Female Urban Warriors at Women's Building (SF Mission District)

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were one of the great popular dancing couples. Each brought something to their dance partnership that the other lacked. Ms Rogers brought sex appeal that he needed and Mr Astaire brought class that she needed.

Well something similar has been going on, for quite some time, with Jo Kreiter's "Flyaway Productions" and "Women's Social Issues." It's a dancing partnership that was on full display over two weekends in Sept at the Women's Building in the S.F. Mission District - celebrating 100 yrs of the building itself. (Singing Praises - Sept 2010)

In this partnership, Flyaway brings a certain "commerce" to Women's Social Issues and the Social Issues provide a "purpose/roadmap" for Flyaway. Flyaway opens the door to these women's issues for many who are unaware of them. Issues ranging from women building bridges, to the SF Women's Building, to working with and teaching young female girls from urban cities - giving them a voice. In such a unique way, through dance, Flyaway shines a light on these issues. Conversely, those same social issues provide a purpose, a road-map, for the young dancers of Flyaway. I could almost hear the dancers chant...

"This is why we are here. This is why we dance. This is where we make our stand. From here, we do not retreat!"

And this is why I call them my Female Urban Warriors!

And boy did they dance. Up and down the side of the SF Women's Building. At night. Thru the dark. Bathed by special choreographed lighting. And enshrouded in original music. They danced on the fire escapes, on the roof, thru the windows and down the building sides in their harnesses with cables. And hundreds of people stood or sat on the sidewalks below, mesmerized and even ready to catch the dancers should they fall.

I was an usher every night and at the one matinee performance for school children. I saw it all. Evey night, people of all ages crowded the small alley street next to the Women's Building and across the main roadway on 18th Steet. The alley street provided viewers a close up view of the dance and was especially perfect for small children. The 18th Steet spot was the best location to watch from per Ms Kreiter as she choreographed with that sight line in mind. And many adults expressed gratitude to have that important piece of information/tip, as most if not all of those folks moved to Ms Kreiter's preferred viewing location.

I saw neighborhood children coming back to see these dancers again and again. They were so giddy and so amazed and even shocked that the dancers didn't fall. There were many people watching from rooftops and windows of nearby buildings. Cars and fire trucks stopped in the middle of the road to watch. One fire truck was in the middle of a call with sirens blaring away. Yet they still stopped and they cut their sirens. I hoped no one awaiting them was hurt. I thought to myself, I could see the next day headlines, "Home burns to ground, as fire fighters watched dancers!" I also saw more taxis stop on those two streets than I've ever seen before, except maybe at the airport. My gosh, even people on bicycles were stopping all along the roadways.

People told me they were rushing off to have their meals and would hurry back to see the show. And just about all made it. On the last Friday night's performance, a very tall uniformed male police office, a lieutenant, and his young female intern from San Jose State University, stopped and asked about all the activity. Once explained, they wanted to see the performance. They were off to buy ice cream and "...do we have time?" "YES! Plenty of time," I responded and laughed. And the lieutenant asked if I would like an ice cream cone too? (Ice cream cones, instead of tickets! - Only during onsite dance performances by Flaway!)

Donations! Oh yeah. There were people coming up to me and making donations before dancing even began. That alone surprised and touched me. Some gave small change as that was all they could afford, but they said they wanted to give something. That moved me even more.

But in the end, it was the dancers themselves that moved me the most. Kelly Kemp and Jennifer Chien are the two dancers in the photo above which I took while they were practicing in daylight. Their cables were on a pulley system, so they helped one another move up and down the walls. The two working together signified black and white women coming together for the first time in the Women's Movement and creating the Women's Building in SF. One of my favorite moments is in that photo itself - when Kelly and Jennifer spin around together in a circle three times. So graceful, so aerial. Another favorite moment is when the two are holding onto the window ledge, legs bent up a bit, and using their hands, scampering along the edge back and forth, left to right and right and left. With that movement, the two looked so small. They looked like two tiny animal creatures holding onto the ledge for dear life. But at the same time, they looked so innocent, especially in their faces - and they looked as if they were having a ball.

There was another moment, my favorite, towards the end of the dance. All the lights were out except for one lone white search light pointed at the far rear corner of the building. No dancers were in site. An eerie silence. Then in slow motion, Kelly comes swinging out from around the corner, from the rear of the building. Back and forth she swung. Swinging into the search light, then leaving the light. Swinging back into our sights, then leaving again. Kelly used all three elements - the light, the far corner and the rear of the building to disappear and reappear. Repeating this aerial dance step over and over again. As if she were a moving sculpture or an astronaut floating slowly above us, without gravity. A moment of quiet amazement.

I told Jo, Kelly and a number of viewers that if I was a few years younger, I'd be up there with them, on the side of that building. And yet every night, as I stood on the ground below, I realized that thru their dancing, part of me was up there on the side of the building. And for a few brief moments, in the dark, the building belonged to us all.

Looking back, I now realize that "Singing Praises" is more than just a dance - a lot more. And I think it always is with Jo Kreiter and Flyaway Productions - with her band of Female Urban Warriors.

"This is why we dance!"
"This is where we make our stand!"
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