be wonderful if you could provide a quick overview of the Presidio Dance Theater you do a lot of classes, you have a camp you're, totally engaged in the community as well. And then, any kind of holiday events since we're going into the wonderful world of, traditional Nutcracker, you’ve got your Beyond the Land of Sweets that you are coming up with on December 3rd. So, tell us more.

Show Guest Sherene: Absolutely. Thank you. So, Presidio Dance Theater is currently in our 23rd year believe it or not time flies when you're dancing. We actually first started as an outreach program offering free classes after school. We have a program called Dance Out, which remains the heart of our mission.

We're very committed to recruiting new students that are interested in dance and don't necessarily have the means to afford that. And what's unique about our outreach program is that we typically recruit students in first or second grade, and we keep them all the way through 12th grade and we mentor them, and we really create life paths through this program.

And many of our students are the first in their families to attend university and most do receive scholarships for dance. So, we're very proud of that, aspect of our programming. And then we also have a multi-generational dance company. We have children as young, as six years old, who perform on stage with professional adults, throughout the Bay area.

And we also perform internationally. We often represent San Francisco and the United States. We work with UNESCO's International Dance Council in Paris. And so, we're very involved, internationally as well, and really feel that that's important for students of all ages to have an opportunity, for a cultural exchange, and to just learn that they're actually a small part of a much larger world.

And I think dance is just an amazing way of bringing people together and learning to communicate even you know, verbally you are not able to, you don't speak the same language, but there's a very powerful connector in dance. And I think that's something very important given the times that we're living in with this pandemic.

And, um, that leads me to what we're working on right now. As you mentioned, our holiday show will be held on December 3rd at Fort Mason Flix at 6:30 PM. It will feature our holiday show "Beyond the Land of Sweets", which is a Nutcracker spinoff. It starts with the traditional Nutcracker and then Clara goes traveling internationally and learns about holidays across cultures, which is something that's very special about the work that we do.

We're ballet based and follow the Vaganova Russian method. But our specialty really is in, international dance and teaching children about cultural diversity through dance. So, we always have a more global component to what we're doing and, a very high educational content as well, in that we provide, a study guide for students to learn about the different cultures that they see on stage.

This year's show will also feature a premiere of "Cracking The Nut", which, I just came up with the idea for, and I thought it would be fun for people. You know, most people have seen the Nutcracker or have heard of it, but I thought it would be fun to gather, international stars of the ballet world, along with our youth company and have them talk about their memories of dancing in the show and what it really means to them.

And how they get into the holiday spirit. So that's, what's coming up next for us. And all of our programs really are also through the lens of social justice and we love performing and being on stage or with the pandemic being virtual and being on projected screens as we can.

Most shows also partner with a humanitarian organization, so that we're really able to utilize dance to give back. And whether that means performing for a refugee community, which we did, when we performed at "UNESCO's World Dance Congress" in Greece, in 2017. We had the privilege of visiting a Syrian refugee camp, and they were primarily members displaced by ISIS from Syria and Iraq. And our students actually took them cold weather necessities. So, we carried coats and blankets, and we were able to, in that way, perform for them, but also donate supplies. So that is also a very important, driving force behind our work.

George: So much of performing arts is people showing up in the theater and enjoying in-person verses in their car, which is, a good pivot these days, So Sherene how has COVID 19 impacted, Presidio's Theater, Dance, operations?

Sherene: Well, like, most, arts and cultural organizations, this has definitely been a challenging time for us, but we've done our best to, as you mentioned, pivot. We've had to pivot in many different directions. This last spring in May, we held, our annual fundraiser gala virtually. And we're so thankful that our community, you know, continue to support us during this difficult time. So, we were [00:06:00] able to hold that gala. Most of our spring season was done virtually and, we do a performance annually at the Opera House called "Children's Day".

And we annually bring in 6,000 students who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to experience a live performance and especially not at the Opera House. That was made virtually in partnership with San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts. So those kids were still able to have our show and, the teachers were able to download the study guide.

So, we've tried to, keep everything moving forward as best we could.  I'm an optimist so I like to see the silver lining in things, and we've taken advantage of being virtual. It's allowed us to bring in different instructors, from all around the world to teach masterclasses and to be part of our virtual shows.

So, we've, kind of tried to actually, in some ways, broaden the work that we're doing, to keep our audience engaged and moving forward. And of course, we still have our weekly classes all via zoom. It's been really important to us to kind of maintain whatever this new kind of changing normal is for our students.

Because I think that this not only provides an opportunity for their technical and artistic expression, but we're also a very strong community and this has helped them stay connected with their friends

George: Sherene over the 20 plus years that you guys have been in operation, could you please tell a story to the audience about one of your favorite moments that you feel exemplifies the impact of the theater company, on our community?

Sherene: I have many stories, but I think, the most recent one that I'm very proud of is, one of my students LeVander Brown started with us at Bret Hart elementary school over in Bayview when he was about eight years old. And he stayed with us and, he played football in high school and received a full scholarship to San Jose State where he graduated, and he's kept in touch over the years and come to our shows. And most recently he was certified as a personal trainer.

