SF's Free Aerial Dance Tribute to 1966 Compton's Riot (Oct. 3-11)

"Directed and choreographed by Jo Kreiter, it features a cast of queer, transgender, and female performers, original songs by Melanie DeMore and a film by Leila Weefur. A total of ten 35-minute shows are scheduled over the course of the run: October 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each night. Audiences are invited to gather on the Southeast corner of Turk and Taylor. All shows are free with no reservation required."

""The collective resistance to police oppression that unfolded at the intersection of Turk and Taylor in 1966 and the subsequent involvement of 101-121 Taylor Street in the prison system are not unrelated," writes Stryker. "Both are rooted in the Tenderloin's historic function as a containment zone - its contours shaped by racial segregation, its borders enforced by often-corrupt law enforcement - in which abjected populations and criminalized behaviors, specifically those related to sexuality and gender expression, have been confined.""

'Down on the Corner' is an aerial dance honoring the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot, directed and choreographed by Jo Kreiter. The piece features queer, transgender, and female performers, original songs by Melanie DeMore and a film by Leila Weefur. Ten 35-minute performances run October 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 with shows at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.; audiences gather on the southeast corner of Turk and Taylor and admission is free. The production links the 1966 protest to 111 Taylor's later use as a for-profit reentry facility operated by GEO Group. The work draws on Susan Stryker's scholarship and continues Kreiter's exploration of prison system change through dance.

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