Fabric Animal
by Sonsheree Giles & Sebastian Grubb
Fabric Animal is an immersive evening of meticulous sensing, daring trust, and physical intimacy in a new contemporary dance work by Sonsherée Giles and Sebastian Grubb. Fabric Animal premiered June 6-8, 2019 in San Francisco at CounterPulse.
Featuring original music by Bay Area composers directed by Caroline Penwarden, and an original dance film by John Carnahan.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR TOURING OPPORTUNITIES. Please contact: FabricAnimalDance AT gmail.com
Fabric Animal examines the self as a body-through-time, a psychological and physiological threadwork that leaves poems in its wake.
Fabric Animal is the culmination of Giles’ and Grubb’s 10-year history as choreographer peers and dance partners. This embodied kinship roars to life through deep sensing, daring trust and athletic contemporary dance. The detailed choreography challenges endurance and strength, and is enveloped by an original musical score by local composers directed by Caroline Penwarden. Also featuring an original dance film with videography by John Carnahan.
The creative process for Fabric Animal draws from contact improvisation, anatomical science, Grubb’s original poetry, and Giles’ otherworldly sculptures and landscape paintings made entirely from fabric.
Giles and Grubb have been steeped in the Bay Area dance scene for the past 15 years, engaging in--and often helping to drive--the creative processes of numerous choreographers and collaborators. Collectively they have performed hundreds of times in San Francisco, the East Bay, up and down the West Coast, across the U.S., and abroad.
Fabric Animal is a moving meditation on the artists’ past and present, a living tribute to the dynamic fusion of creativity in the Bay Area. It is a reflection of our culture, landscape, dance and music.
"Refreshing, unique, and pushing boundaries…"
- Nancy Karp, Artistic Director of Nancy Karp + Dancers
"Sonsherée Giles and Sebastian Grubb are dynamic, intelligent and inquisitive dance artists… their physical chemistry yields fierce movement, intuitive partnering and rare sensitivity."
- Marc Brew, Artistic Director of AXIS Dance Company
Giles and Grubb. Photo by M.W. Guthrie.
Giles and Grubb. Photo by M.W. Guthrie.
About Sonsherée Giles
Sonsherée Giles is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and costume designer. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to attend Mills College and received her MFA in performance and choreography. Sonsherée enjoys making dances based on observations of animals, landscapes, art history, and daily life experiences. She has taught contemporary dance in public school systems, institutions, dance festivals and universities. She has toured and performed for audiences throughout the world including the United States, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Russia, Scotland and Canada. Please visit sonsheree.com
About Sebastian Grubb
Sebastian Grubb is an award-winning dance artist and fitness trainer in San Francisco. He has performed with many local dance companies and choreographers since 2008, especially AXIS Dance Company and Scott Wells & Dancers. Sebastian’s commissioned choreographic works for AXIS have been shown in 8 U.S. states, in Russia, and on FOX TV's "So You Think You Can Dance". Sebastian has been honored with an Isadora Duncan Dance Award and also received the CHIME award, a choreographic mentorship project of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. Additionally, Sebastian teaches biomechanics and anatomy to dancers in a series of workshops. Learn more at bodywagging.dance