So, I actually just hired him to come back to work with PDT. And so, his first week was last week and it was just such a wonderful feeling to have, you know, worked with someone as a child when they used to be up to here. And now he's about six, four, and  he's a big man now, but having him come back, not only to work with our students, but to train me as well  was really a wonderful feeling and  hearing from him, what the program meant to him also  was very special to hear because we hope that we have a positive impact on people's lives, but to witness how people have made it and, that they're grateful to have had that opportunity really, is why we do what we do so it's been wonderful.

George: For somebody who is watching or listening to this, besides, getting in their car and showing up on December 3rd at Fort Mason for your Drive-In experience for your, holiday event, how else can people support, the organization and your programs, especially the community outreach?

Sherene: We always need help, there's so many different ways to help support the work that we do. We have volunteers that come in and help, backstage and preparing the shows.   We have intern, students that are in high school and university level that volunteer in the office.

So, we're always looking for help on every front.  Obviously, you know, we couldn't do the work that we do without, grants from generous people in the community. We're grateful to all of our sponsors so that helps But, in kind donations, time donations, we'll take anything we need  all the help we can get. 

And, you know, every little bit helps a lot. People can, be in touch with us via our website at www dot presidio, dance.org. And if you just send a message that you're interested in becoming involved, we'd be happy to follow up with you on that.

George: And is there a special holiday campaign that you have, as well, or people come to the drive in?

Sherene: Come to the drive, and we also, we’ll be soliciting year end donations. And one of the other pluses of COVID this year, as I understand, there are some new regulations under the Cares Act, which allows people to, write off a little bit more of their donations this year. So, anyone still looking to do that, we could really use the help.

George: Thank you. So here we are going into our 10th month of the pandemic and it seems to be getting worse versus better Sherene what you are thinking and hoping could come out on the other side of the pandemic. What are some of the good things that could happen to support performing arts and culture and, all of the work that Presidio Dance Theater stands for?

Sherene: Well, I think that one of the things that this pandemic has done is I think it's really showed people, in an ironic kind of way, how much we actually do need the arts. And, if you recall, in the first few months of the pandemic from all over the world, you saw artists playing instruments from balconies and people dancing outside in parks.

And I think that globally, the arts are something that really lift people's spirits. So, I think people are aware of, the role that the arts have played in kind of helping people cope in a lot of ways with the pandemic. And I think as artists, I know that I certainly have been following my colleagues works and reaching out to kind of, you know, learn from each other and help each other share resources.

We've been fortunate enough to receive a few, of the arts relief grants from the City of San Francisco. And we’ve done our best to kind of help guide some individual artists as to what, ways that they can receive support, through all of this. But I think when we come out of this, we may, even though, it's a little premature because you know, we’re still in it, but my hope would be that, we have, even more robust arts and culture scene.

I think that if people continue to work together, as they've started to during this pandemic, that's something that we can all come out ahead of where we were. Also, with these virtual concerts, we of course miss being on stage with a live audience, but this is another way that it actually makes the arts more accessible to people.

And, you can be in your living room, in your PJ's home, watching, the great ballets and operas. And I'm hoping that, some of these new methods will continue.  For us, we're actually using this time. I wrote a new, production. And so, we're working with our composer now and the goal is to work with the set designer and costume designer so that once we come out of COVID, we're hoping to have a new production that's ready to go. So, it's maybe a little ambitious, but that's our goal to get through this

George: Well, thank you Sherene for sharing Presidio Dance Theater all of your wonderful work today. And we'll make sure that viewers and, listeners have all your contact information and your social media so they can follow Presidio Dance Theater and your productions hopefully get engaged and support your mission 

Sherene: Thank you, you too. And happy holidays.

Episode Outro - Show Host George: That’s it for this episode of voices of the community. You have been listening to the voices of Sherene Melania, the Executive Director and Artistic Director of Presidio Dance Theatre of San Francisco. To find out more about Beyond the Land of Sweets Drive In show at Fort Mason December 3rd at 6:30pm along with Presidio Dance Theatre’s community engagement, and classes go to presidio dance dot org

Series Outro: We hope that you enjoy the insights, points of view, and personal stories from the voices of change-makers and their nonprofits and small businesses featured in this series. To find out more and get engaged with the nonprofits, small businesses and staff members, featured in this series please go to my web site george koster dot com and click on Voices of the Community to find links to the extended versions of these interviews and to listen to the entire series. After listening to these stories we hope that you will consider making a donation and volunteering to provide a hand up to your fellow community members.

Series Credits: I want to thank my associate producer Eric Estrada, along with Mel, Michael, and Lila at the San Francisco Public Press and KSFP. To listen to our next episode in this series and to our archived past shows which feature community voices working on solutions to critical issues facing Northern California communities, please go to george koster dot com. While you are on our website please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. Please subscribe to Voices of the Community on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or where ever you get your podcasts. Follow us on twitter @georgekoster and please email us with feedback and show ideas at george@georgekoster.com. I'm George Koster in San Francisco and thank you for listening.

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